Cultural Geography is the analysis of the relationship between social construction and its spatial expression. Over time Dublin has changed in many ways – politically, culturally, physically and economically. Although some of these shifting landscapes can be referenced on the tourist maps today, examples being Christchurch Cathedral and Georgian Dublin, many of the lived spaces have been forgotten or veiled in the margins. This course enables students to engage in a spatial narrative with the city by means of a detailed study of the city’s spatial morphology in which a form of ‘philosophical pluralism’ is called for in the individual’s ‘human geography’. The tool to be used is ‘geographical imagination’ whereby the sensitivity towards the significance of place, space, and landscape in the constitution and conduct of social life is fostered and expressed spatially. Literature and music will be used to give meaning and identity to the lived environments. The course will explore the ‘hidden’ city spaces within Dublin, those place that house the unemployed, travelers and immigrant communities.
Attendance policy:
Any missed class, without a legitimate reason will be reflected in the final grade.
A legitimate reason would include: illness or family bereavement. Since IES Abroad courses are designed to take advantage of the unique contribution of the instruction and the lecture/discussion format is regarded s the primary mode of instruction, regular class attendance is mandatory.
Method of presentation:
Lectures, seminars / workshops, field trips.
Field study:
Participating on fieldtrips (including theatre visits) is required, even if they are not scheduled during the regular class period. Since IES Abroad recognizes the benefits of field study, IES Abroad requires that all students registered for the course must attend the fieldtrips or be penalized.
Required work and form of assessment:
The breakdown of grades are as follows: history project (25%), individual photo-essay (25%), group research project (35%); development of portfolio of course work, which includes creation of a Google Map of Dublin (15%).
content:
Field trips/work are an integral part of the course. Individual trips are to be confirmed. Some photocopied materials will be given to students at the end of sessions to be read for the following week.
Week One and Two: (Introduction – Doing Cultural Research)
(wk 1): Introduction – ‘Semitotics and the city’. How does one read a city? A discussion of rhythmanalysis and culture theory. Mental Map 1. Students’ perceptions of Ireland and Dublin. Photo project begins. Students will read (hand-outs) from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities (1997); Jonathon Raban’s Soft City (1974) and Ash Amin and Neil Thrift’s, (2002) Cities, Reimagining the Urban.
(wk 2): Field work in Dublin’s Liberties area and Medieval Dublin. As part of this class students will explore the iconography of Dublin’s landscape through an examination of the names of streets they encounter during class. The political and cultural significance of statues and monuments will also be discussed. Students will read from Whelan, Y. (2003) Reinventing Modern Dublin. Streetscape, Iconography and the Politics of Identity.
Week Three, Four and Five (History of the City)
(wk 3): Discussion of Kevin Lynch’s The Image of the City and other class reading material such as Susan Sontag’s “On Photography”(hand-outs); Discussion of students’ on-going photo projects; Medieval history and development of Dublin as a city - Short video.
(wk 4): Changing land-use patterns of Georgian Dublin [Students will read chapter 2 from Brady and Simms,
Dublin Through Space and Time 2001]. Students will walk through Georgian Dublin and discuss neo-classical architecture of Georgian houses and the effect of the Wide Streets Commission on the development (urban planning) of Dublin. The class will end with a 45 minute tour of the Georgian House Museum.
Photo Essay Due: This short assignment encourages students to explore and document the city with their cameras. They will choose, and discuss in class, the photographs that represent their Dublin. This assignment further develops the students’ on-going understanding of semiotics and urban / cultural research.
(wk 5): The experiences of Tenement life. Students will make short presentations based on their reading of sections from Jacinta Prunty’s (1998) Dublin Slums 1800-1925 and Kevin Kearns’ (1994) Dublin Tenement Life: An Oral History.
Mental Map 2 and Introduction to Google Maps. (wk 5)
Mid-Term project. Students will select one historical time-period to research. The assignment can be either a formal essay or a creative project discussed and agreed upon with the professor. An example of the latter might include writing a suite of poetry; short story; one-act play script; letters between relatives in America and Ireland and song lyrics. The creative assignment must include a two-page (formal/academic) written rationale for the project, accompanied by supporting material and bibliography.
Week Six and Seven (Suburbanisation and Gentrification: The politics of civic space and everyday life):
(wk 6): Personal Dublin mind-map 2. The development of suburban Dublin – causes and effects. Burgess and Hoyt models. A study of urbanism to include Ferdinand Tonnie’s Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft 1887 and Louis Wirth’s Urbanism as a way of Life 1938. Students will also read about the suburbanisation of Dublin through the memoirs of popular Irish Times journalist Fintan O’Toole’s Black Hole, Green Card: The Disappearance of Ireland.
(wk 7): Smithfield and the Markets Area of Dublin (Field Trip/Work). This class will test and encourage the students understanding of the politics of gentrification (in part, based on their reading of Jane Jacobs’ (1961) The Death and the Life of America’s Great Cities and Neil Smith’s (1996) The New Urban Frontier: Gentrification and the Revanchist City. This course segment will link explicitly with the students reading and work in weeks one and two.
Weeks Eight to Twelve: (Contemporary Dublin: Ethnification and Invisible Communities):
(wk 8): Who lives where in Dublin? Socio-demographics. Census (socio-ethnographic) analysis of Dublin’s Inner City: poverty and social exclusion. Google maps assignment due. Students will read from: Darren Kelly’s “Dublin’s spatial narrative - the transition from essentially monocultural places to polycultural spaces” in Irish Geography. Vol 38 [2], (2005); Cullen, Paul. (2000) Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Ireland and Farrell, Fintan and Watt, Philip. (2001) Responding to Racism in Ireland.
(wk 9): Small group research work in small range of different areas in Dublin. Based on their research of certain spatial areas in the inner city students will visit their research sites. The professor will join each group for a period of time. Examples of research sites can be found at: http://reflectingcity.com/2002/8501a.htm
(wk 10): The life and death of the Celtic Tiger. Part of this class will include a visit to the near-by financial services centre / Dublin’s Dock Lands to discuss the Irish economic phenomenon known as the Celtic Tiger. Students will read a number of relevant materials, including Niamh Moores’, Rejuvenating Docklands: The Irish Context in Geography, Vol. 32(2) Ireland.
(wk 11): ‘It’s a small world after all’: Following-on from wk 10 students will present/discuss the relationship between America and Ireland in terms of economics / globalisation and cultural (media) hegemony. We will also
explore the concept of ‘Culture Shock’ and their returning home. We will discuss how they might re-view their
old places with new lenses. This area of analysis and discussion links with the concept that a significant proportion of study abroad learning occurs on the students’ re-entry and subsequent engagement with their home environments. We will discuss how they will describe Ireland and how this may well be significantly different from their initial perceptions of Ireland prior to arrival, which was discussed in week one.
Portfolio work.
(wk 12): Group Project presentations (Final paper). Students will give an oral presentation and power- point presentation of their research sites. Mind-map 3. Finalising portfolios. Evaluation.
In Lieu of an exam students will submit their portfolio of work.
Required readings:
Amin, Ash and Thrift, Nigel (2002) Cities: Reimagining the Urban. Oxford. Polity Press.
Brady, Joseph and Simms, Anngret. Eds. (2001) Dublin Through Space and Time. Dublin. Four Courts press.
Bridge, Gary and Watson, Sophie (2002) The City Reader. Oxford. Blackwell.
Kearns, Kevin (1994) Dublin Tenement Life: An Oral History. England. Penguin.
Lynch, Kevin(1960) The Image of the City. Cambridge. The MIT Press.
Raban, Jonathon. (1974) Soft City. Great Britain. Fontana.
Recommended readings:
Cullen, Paul. (2000) Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Ireland. Ireland. Cork University Press.
Doyle, Roddy (1994) Paddy Clarke ha, ha, ha. London. Minerva.
Drudy, P.J. and Killen James Eds. (2001) “Dublin: Economic and Social Trends.” Vol 3 Dublin. The Centre for Urban and Regional Studies.
During, Simon Ed. (1993) The Cultural Studies Reader. London. Routledge.
Farrell, Fintan and Watt, Philip. (2001) Responding to Racism in Ireland. Ireland. Veritas.
Harvey, David. (1973) Social Justice and the City. London. Arnold.
Highmore, Ben. (2005) Cityscapes. New York. Palgrave.
Johnson. James H. (1994) The Human Geography of Ireland. England. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Johnston, R. (1980) City and Society: An Outline for Urban Geography. England. Penguin.
JOURNALS
Drudy, P.J. and Killen James Eds. (2001) Dublin: Economic and Social Trends. Vol 3 Dublin. The Centre for Urban and Regional Studies.
Killen James and MacLaren. (1999) Dublin: Contemporary Trends and Issues for the Twenty First Century. Ireland . The Geographical Society of Ireland.
Kelly, Darren (2005). Dublin’s Spatial Narrative – the transition from essentially monocultural places to polycultural spaces. Irish Geography, Vol. 38(2)
Cultural Geography is the analysis of the relationship between social construction and its spatial expression. Over time Dublin has changed in many ways – politically, culturally, physically and economically. Although some of these shifting landscapes can be referenced on the tourist maps today, examples being Christchurch Cathedral and Georgian Dublin, many of the lived spaces have been forgotten or veiled in the margins. This course enables students to engage in a spatial narrative with the city by means of a detailed study of the city’s spatial morphology in which a form of ‘philosophical pluralism’ is called for in the individual’s ‘human geography’. The tool to be used is ‘geographical imagination’ whereby the sensitivity towards the significance of place, space, and landscape in the constitution and conduct of social life is fostered and expressed spatially. Literature and music will be used to give meaning and identity to the lived environments. The course will explore the ‘hidden’ city spaces within Dublin, those place that house the unemployed, travelers and immigrant communities.
Any missed class, without a legitimate reason will be reflected in the final grade.
A legitimate reason would include: illness or family bereavement. Since IES Abroad courses are designed to take advantage of the unique contribution of the instruction and the lecture/discussion format is regarded s the primary mode of instruction, regular class attendance is mandatory.
Lectures, seminars / workshops, field trips.
Participating on fieldtrips (including theatre visits) is required, even if they are not scheduled during the regular class period. Since IES Abroad recognizes the benefits of field study, IES Abroad requires that all students registered for the course must attend the fieldtrips or be penalized.
The breakdown of grades are as follows: history project (25%), individual photo-essay (25%), group research project (35%); development of portfolio of course work, which includes creation of a Google Map of Dublin (15%).
Field trips/work are an integral part of the course. Individual trips are to be confirmed. Some photocopied materials will be given to students at the end of sessions to be read for the following week.
Week One and Two: (Introduction – Doing Cultural Research)
(wk 1): Introduction – ‘Semitotics and the city’. How does one read a city? A discussion of rhythmanalysis and culture theory. Mental Map 1. Students’ perceptions of Ireland and Dublin. Photo project begins. Students will read (hand-outs) from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities (1997); Jonathon Raban’s Soft City (1974) and Ash Amin and Neil Thrift’s, (2002) Cities, Reimagining the Urban.
(wk 2): Field work in Dublin’s Liberties area and Medieval Dublin. As part of this class students will explore the iconography of Dublin’s landscape through an examination of the names of streets they encounter during class. The political and cultural significance of statues and monuments will also be discussed. Students will read from Whelan, Y. (2003) Reinventing Modern Dublin. Streetscape, Iconography and the Politics of Identity.
Week Three, Four and Five (History of the City)
(wk 3): Discussion of Kevin Lynch’s The Image of the City and other class reading material such as Susan Sontag’s “On Photography”(hand-outs); Discussion of students’ on-going photo projects; Medieval history and development of Dublin as a city - Short video.
(wk 4): Changing land-use patterns of Georgian Dublin [Students will read chapter 2 from Brady and Simms,
Dublin Through Space and Time 2001]. Students will walk through Georgian Dublin and discuss neo-classical architecture of Georgian houses and the effect of the Wide Streets Commission on the development (urban planning) of Dublin. The class will end with a 45 minute tour of the Georgian House Museum.
Photo Essay Due: This short assignment encourages students to explore and document the city with their cameras. They will choose, and discuss in class, the photographs that represent their Dublin. This assignment further develops the students’ on-going understanding of semiotics and urban / cultural research.
(wk 5): The experiences of Tenement life. Students will make short presentations based on their reading of sections from Jacinta Prunty’s (1998) Dublin Slums 1800-1925 and Kevin Kearns’ (1994) Dublin Tenement Life: An Oral History.
Mental Map 2 and Introduction to Google Maps. (wk 5)
Mid-Term project. Students will select one historical time-period to research. The assignment can be either a formal essay or a creative project discussed and agreed upon with the professor. An example of the latter might include writing a suite of poetry; short story; one-act play script; letters between relatives in America and Ireland and song lyrics. The creative assignment must include a two-page (formal/academic) written rationale for the project, accompanied by supporting material and bibliography.
Week Six and Seven (Suburbanisation and Gentrification: The politics of civic space and everyday life):
(wk 6): Personal Dublin mind-map 2. The development of suburban Dublin – causes and effects. Burgess and Hoyt models. A study of urbanism to include Ferdinand Tonnie’s Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft 1887 and Louis Wirth’s Urbanism as a way of Life 1938. Students will also read about the suburbanisation of Dublin through the memoirs of popular Irish Times journalist Fintan O’Toole’s Black Hole, Green Card: The Disappearance of Ireland.
(wk 7): Smithfield and the Markets Area of Dublin (Field Trip/Work). This class will test and encourage the students understanding of the politics of gentrification (in part, based on their reading of Jane Jacobs’ (1961) The Death and the Life of America’s Great Cities and Neil Smith’s (1996) The New Urban Frontier: Gentrification and the Revanchist City. This course segment will link explicitly with the students reading and work in weeks one and two.
Weeks Eight to Twelve: (Contemporary Dublin: Ethnification and Invisible Communities):
(wk 8): Who lives where in Dublin? Socio-demographics. Census (socio-ethnographic) analysis of Dublin’s Inner City: poverty and social exclusion. Google maps assignment due. Students will read from: Darren Kelly’s “Dublin’s spatial narrative - the transition from essentially monocultural places to polycultural spaces” in Irish Geography. Vol 38 [2], (2005); Cullen, Paul. (2000) Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Ireland and Farrell, Fintan and Watt, Philip. (2001) Responding to Racism in Ireland.
(wk 9): Small group research work in small range of different areas in Dublin. Based on their research of certain spatial areas in the inner city students will visit their research sites. The professor will join each group for a period of time. Examples of research sites can be found at: http://reflectingcity.com/2002/8501a.htm
(wk 10): The life and death of the Celtic Tiger. Part of this class will include a visit to the near-by financial services centre / Dublin’s Dock Lands to discuss the Irish economic phenomenon known as the Celtic Tiger. Students will read a number of relevant materials, including Niamh Moores’, Rejuvenating Docklands: The Irish Context in Geography, Vol. 32(2) Ireland.
(wk 11): ‘It’s a small world after all’: Following-on from wk 10 students will present/discuss the relationship between America and Ireland in terms of economics / globalisation and cultural (media) hegemony. We will also
explore the concept of ‘Culture Shock’ and their returning home. We will discuss how they might re-view their
old places with new lenses. This area of analysis and discussion links with the concept that a significant proportion of study abroad learning occurs on the students’ re-entry and subsequent engagement with their home environments. We will discuss how they will describe Ireland and how this may well be significantly different from their initial perceptions of Ireland prior to arrival, which was discussed in week one.
Portfolio work.
(wk 12): Group Project presentations (Final paper). Students will give an oral presentation and power- point presentation of their research sites. Mind-map 3. Finalising portfolios. Evaluation.
In Lieu of an exam students will submit their portfolio of work.
Amin, Ash and Thrift, Nigel (2002) Cities: Reimagining the Urban. Oxford. Polity Press.
Brady, Joseph and Simms, Anngret. Eds. (2001) Dublin Through Space and Time. Dublin. Four Courts press.
Bridge, Gary and Watson, Sophie (2002) The City Reader. Oxford. Blackwell.
Kearns, Kevin (1994) Dublin Tenement Life: An Oral History. England. Penguin.
Lynch, Kevin(1960) The Image of the City. Cambridge. The MIT Press.
Raban, Jonathon. (1974) Soft City. Great Britain. Fontana.
Cullen, Paul. (2000) Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Ireland. Ireland. Cork University Press.
Doyle, Roddy (1994) Paddy Clarke ha, ha, ha. London. Minerva.
Drudy, P.J. and Killen James Eds. (2001) “Dublin: Economic and Social Trends.” Vol 3 Dublin. The Centre for Urban and Regional Studies.
During, Simon Ed. (1993) The Cultural Studies Reader. London. Routledge.
Farrell, Fintan and Watt, Philip. (2001) Responding to Racism in Ireland. Ireland. Veritas.
Harvey, David. (1973) Social Justice and the City. London. Arnold.
Highmore, Ben. (2005) Cityscapes. New York. Palgrave.
Johnson. James H. (1994) The Human Geography of Ireland. England. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Johnston, R. (1980) City and Society: An Outline for Urban Geography. England. Penguin.
Kiberd, Declan. (1996) Inventing Ireland. London. Vintage.
Mahon, Derek. (1997) The Yellow Book. The Gallery Press. Ireland
McCann, May Osiochain, Seamus and Ruane, Joseph. Eds. (1994) Irish Travellers: Culture and Ethnicity. Belfast. Institute of Irish Studies.
MacLachlan Malcolm and O’Connell Michael. (2000) Cultivating Pluralism. Dublin. Oak Tree Press.
Mac Greil, Michael. 1996. Prejudice in Ireland Revisited. St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth. Co. Kildare.
Moore, Niamh. (1999) “Rejuvenating Docklands: The Irish Context” in Irish Geography, Vol. 32(2) Ireland.
O’Toole, Fintan. Black Hole, Green Card: The Disappearance of Ireland. (1994) New Island Books, Dublin.
Pacione, Michael. (2001) Urban Geography. England. Routledge.
JOURNALS
Drudy, P.J. and Killen James Eds. (2001) Dublin: Economic and Social Trends. Vol 3 Dublin. The Centre for Urban and Regional Studies.
Killen James and MacLaren. (1999) Dublin: Contemporary Trends and Issues for the Twenty First Century. Ireland . The Geographical Society of Ireland.
Kelly, Darren (2005). Dublin’s Spatial Narrative – the transition from essentially monocultural places to polycultural spaces. Irish Geography, Vol. 38(2)
Moore, Niamh. (1999) Rejuvenating Docklands: The Irish Context Irish Geography, Vol. 32(2) Ireland.
WEBSITES
www.sari.ie
www.dublincity.ie/planning/citymarkets/main.htm
www.spirasi.ie
www.dublin.ie/chinatown
www.cso.ie