Courses

An introduction to Irish Gaelic poetry and prose of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, this course explores poets’ preoccupations and creative impulses in a time of regular conflict and drastic sociopolitical change. Critical issues we consider include, but are not...

Readings in selected texts. Recommended prep: Irish 160r or permission of the instructor.

This course explores the lengthy and wildly popular Irish and Scottish Gaelic tradition surrounding the hero, Finn mac Cumaill (a.k.a. 'Finn MacCool' or 'Fionn mac Cumhaill'). Finn is variously portrayed as a hunter-warrior-seer and is the leader of the intrepid fíana war...

An introduction to Celtic studies and a review of the major critical approaches to the field. Required of candidates for the PhD in Celtic Languages and Literatures. Not open to undergraduates.

An introduction to Scottish Gaelic song-poetry of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, this course explores poets’ preoccupations and creative impulses in a time of regular conflict and drastic sociopolitical change. Critical issues to be considered include, but are not...

Traditions about the love triangle among the aging military leader Fionn mac Cumhaill, his younger subordinate Diarmaid Ua Duibhne, and Gráinne, the daughter of Irish high king Cormac mac Airt, date as far back as the tenth century in the written corpus of Gaelic literature...

The two centuries considered in this course witnessed some of the most dramatic and fateful changes in Irish history and, indeed, of the British Empire. The period opens in the midst of armed rebellion linking Gaelic Ireland with Catholic allies from continental Europe which...

An introduction to the traditional stories, lore, customs, and music of Gaelic Ireland. Since collecting began in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Ireland has amassed one of the most extensive collections of folklore in the world. Prominent tradition bearers and...

Readings in selected texts. Recommended Prep: Irish 160r or permission of the instructor.

A continuation of Scottish Gaelic 130, developing students' fluency in spoken and written Scottish Gaelic. Internet, audio and video resources complement the study of grammar and select prose texts.

An introduction to the traditional stories, lore, customs, and music of Gaelic Scotland and Nova Scotia. Scottish Gaelic folklore exploded onto the world stage in the 1760s with the publication of Macpherson’s 'Ossianic' epics, which he alleged to have translated from Gaelic...

An introduction to Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic) as it is spoken and written today. This course surveys the grammar while also emphasizing practice in speaking the language. This class is highly participatory; students are encouraged to take part in a range of communicative...