280-01 Irich Political Culture

of CourseThis course explores various aspects of Irish political culture as it has evolved from the late nineteenth century.These include: the role of myth in the creation of Irish identity, the role of the famine and land in the collective memory of the Irish, the colonial and postcolonial nature of Irish society before and after independence, the historic role of the Church, the role of those economically marginalized with the modernization of society, the role of women in Irish society, the role of those who emigrated, the role of the Protestant minority, the role of the traveling community historically and more recent immigrant groups who form the ethnic minorities of Irish society, and the contemporary changes to Irish identity, especially amidst the continuing sectarian differences that exist primarily in Northern Ireland.Thus, this course is organized around the dominance of a nationalist vision that brought independence to the southern twenty-six counties in the early 20 th century and how those who were marginalized in this original vision of Irish nationalism have been incorporated as well as analyzing social processes which became exclusionary of those who no longer fit within the changing definitions of Irishness in the late twentieth century.Films will be used to explore images and the reality of Irish life in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.Thus, the course focuses on the continuing debate in Ireland regarding inherited and changing identities.This course fulfills the Diversity Curriculum Requirement in Xavier's Core Curriculum and counts as an elective in the Gender and Diversity Studies Minor.The course also is an elective for the Postcolonial and European Concentrations in the International Studies Major. AssignmentsEach student will be responsible for five film reviews.These film reviews will not only summarize the film but provide analysis linking this film to the topic of the lecture for that class, either the nationalist version of Irish political culture or the challenge to this inherited identity in contemporary Ireland.These four to six page double-spaced reviews will be due a week after the film is viewed and class discussion on that topic.Each film review will account for 15% of the student's final grade.