Spring 2008 Advance Course Information

This information effective for spring 2008. Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.

Community Studies

[ CMMU-166 ]

Note: This syllabus is from 2006 and is subject to change.

166 Northern Ireland: Communities in Conflict

Instructor: David Brundage
Office: 310 College Eight, Wednesday 2-5 p.m. and by appointment
Phone: 9-4645 (office)
E-mail: brundage@ucsc.edu
Teaching Assistant: Doug Bevington

Course Description

This course introduces students to the origins and nature of the conflict in Northern Ireland (the so-called "Troubles").  It traces the historical roots of the conflict in the interaction between nationalist aspirations and colonial policy, and it examines in detail the political and military events of the last forty years. Historical accounts, personal reminiscence, literature, film and journalism will be employed in our attempt to understand the nature of the conflict and the contemporary efforts to achieve a lasting peace.

Students will be evaluated on the basis of: attendance at all lectures and attendance/participation in required weekly discussion sections, which will also include one or two in-section writing assignments (20% of your grade); and two papers, each 7-9 pages in length, based on course materials (each 40% of your grade).  The papers will be due in class, May 9 and June 8.

Required Texts

• David McKittrick and David McVea, Making Sense of the Troubles: The Story of the Conflict Northern Ireland
• Jack Holland, The American Connection: U.S. Guns, Money, and Influence in Northern Ireland
• Alan J. Ward, The Easter Rising: Revolution and Irish Nationalism

The above are available at Bay Tree Bookstore and are also on reserve at McHenry Library.  In addition, there is a required course reader, available at Bay Tree Bookstore as well as on reserve.  Selections in the reader are marked with a *.  

Topics and Readings

April 3-7: Course introduction; overview of the conflict
   McKittrick and McVea, Making Sense of the Troubles, Introduction, Tables and Glossary
    * Excerpts from Sally Belfrage, Living with War: A Belfast Year

April 10-14: Historical roots of the conflict
   Ward, The Easter Rising, Preface, Chapters 1-11

April 17-21: The "orange state," 1920s-1960s
   Ward, The Easter Rising, Chapter 12
   McKittrick and McVea, Making Sense of the Troubles, Chapter 1
    * Excerpts from Seamus Deane, Reading in the Dark
    * Eamonn McCann, War and an Irish Town, Part I

April 24-28: The civil rights movement of the 1960s
   McKittrick and McVea, Making Sense of the Troubles, Chapters 2-3
    * McCann, War and an Irish Town, Part II
    * Mary Beckett, “A Belfast Woman”

May 1-5: Deadlock and violence, 1972-79
   McKittrick and McVea, Making Sense of the Troubles, Chapters 4-6
    * Nell McCafferty, Peggy Deery: An Irish Family at War
* Iconography of Irishness in the British Popular Press
   
May 8-11: The 1980-81 hunger strikes
    McKittrick and McVea, Making Sense of the Troubles, Chapter 7
     * Excerpts from McCafferty, The Best of Nell
* Anne Devlin, Ourselves Alone

First Paper due: Tuesday, May 9
 
May 15-18: The U.S. dimension
    Holland, The American Connection, Preface and Chapters 1-7     

May 22-26: The 1980s: atrocities and agreements
    McKittrick and McVea, Making Sense of the Troubles, Chapters 8-9
     * Excerpts from Denzil McDaniel, Enniskillen: The Remembrance Sunday Bombing
 
May 29-June 2: The origins of the peace process 
    McKittrick and McVea, Making Sense of the Troubles, Chapters 10-11
     * Poetry and Poets
     * Excerpts from Rosemary Sales, Women Divided

June 5-9: The Belfast Agreement and beyond
    McKittrick and McVea, Making Sense of the Troubles, Chapter 12 and Perspectives
    Holland, The American Connection, Chapter 8
   
Second Paper due: Thursday, June 8

Information Sources for Northern Ireland

The Irish Emigrant is a free weekly electronic newsletter summarizing news from the Republic and Northern Ireland.  Go to http://www.emigrant.ie/ and follow the directions for subscribing.

Newshound, http://www.nuzhound.com/, provides a daily digest of newspaper articles about Northern Ireland.  

The CAIN Website, at http://cain.ulst.ac.uk, is a gateway for resources on the Northern Irish conflict, including articles, data bases, maps, and links to other websites (such as those of political parties like Sinn Féin, the DUP, etc.).

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