79-255 Modern Ireland: Politics and Culture from the Famine (1847) to Today
9 units, Carnegie Mellon University
This course studies the political, economic and social development of Ireland across its long nineteenth century. Beginning with the social and economic effects of the Famine of the 1840s, it studies Irelands growing incorporation into the Britishcentric global economy, the growing role of Catholicism in Irish politics, the cultural ferment of the late nineteenth century and the events leading up to formal independence in 1922. Following on from this, the course reviews the development of the two Irelands the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the rise to hegemony of Fianna Fil and the Ulster Unionist Party, the politics of gender and sexuality in two of western Europes most conservative societies, violence in Northern Ireland, and rapid economic, social and political changes since the 1990s. Ultimately, this course seeks to use Ireland as a case study for introducing students to history as an academic field and for understanding some of the key topics of modern historiography, such as nationalism and economic and political development. This course fulfills Dietrich Colleges Humanities general education requirement. [Note students who have already taken this course under its former number 79255 and former titles, Irish History, or Politics, Religion, and Conflict in the 19th and 20th Century Ireland, may not enroll.
Prerequisites: none listed
Offered: Spring 2027
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