1. Classes. An enhanced copy of this syllabus is available at http://ux1.eiu.edu/~nekey/syllabi/ireland.htm and I invite you to use it. Any revisions to the syllabus or this schedule will be limited, will be for pedagogical reasons (changes in due dates, readings, specific essay questions, review sheets), and will be announced in class in advance and posted on the web.
  2. Papers. His 4815 is designated writing-intensive (essays may be submitted to the EWP; I’d prefer that you use my comments to revise your paper before submitting to EWP). Two essays and a presentation/write-up are due. Presentations will be on one aspect of either the Famine or the Diaspora - for example, the Irish-American Fenians (presentation and 4 pages, 10% final grade). The two essays due should be typed, double-spaced, and use a clear and consistent form of referencing (see online preferred citation guide, http://ux1.eiu.edu/~nekey/citate.htm). One essay (5 pages, 15%) will be an analysis of late 19th-century Irish rural society focusing on The Burning of Bridget Cleary (but using the beginning of Doyle, The Man of Aran, etc. [graduates, add reviews]. The second will be (7-9 pages [graduates 12 pages], 25%) a revision of one scene from Michael Collins or Doyle’s Star Called Henry based on primary sources (The Times, New York Times, Dáil Debates, etc.) and the arguments of a couple relevant historians [graduates will expand the historiography for this paper, and present to class]. These essays are relatively brief, but should be focused and thoughtful.
  3. Participation. Participation (based on presentation, contribution to discussion, and in-class worksheets/quizzes) is required (15%). Extra credit (up to 5% on final grade) optional extra essay will be on the final.
    1. Generally, more than three absences will adversely affect your participation grade. (Because it is participation I seek, I tend not to countenance "excused” absences, nor to demand notes from various authorities.) Your grade as a whole may suffer if your absences fall on the date of exams. There is, of course, no make-up for reports or the final. Other make-ups will be at my discretion. (Anyone with a documented disability should let me know by the second week of class so that we can make appropriate accommodations.) History department graduate students tutor in CH 2726. And ask me for clarifications. I will talk about history virtually anytime.
  4. Exams. You must purchase at the University Bookstore, sign, and turn in both exam books three classes before the first Mid-Term (that is by Feb. 16). No one may take the in-class mid-term (15%) or the final (20%) without an exam book. The mid-term will consist primarily of statements based on factual narrative, brief interpretation, identifications, essays based on short excerpts from assigned documents, and mapping. The final will focus on excerpts and questions which elicit essays of synthesis and analysis. Improvement during the semester will mitigate disastrous performance early in the course.
  5. Goals.
    1. Understand the basic narrative of modern Irish history
    2. Compare/contrast the Irish basic narrative to periods and concepts of modern European/World history: colonialism, nationalism, racism, decolonialism, nation-building
    3. Use Irish narrative and readings to discuss and write about the relation between ideas and action, between the intellectual elite and the populace
    4. Understand the difference and similarity between history of the Irish and history of Ireland; migration
    5. Understand and use some of the most interesting primary sources and secondary works on 19th and 20th century Irish history
    6. Themes:
      1. The Irish (plural)
      2. Poverty and Irish history
      3. Nationalism and Terrorism
        last modified January 16, 2011