The Celts MA/PgDip

The The Celts MA is a one year (full time) course, and it may also be taken part time (normally up to three years). The degree programme consists of two parts: Part 1 This is a wholly taught component, contributing 120 credits. All taught modules carry a credit weighting of 40 credits. Part 1 is taught during the two semesters which make up the academic year. Teaching during semester 1 normally runs from late September to December. Teaching during Semester 2 normally runs from late January to early May. Modules in Part 1 will be assessed by essay. Part 2: This consists of a supervised Dissertation of around 20,000 words, on a topic of your choice, decided upon in consultation with a thesis advisor. This is completed during the summer months, from late May to September, and full time students should submit their Dissertation by September in the calendar year following initial registration. Compulsory Modules: The Celts: Fundamentals: This module introduces the main sources for information about the ‘Celts’, based on two different definitions of ‘Celtic’. These definitions are interrogated as the evidence is explored. This evidence is mainly: ( i) the use of the word itself (‘Celt’, ‘Keltoi’, etc.) in identification or self identification; (ii) the prime sources concerning attitudes to the history and identity of the ‘Celts’ (defined here as those peoples who speak or spoke a Celtic language in the Modern period. There are four main areas: Evidence from Classical historians: texts from authors such as Athaneus, Caesar, etc., where the Celts are mentioned explicitly. Archaeological and visual evidence, such as Hallstatt, La Tène, art history and the change of archaeological paradigms in the 20th century. Linguistic evidence: nineteenth century linguistics and the discovery/creation of Indo European (and thus the Celtic languages). More recent historical and literary evidence: the chief sources for the history of the recent (i.e. medieval and post medieval) ‘Celts’: chronicles and Laws, prose tales and bardic traditions, recent history The Creation of the Modern Celt: In this module, we explore how the concept of the ‘Celt’ and the ‘Celtic’ was used and manipulated in the Modern period. We consider a wide range of discourses (e.g., linguistics, archaeology, anthropology, art, music, literature, politics). We explore what is considered as ‘Celtic’ material in these various fields, and discuss the main arguments which have been forwarded in the course of defining the term. Attention is also paid to the ideological reasons for the urge to use these concepts, and the influence this has on the ethnic and national identities of the ‘Celts’ themselves. This module therefore, in comparison with Module 1, shifts the focus from the empirical to the interpretative, and the use of these interpretations. There are four main areas: Shifting attitudes towards the ‘Celt’ in various academic fields. I.e., methodological and ideological changes in Linguistics, Archaeology, Physical Anthropology. The ‘Celts’ in non literary artistic media (especially Art, Music). The ‘Celts’ in the Romantic period, with consideration of how the medieval literature (mainly Welsh and Irish) was rediscovered and reinterpreted. Figures such as Ossian and Iolo Morganwg will be considered, and attention will also be paid to the development of Celtic Studies as an academic field in European universities. The political ‘Celt’: theories of nationalism and the rôles played by ‘Celticity’ in politics from the nineteenth to the twenty first centuries. Optional Modules: A third module will be chosen by the student from among a range offered by various Schools in the University. This will allow the student to pursue his/her particular interests and, potentially, to begin to focus on material for the Dissertation. Welsh Literature Option: This module explores the main aspects of medieval ‘Celtic’ literacy, in poetry and prose, across a range of genres from the prose legends and the court poetry to the laws and the vitae (Lives of Saints and rulers). The main focus is on Wales and Ireland, but the other Celtic languages will also be considered. Equally, we consider the continuation of these early traditions into the modern period up to the current day, and we ask what this evidence tells us about the attitudes of Celtic language speakers to the concept of the ‘Celtic’. Visual and musical media are also given attention, and students will develop a critical awareness of the primary sources which are represented and misrepresented in many discussions of the ‘Celtic’. This module has five main areas: ‘Mythology’: the evidence for gods and religion in the early period Manuscripts and literacy: the main manuscripts of the Welsh and Irish traditions Church and Saints: the ‘institution’ of the Celtic Church and Celtic Christianity Prose: the Mabinogion and the Irish Cycles Poetry: the Bard and the bardic order in Wales and Ireland; the traditions of praise and satire; contemporary poetry and the Eisteddfod. Non Welsh speaking students may also take full advantage of the learning opportunities provided here in this Celtic speaking heartland, either by attending a summer course in advance of the University year, or by taking advantage of weekly lessons on campus, or bo