Changing Ireland

Ireland and its Peoples: Together Standing Tall? (G. O’Keeffe Vigneron, 12h): Over 70 million people worldwide can claim Irish descent as part of one of the most significant global diasporas in modern history. Many countries and regions were shaped in some way by Irish settlement, and Irish migration has been a defining feature of the history of Ireland. This course will focus mainly on the political, cultural and economic aspects of population movement out of and towards the Republic of Ireland. The notion of a diasporic identity and the theories around population movement will also be examined.

Contemporary Irish Drama and Socio-cultural Change in Ireland and Northern Ireland (M. Kolb, 12h): Since the early 1960s, three generations of playwrights have driven Irish and Northern- Irish theatre to the forefront a new artistic revival. This revival has coincided with radical social and cultural change throughout the island and abroad. Through the analysis of excerpts from a selection of contemporary Irish plays written in English, this course will examine if and how theatre aesthetics and language have mirrored and contributed to cultural and socio-political change in Ireland and Northern Ireland.