Masters Degrees in History & Archaeology, Ireland

The M.Phil. course in Medieval History is designed to provide students with a rigorous grounding in medieval history and to prepare high-calibre graduates, from any Arts or Social Science background, for doctoral study or for employment outside of academia. The course is taught by specialists not only from the Department of History but also by medievalists in other disciplines, including archaeology, art history, classics, gender studies, literature and musicology. Aside from a thorough training in key skills, the course offers students the possibility of focusing on particular geographical areas (Ireland or elsewhere in Europe) and on themes crucial to the shaping of the medieval world, between c.500 and c.1550.

In a variety of modules students are trained in the analysis and presentation of their research findings. They are also introduced to the methodological challenges of advanced study and research at postgraduate level. The course includes a rigorous training in Latin (catering both for beginners and those with an existing qualification) and in Palaeography – the study and transcription of medieval handwriting. Study of other languages is also possible. A suite of term-long electives is available on substantive themes or topics, varying from year to year. Recently offered modules include: The Archaeology of Ancient and Early Medieval Rome; Viking Ireland; Regnum and Sacerdotium in Narrative Sources and Letters of the Eleventh Century; Saints and Sanctity in the Medieval World; Kingship in Medieval England; Renaissance Kingship, c.1488-1542; Gender Theories; Public Archaeology; and Classics and the European Identity. The weekly James Lydon Research Seminar provides an opportunity for invited medievalists from Ireland and across the world to discuss their work with graduate students. There is also a dedicated M.Phil. Research Seminar, in which Masters students present their research to fellow students and staff. The course culminates with a 20,000-word dissertation, written on an agreed topic and individually supervised by a member of staff.

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This programme is offered jointly by faculty from the Departments of History and Geography, Mary Immaculate College and the Department of History, University of Limerick. The programme meets the needs of graduates in history, or in related disciplines (e.g. Irish Studies, human geography, archaeology, anthropology) who wish to carry out historical research, especially in relation to a particular locality. The course is particularly suited for those hoping to proceed to PhD programmes in history, but also facilitates those interested in historical research for their own personal development.

The course is part-time, over two academic years. The emphasis is on conducting and presenting research. It consists of six taught modules delivered through lectures and seminars, as well as the preparation of a thesis for submission at the end of the second year.

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Multicultural, Multi-Disciplinary MA

The MA in Culture and Colonialism explores literature, politics and culture from Ireland to India, from Africa to the Middle East. Students analyse imperial ascendancies, race and racial theories, nationalist movements, postcolonial experiences, the rise of neo-colonial thought, multiculturalism and interculturalism, and the implications of globalisation and development for the modern world.

This MA allows students to combine the specialisation of postgraduate research with the adaptable skills training of a multi-disciplinary approach. Students benefit from the legacy of an MA programme established in 1994; the programme has continuously re-invented itself in changing ideological climates while maintaining its primary goal: to offer a critical education in the cultural discourses of power.

Careers

MA in Culture and Colonialism graduates have gone on to careers in development work, NGOs, law, university lecturing, publishing, media, journalism, community work, teaching (primary and secondary), film-making, advertising, and the Civil Service. The programme has a particularly strong record in research training: a high proportion of its students have proceeded to doctoral programmes in Ireland, Britain and North America, with many of them winning prestigious funding awards.

Teaching Staff

The programme's teaching staff over the years has been drawn from the disciplines of English, History, Political Science and Sociology, Economics, Irish Studies, Film Studies, Spanish, French, Archaeology, German, Italian, and Classics, and is supplemented by Irish and international guest lecturers.

Programme Outline

The full-time degree taken over a twelve-month period from September. The year is divided into two teaching semesters (September to December and January to April), with the summer period devoted to completing the dissertation. A two-year part-time option is also available. Students take six taught modules together with a (non-assessed) research training seminar, and produce a 15,000-word dissertation (30 ECTS) on a topic of their choice.

Programme Modules

Central Modules

EN541 Colonialism in Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Cultural Theory
This module focuses on issues of identity, political agency and representation. It offers an introduction to twentieth-century theorisations of colonialism and neo-colonialism, especially in relation to cultural production, and their implications for twenty-first century socio-political thought. The distinctive position of Ireland in relation to postcolonial theory is considered, together with other national and international contexts. Some of the theorists discussed include Fanon, Said, Spivak and Ahmad.

SP544 Decolonization and Neo-Colonialism: The Politics of 'Development'
The phenomena of development and underdevelopment in those lands that have experienced colonial rule have been theorised in two broadly contrasting ways in social science: the modernisation perspective, which derives from the northern hemisphere by and large, and a series of counter-perspectives (such as structuralism, dependency, neo-Marxism and world systems theory), whose exponents hail from the southern hemisphere in the main. The module also considers the issue of how much light modernisation and counter-perspectives can shed on the Irish experience of development and underdevelopment.

HI546 Studies in the History of Colonialism and Imperialism
This module introduces students to some of the key thinkers and concepts in the writing of British imperial history. The work of scholars such as J. A. Hobson, Ronald Robinson and Jack Gallagher, Peter Cain and Tony Hopkins, Chris Bayly, Alan Lester and John Darwin will be discussed. Concepts such as finance imperialism, informal empire, the official mind, gentlemanly capitalism, colonial knowledge, imperial networks, and bridgeheads will be examined from a critical perspective. Students will be asked to read key texts, undertake wider reading and research to help put these key texts in context, comment on their readings, and present their own ideas as the basis for class discussion and debate.

Research Seminar (compulsory but not examined)
This module provides a training in research, analysis and writing techniques appropriate to the programme, as well as individual consultations on the formulation of dissertation topics. The seminar will take place throughout the year.

Option Modules (two chosen)

EN547 Literature and Colonialism
This module considers the relationship between literary modes and aesthetics and political power. It analyses literature connected to the British Empire and its former colonies, discussing English, Irish, Indian and African writers in relation to colonial power structures, nationalist movements and postcolonial developments. Genres covered include imperial adventure fiction, travel writing, late-Victorian urban Gothic, modernist and post-modernist fiction and poetry, postcolonial writing, and the twenty-first century multicultural novel.

EC535 Political Economy, Colonialism and Globalization
The aim of the module will be to identify the fundamental concepts of globalization by analysing the various ideologies, systems and structures that underpin the progression of global capitalism through the ages. Underlying philosophical theories will be linked with political, legal sociological and economic ideals that are often the driving forces behind these processes.

EN573 Travel Literature
The genre of travel writing includes a vast array of literary forms from journals to letters, ambassadorial reports, captivity narratives, historical descriptions, ethnographies, and natural histories. The appearance of such accounts explodes in the early modern period in an era of expanded travel for purposes of trade, education, exploration, and colonial settlement. This module looks at a range of documents from different historical moments to track the development of this important genre, including the emergence of travel writing by women.

EN549 Cinema and Colonialism
This module considers the relationships between colonialism and the theory and practice of cinema. Seminars may address the following themes: the Hollywood genres of the ‘Western’ and the ‘Vietnam movie’; postcolonial theories of cinema; Cuban cinema; cinema of anti-colonial revolution; neocolonialism and Irish cinema; African cinema; gender, colonialism and cinema; and Western representations of imperialism.

HI588 Studies in Regional Identities
This module introduces students to concepts of regional identities and explores various interpretative approaches to regional identity. Students will examine the role of history, language and religion in the construction and perpetuation of regional identity and will consider the relationship between regions and nation states. This is a team-taught module. While the content may vary according to the availability of staff from year to year, it will include Irish and European case studies.

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This course is intended to provide graduates in related disciplines with a solid grounding in Old Irish language and literature. Applications are normally accepted only from persons with a good honors degree in a cognate subject such as Modern Irish or another Celtic language, medieval languages, literature or history, archaeology.

The course commences with an introduction to Old Irish, proceeds on to Old Irish literature, including readings in lyrical verse, and also covers Old Irish glosses and saga literature.

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The M.Phil. in Gender and Women's Studies provides a critical understanding of the current scholarship on the position and representation of gender in society. Drawing on insights and perspectives from a number of academic fields within the Humanities and Social Sciences, the course is both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, training students to research across a range of disciplines. Its students acquire a deep understanding of the cultural contexts in which theories of gender are produced, performed and negotiated and an ability to use primary source material as well as critical theories and scholarship. The course also hones the sort of analytical, written, and verbal communication skills that are highly valued and effective in a many different careers.

All students take the core modules Gender Theories, Gender Research Seminar and Approaches to Gender Research, which provide a grounding in key approaches and skills. Students choose further modules from a wide range of electives, varying from year to year. These include both special topics and further skills and methodologies training options, allowing students to build specific skills and to follow their individual interests. Recently offered modules include: Gender and Symbolic Violence; Gender, Art and Identity; Gender and War in the 20th Century; Saints and Sanctity in Ireland, Britain and Europe; Gender, Identity and Authority in 18th century France; Gender and Nation in Irish Writing; Approaches to Historical Research; Libraries and Archives; Curating Art in Theory and Practice. The capstone of the course is a dissertation of 15,000-20,000 words on a research topic in the area of Gender and Women's Studies selected by the student, carried out under the supervision of a member of the teaching staff of the course.

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The M.Phil. in Irish Art History provides an exciting programme exploring a range of key aspects of the history and analysis of Irish visual expression from pre-Christian to Contemporary art and architecture. The course is designed both for graduates of art history and for those from other, cognate, disciplines. While focused on art and artists in or from Ireland, the imagery, objects and structures are all explored within international and interdisciplinary contexts, as the course is intended to provide graduates with a range of transferable analytical and practical skills that can be applied within other cultural environments. A particular advantage of this course is the accessibility of a wide range of relevant art objects and structures in, and in the vicinity of, Trinity College as well as extensive library and archival resources. Since its establishment ten years ago, the course has attracted applications from all over the world. Many graduates have continued on to undertake Ph.D. research in Trinity and in other universities internationally, while others have taken up posts in museums, galleries, and auction houses as well as in cultural media.

The course offers general introductions to Irish art and architecture as well as a more specialized focus on selected periods and themes. It provides students with a critical understanding of the analysis of works of art within their cultural contexts, and an appreciation of the range of works created in Ireland over time. A core dimension of the course will involve exploring the concept of 'Irishness'. Through engagement with museums and galleries in Ireland, students will also have an understanding of a key curatorial issues of relevance in the development of exhibitions and collections, including the technical opportunities which the digital age offers to curators and art historians. In addition to taking compulsory core modules, students choose a number of electives, which allow them to build specific skills and to follow their individual interests. Students are assessed on the completion of a range of coursework assignments, including essays, critiques, and research exercises. The capstone of the course is a dissertation of 15,000-20,000 words on a topic selected by the student, and carried out under the supervision of a member of staff in the Department of History of Art and Architecture or the Irish Art Research Centre (TRIARC).

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The M.Phil in Modern Irish History introduces well-qualified Humanities or Social Sciences graduates to research in modern Irish history, to the problems currently addressed by historians and to the methods they apply to study of the subject. Drawing on the current interests of staff, the course is based on the rich resources of Trinity College Dublin's library and of the adjacent Dublin libraries and archives. The course provides opportunities for in-depth study of selected issues in modern Irish history. It also serves as an introduction to students wishing to pursue doctoral studies.

The course comprises three main elements. A number of research training modules focus on the range of approaches, technologies and resources available to researchers in modern Irish history. In addition students take special subject modules in each term. Topics on offer change from year to year, but cover a range of specialised themes from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. Some modules concentrate on key moments or developments in Ireland's history, while others examine Ireland's relationship with the outside world, whether through emigration or through its place in the British empire. Finally, Students write a dissertation of between 15,000 and 20,000 words on any area of modern Irish history based on primary sources and relevant scholarly writing.

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The M.Phil course in Early Modern History offers well-qualified graduates in History, the Humanities and the Social Sciences an introduction to research in the political, social, cultural and religious history of Ireland, Britain and Europe across the early modern period. This one-year course (or two years part-time) is designed to introduce students to a wide range of issues in, and approaches to, early modern history. It also provides students with training in research methods and skills. The course is built around Trinity College Library's unparalleled resources for the period from the Reformation to the French Revolution. The course may also serve as an introduction to graduate study for students intending to pursue doctoral studies.

The core module for this course is From Reform to Revolution: Cultural Change and Political Conflict in Early Modern Europe. Students also choose two major of study, one in each term. Availability of modules alters from year to year. Subjects recently offered include: Religious Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Modern Europe; War and Society in Early Modern Ireland and Europe; The War of Ideas in the English Revolution; Gender, Identity and Authority in Eighteenth-Century France; Renaissance Kingship. In addition, students take modules focussed on research training and skills. These are designed to introduce the diverse resources and methodologies that historians encounter in their research while also equipping students with the practical skills that are required for the study of early modern history. The Research Seminar in Early Modern History provides an opportunity for invited early modernists from Ireland and elsewhere to discuss their work with graduate students. The capstone of the course is the independent dissertation project. Students complete dissertations of between 15,000 and 20,000 words based on their own primary research. Each student is assigned a supervisor who provides individual academic guidance on their research project.

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The M.Phil. course builds on the material presented in the Postgraduate Diploma in Old Irish. Applicants will therefore normally have successfully completed the latter course, though persons with equivalent competence in Old Irish but who have not successfully completed the diploma are also eligible to apply. All candidates undertake core courses in Old Irish prose, Old Irish poetry, Primitive and Archaic Irish, Early Irish law and Middle Irish. In addition students attend a series of guest lectures organised by the department, and all undertake a dissertation of 20,000 words.

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This interdisciplinary course is designed for well-qualified graduates who wish to extend their interest in medieval studies. The flexible structure of the course allows students to construct their degree around their particular areas of interest, while acquiring both the technical expertise to investigate primary medieval documents and an insight into the complexities of medieval culture generally. Students will have the opportunity to be taught not only by Trinity staff but also by visiting lecturers from other internationally renowned institutions.

Students take four core courses:

Research Methodology;
Medieval Thought;
Medieval Culture and Society;
and a language chosen from: Elementary Classical Latin, Medieval Latin, Old English, Middle English, Italian, Medieval German, Medieval French, Old Irish.

Two options are also chosen. Currently the subject areas include:
Chaucer; Language and Genre; Varieties of Comedy in Dante and Boccaccio; 'Wild' Women in Medieval Literature; Old English Prose; Arthurian H; Courtly love song in Medieval Europe, Early Medieval Ireland; Text and Image; Old English Heroic Poetry; The Unruly Middle Ages; Medieval Philosophy.

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The M.Phil. in Classics is designed both for those who are already fully trained in the classical languages and for those who have completed non-language based degrees. The course provides students with an excellent grounding in postgraduate research skills in Classics. It also hones the sort of analytical, written, and verbal communication skills that are highly valued and effective in careers outside the university and education sectors. Since its establishment in 2008 the M.Phil. in Classics has attracted students from all over the world. Many have gone on to do doctoral studies in Trinity College and in other universities internationally.

The course has two compulsory elements. The weekly core module Research and Methods runs throughout the year and communicates core research skills and knowledge across the main strands of classical scholarship. All students also write a dissertation of 15,000 to 20,000 words on an agreed topic, individually supervised by a member of staff. The dissertation offers an opportunity to begin to specialise in a particular strand of scholarship, whether literary, philosophical, historical or archaeological. In addition, students choose four elective modules (or two if they take beginners' Greek or Latin), which likewise allow them to build specific skills and to follow their individual interests.

Recently taught electives include:
Greek Language;
Latin Language;
Classics and European Identity;
Textual Criticism;
Gender and Genre in Augustan Poetry;
Greeks and Barbarians;
Ancient Drama, Adaptation and Performance;
Curiosity and Crisis in the Late Fifth Century:
Receptions of the Sophists;
The Eternal City:
The Archaeology of the City of Rome;
Lost in the Labyrinth? 'Reading' Aegean Bronze Age Art;
Rulers and Image-making in the Hellenistic World.

For students with intermediate and advanced Greek and Latin a range of author- and topic-based modules are available. Students may also apply to take one Directed Reading module outside listed taught modules (within the areas of expertise of staff members) or an approved module from another M.Phil. course. Available options vary from year to year, subject to staffing demands.

The initial closing date for applications is 30th April and offers will be made on a rolling basis from January 2014. Should places remain unfilled, applications received after the initial closing date will be considered.

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The core modules are a thesis of 12,000-15,000 words (40 credits) and two research skills modules (5 credits each). There is also a choice of seminar and language modules (10 credits each). No prior knowledge of Greek or Latin is required. Seminar modules offered are: The Age of Marius and Sulla, Warfare and Society in the Ancient World, The Epic Tradition, Rome and the Natural World, The Writing of Warfare, and Perceptions of Antiquity.

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Overview

This is a two-year programme, designed to provide graduates with in-depth study of a range of areas within the field of Classics, and with the skills necessary for carrying out research in one or more classical disciplines. The study of ancient Greek or Latin is compulsory in the first year, and may be continued in the second; prior knowledge of the language is not required.

Course Structure

In the first year, all candidates include in their programme modules in Greek or Latin; normally these will be at the introductory level, though modules at higher levels will be prescribed for candidates who already possess introductory-level qualifications. Candidates are also required to write a dissertation of 15,000–20,000 words on a topic approved by the Head of the Department of Ancient Classics under the supervision of a designated supervisor. Modules include Introduction to Latin and Greek, Philosophy and Kingship in Antiquity, Ancient Cosmology, Popular Culture in Classical Athens, and Literature and Learning in the Second Century AD: Apuleius and his Contemporaries.

Career Options

Successful completion of the MA at a high level, with an appropriate degree of competence in a classical language, will normally equip students to proceed to study for a PhD, a necessary qualification for an academic career. In addition, employers across a wide range of professions value highly the wide range of intellectual skills which an MA in Classics develops.

How to Apply

Online application only http://www.pac.ie/nuim

PAC Code
MHF50

The following information should be forwarded to PAC, 1 Courthouse Square, Galway or uploaded to your online application form:

Certified copies of all official transcripts of results for all non-Maynooth University qualifications listed MUST accompany the application. Failure to do so will delay your application being processed. Non-Maynooth University students are asked to provide two academic references and a copy of birth certificate or valid passport.

Find information on Scholarships here https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/study-maynooth/postgraduate-studies/fees-funding-scholarships

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Overview

This is a one-year programme, designed to provide graduates with in-depth study of specific topics within the field of Classics, and a set of research skills appropriate to work at this level.

Course Structure

Candidates take a specified number of taught modules, and are also required to write a long essay of c.7,500 words representing an independent piece of research. It is not possible to take modules in Greek or Latin as part of this programme. The long essay is written on a topic approved by the Head of the Department of Ancient Classics under the supervision of a designated supervisor. The topic is agreed by the end of the first semester, and work begun during the period between the first and the second semester. The long essay is submitted by a specified date at the end of the academic year. Modules include Philosophy and Kingship in Antiquity, Ancient Cosmology, Popular Culture in Classical Athens, and Ancient History: Problems and Methods.

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The M.Phil. course in Public History and Cultural Heritage is designed to provide students with a rigorous grounding in public history and to prepare high-calibre graduates in a unique and thorough fashion for the management of cultural heritage. We define ‘public history’ and ‘cultural heritage’ broadly. The course involves analysis of cultural memory, its construction, reception and loss; and study of the public status and consumption of history in modern society. Political issues surrounding public commemoration and ‘sites of memory’ are examined and the role of museums, galleries and the media in shaping public perceptions of the past is considered. The course also surveys the more concrete questions involved in the conservation, presentation and communication of the physical heritage of past cultures, particularly where interpretation and meaning are contested.

The M.Phil. course in Public History and Cultural Heritage is designed to provide students with a rigorous grounding in public history and to prepare high-calibre graduates in a unique and thorough fashion for the management of cultural heritage. We define 'public history' and 'cultural heritage' broadly. The course involves analysis of cultural memory, its construction, reception and loss; and study of the public status and consumption of history in modern society. Political issues surrounding public commemoration and 'sites of memory' are examined and the role of museums, galleries and the media in shaping public perceptions of the past is considered. The course also surveys the more concrete questions involved in the conservation, presentation and communication of the physical heritage of past cultures, particularly where interpretation and meaning are contested.

The course is taught in collaboration with the leading cultural institutions located in Dublin and several organisations offer internships to students. In recent years participating bodies have included Dublin City Gallery; Dublin City Library and Archive; Glasnevin Trust; Hugh Lane Gallery; The Little Museum of Dublin; Marsh's Library; the National Gallery of Ireland; the National Library of Ireland; the National Museum of Ireland; and St Patrick's Cathedral.

In a variety of modules, students are trained in the analysis and the presentation of their research findings. They are also introduced to the methodological challenges of advanced study and research at postgraduate level. The course comprises a core module, entitled Remembering, Reminding and Forgetting: Public History, Cultural Heritage and the Shaping of the Past, which runs across both terms. A suite of term-long electives is available on substantive themes. A three-month internship, located in one of our collaborating institutions, runs throughout the second term. Practitioner workshops are also held in the second term and provide an opportunity for national and international 'public historians' to discuss their work with the class. In any given year this may include novelists, artists, museum directors, or heritage and tourism policymakers. The course concludes with the production of a dissertation or major project, individually supervised by an member of staff.

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