Module Code - Title:
MU4001
-
CRITICAL ENCOUNTERS WITH IRISH MUSIC AND DANCE
Year Last Offered:
2025/6
Hours Per Week:
Grading Type:
N
Prerequisite Modules:
Rationale and Purpose of the Module:
This module is an introduction to the growing field of traditional music and dance studies and will give the student an overview of some of the important features of these traditions as well as current areas and modes of research in this context. The investigations presented in these modules will be particularly informed by the international disciplines of Arts practice research, ethnomusicology and ethnochoreology. Students here will also be introduced to responsible and accountable academic and research practices.
Syllabus:
Issues addressed in this module will be taken from current research engagements with the native Irish music and dance traditions. These will critically engage historical naratives, conceptual structuring and evolving identities of the traditions in question. A particular Arts practice lens will be engaged so students can experience the aesthetic and structure of the tradition per formatively. Students will be develop writing and presentation skills associated with such academic engagement and be introduced to concepts of research as a creative, scholarly practice.
Learning Outcomes:
Cognitive (Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis)
Identify some key concepts within the Irish Music and Dance tradition.
Demonstrate a knowledge of texts relevant to Irish Music and Dance studies.
Demonstrate an ability to engage texts critically
Generate responsible academic writing in an acceptable scholarly style
Affective (Attitudes and Values)
Contextualise their studies within the context of twentieth century Ireland.
Display a performed understanding of an aspect or aspects of tradition.
Express their opinions in class discussion.
Initiate an engagement with research as a creative scholarly practice
Psychomotor (Physical Skills)
reproduce a rudimentary level of embodied performance skills in a context previously unfamiliar to the student.
How the Module will be Taught and what will be the Learning Experiences of the Students:
This module will be taught through a mixture of lectures, tutorials and performance based laboratories. It will have traditional academic outcomes supplemented by an arts practice approach, giving the subject area an embodied relevance. As such this module has UL graduate attributes at it's core, focusing on knowledge based outputs supplemented with a embodied experience rooted in collaborative creative practice. Students will be able to articulate their understanding of these traditions in a culturally engaged and responsible manner.
Research Findings Incorporated in to the Syllabus (If Relevant):
Prime Texts:
Breathnach, Brendán (1971)
Folk Music and Dances of Ireland. .
, Dublin: Mercier Press
Brennan, Helen (1999)
The Story of Irish Dance
, Dingle: Brandon.
Ó hAllmhuráin, Gearóid (1998)
A Pocket History of Irish Traditional Music
, Dublin: O¿Brien Press
Hast, Dorothy E. and Scott, Stanley
(2004)
Music in Ireland: Experiencing Music,
Expressing Culture.
, New York: Oxford University Press
Vallely, Fintan
(2013)
The Companion to Irish Traditional Music.
, Cork: Cork University
Press
Other Relevant Texts:
O¿Shea, Helen
(2008)
The Making of Irish Traditional Music.
, Cork: Cork University
Press
Ní Bhriain, Orfhlaith (2008)
The Terminology of Irish Dance.
, Madison, WI: Macater Press
Cullinane, John (1987)
Aspects of the History of Irish Dancing in Ireland, England, New Zealand, North America and Australia,
, Cork.
Laoire, L. (2005)
On a Rock in the Middle of the Ocean: Songs and Singers in Tory Island, Ireland
, Cló Iar-Chonnachta
Foley, Catherine
(2001)
Perceptions of Irish Step Dance: ¿National, Global and Local¿
, Dance Research Journal: Congress on Dance Research, 33.1
Schechner, R.
(2002)
Performance Studies: An Introduction.
, London and New York: Routledge
Programme(s) in which this Module is Offered:
Semester(s) Module is Offered:
Autumn
Module Leader:
Niall.Keegan@ul.ie