COMM 2297 Irish Cultural Studies

This course may be used to satisfy one of four electives required within the Communication major. Cultural Studies incorporates elements of critical anthropology, sociology, political economy and geography with other disciplines, aimed at the critical analysis of communication, culture and its meaning. This course locates the project of Cultural Studies in the island of Ireland, theorizing culture while engaging with it. Its interdisciplinary method explores contested areas of everyday life that draw attention to the politics of struggles in society by examining ideology. For example, expressions of nationalism include arguments about sovereignty, class and racial conflicts that are informed by creative activity. Irish art is considered as resistive or passive expressions of national goals of self-determination through popular culture, media, and communication generally. Irish Government support for creative industries extends the topic into cultural policy studies. The course examines the way culture was originally defined within British Cultural Studies and the changes in these ideas when applied to Ireland. From looking at the big picture of Ireland's politics as a site of struggle to the micro level of music in the local public bar, this course offers students an introduction to Ireland and to Cultural Studies.