HI7124 Society and Culture in Twentieth Century Ireland: Themes and Debates
Module Coordinator: Dr Anne Dolan
Duration: Michaelmas Term
Contact Hours: 2 hours per week
ECTS: 10
Assessment:
Students will complete the equivalent of two essays of c.3,500 words. The first essay or equivalent assignments will be preliminary work. The second essay will carry the mark for the module.
This module introduces students to the key debates and methodologies in modern Irish social and cultural history. Moving away from the dominant political narrative of the century, it will consider a variety of experiences in Ireland from a number of different perspectives. The module will examine the interpretative challenges of social and cultural history in an Irish context, consider the value of a more comparative approach, and will examine some of the new certainties that seem to be emerging in the growing literature on various aspects of Irish experience. It will explore how and when some of Ireland’s ‘secret histories’ emerged, and will evaluate the way in which wider historigraphical debates have influenced, at various stages, the nature of the research undertaken. The module will also consider the approaches future researchers might adopt given the often sensitive nature of much of the subject matter, and also the wealth of potential sources for this period. Through engaging with primary materials, the module aims to complicate our sense of life as it was lived in twentieth-century Ireland.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
- identify key events and developments in the social and cultural history of modern Ireland, as revealed by in-depth analysis of relevant sources
- place this knowledge in the context of a broader knowledge and understanding of relevant historiographical approaches and methodologies
- formulate research questions for the purposes of essay writing and oral presentations
- assess the various historiographical approaches and methodologies applied the this area of Irish history
- engage critically and in-depth with primary texts and secondary literature
- complete an intensive, self-motivated study of a relevant historical problem, with high quality research organization and presentation