Aims

How do we combine memory studies, public histories and the politics of the past? The aim of this module is to introduce students to the problems of conducting public histories and memory studies in the context of Ireland’s decade of centenaries and wider historiography. It will combine traditional methods of history with the new digital humanities that have become possible thanks to digitisation of sources such as the 1641 depositions in Trinity College Dublin, the Bureau of Military History archive of veterans of the Anglo-Irish War of Independence and the Military Service Pensions Collection.
The course will, further, utilise Ireland’s experience of traversing the decade of centenaries, 1912-23 (the one-hundredth anniversary of a number of important events that saw the creation of the two modern states of Ireland), to examine public histories, memory studies and the politics of the past. The course will introduce students to the key pieces of Irish historiography related to public histories. It will also examine how memory studies have significantly changed the landscape of Irish history. Last, it will introduce students to conducting historical research utilising the digitised sources that are now available to the historian.

The aims of this module are:

- To enable students to study the relationship between public histories and memory in Ireland;
- To enable students to engage with major historiographical debates related to public history and memory, through both historiographical texts and primary documents;
- To introduce students to recent historical research and to guide them in the analysis of primary
documents and texts, in both traditional and digital formats;
- To give students the opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge of the politics of commemoration and new approaches to historiographical investigation, such as digital humanities;
- To provide an opportunity of investigating in some depth selected problems related to commemoration, memory and public history in Ireland.

Outline Of Syllabus

The following is a guide only. Actual subjects may differ from those listed.

Lectures (The one-hour lectures will be based on the following themes)

1. Introduction: Memory, Public Histories and the Politics of the Past
2. Documenting Rebellion: the 1641 Rebellion as the World’s First Oral History Archive
3. The Nightmares of Modernity? Representing Emigration, Famine and Internationalism in the National Story
4. Essay Writing Workshop
5. Writing National Stories: 1916 and the Two Irelands as Public Histories
6. Troubling Histories: “Dark Tourism” and the Marketisation of the Past
7. Report Workshop
8. Conclusion: Memory, Public Histories and the Politics of the Past

Seminars – combination of online/in-person discussion and asynchronous, online activities/tasks to complete. This work will be based on documents and digital sources available online at Kew, PRONI, the
National Archives of Ireland, the National Library of Ireland and Trinity College Dublin (these will be provided)

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures: to enable students to gain a sense of the relationship between public histories and memory studies in Irish history;
to critically engage with the uses of historical skills and methods;
Seminars: to encourage independent study and to promote improvements in oral presentation, interpersonal communication and problem-solving skills, research skills and adaptability.
Workshops: to enable students to gain direct experience of utilising digital humanities methods.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

A level 5 course in modern History should be an opportunity for students to demonstrate their abilities and research skills. The two extended pieces of assessed written work give an opportunity for students to demonstrate the knowledge they have gained from their studies. The extended essay is an opportunity for students to demonstrate their historical skills. The second assessment, a report on a particular aspect of Irish Public Histories, will allow the student to utilise historical skills in a public-facing environment (in any area where Irish public history is displayed, exhibited or consumed: online, charity/non-governmental organisation, business, the heritage sector). The assessed work will allow students to develop their work and demonstrate the historical knowledge and skills they have obtained so far, in both usage of traditional historical sources and the digital archive. It will also highlight the applicable usage of historical skills in non-academic contexts. This form of assessment is complementary to work that the student will complete in level 3.

All Erasmus students at Newcastle University are expected to do the same assessment as students registered for a degree.

Study-abroad, non-Erasmus exchange and Loyola students spending semester 1 only are required to finish their assessment while in Newcastle. This will take the form of an alternative assessment, as outlined in the formats below:

Modules assessed by Coursework and Exam -
The normal alternative form of assessment for all semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be one essay in addition to the other coursework assessment (the length of the essay should be adjusted in order to comply with the assessment tariff); to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Modules assessed by Exam only -
The normal alternative form of assessment for all semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be two 2,000 word written exercises; to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Modules assessed by Coursework only -
All semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be expected to complete the standard assessment for the module; to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Study-abroad, non-Erasmus exchange and Loyola students spending the whole academic year or semester 2 are required to complete the standard assessment as set out in the MOF under all circumstances.