Humanities and the Irish University Anomalies and Opportunities
Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Michael O’Sullivan is Associate Professor in English at the Chinese University of Hong KongThis is the first book-length study of the humanities and the Irish university. Ireland was a deeply religious country throughout the twentieth century but the colleges of its National University never established a religion or theology department. The official first language of Ireland is Irish but the vast majority of teaching in the arts and humanities is in English. These are two of the anomalies that long constrained humanities education in Ireland.
This book charts a history of responses to humanities education in the Irish context. Reading the work of John Henry Newman, Padraig Pearse, Sean O Tuama, Denis Donoghue, Declan Kiberd, Richard Kearney and others, it looks for an Irish humanities ethos. It compares humanities models in the US, France and Asia with those in Ireland in light of work by Immanuel Kant, Pierre Bourdieu and Jacques Derrida. It should appeal to those interested in Irish education and history.
Introduction: defining the humanities
1. The humanities in the Irish context
2. Newman and the origins of the National University
3. The emergence of an Irish humanities ethos
4. International comparisons
5. The transformation of humanities education in Ireland
Bibliography
Index
This is the first book-length study of the humanities from Newman to Bologna in the Irish context. It focuses on unique characteristics of university policy in the National University that constrained humanities education. Ireland was a deeply religious country throughout the twentieth century but the colleges of its National University never established a theology or religion department. The official first language of Ireland is Irish but virtually all teaching in the arts and humanities is in English. The book examines the influence of such factors on Irish humanities education and on Irish society in general.
Has the humanities ethos of the Irish university departed radically from the educational ideals of John Henry Newman, its most illustrious ‘founder’? The book re-examines Newman’s vision for the university as well as responses to the 1908 Universities Act. It investigates how leading Irish educationalists and cultural theorists such as Pádraig, Pearse, Denis Donoghue, J. J. Lee, Declan Kiberd and Richard Kearney nurtured an Irish humanities perspective in response to more established humanities traditions associated with F. R. Leavis, Edward Said and Martha Nussbaum.
The book employs a comparative approach in examining recent humanities movements such as Irish studies and postcolonial studies. Humanities debates from other national contexts such as France, the US and Asia are examined in light of influential work on the university by Samuel Weber, Immanuel Kant, Pierre Bourdieu and Jacques Derrida.
This book will appeal to those interested in the humanities, Irish education and Irish studies in general.