COURSE REQUIREMENTS (Click through the links for additional information)
Contributions to Virtual Scrapbook (60%)
TEXTBOOKS
Required: The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats, ed. Richard J. Finneran (ISBN: 0684807319)
Required: John Conroy, Belfast Diary (ISBN: 0807002178)
Required: David Holdeman, The Cambridge Introduction to W.B. Yeats (ISBN: 0521547377)
Required: Supplemental Readings (specific documents are linked in the class schedule below or you can download a full pdf for printing or use on a Kindle or other reader here)
Optional: R.F. Foster, Modern Ireland (ISBN: 0140132503)
Optional: Richard Ellman, Yeats: The Man and the Masks (ISBN: 0393008592)
Optional: John Unterecker, A Reader’s Guide to William Butler Yeats (ISBN: 0815603401)
CLASS SCHEDULE
Orientation Meetings:
- Introduction to the Program: Travel Tips, and Other Practical Advice (April 18)
- Introduction to the Program: Syllabus and Introduction to the Digital Project (Skype on 18 June, 6pm)
- Online seminar: we will schedule a late June virtual meeting on Skype. This will be an opportunity for you to ask last minute questions about travel and the course. We will also go over the course requirements and website.
Work to Complete Before You Leave:
- Watch five online lectures on Modern Irish History 1500-Present
- Watch online lectures on literature and culture
- An Introduction to the Irish Literary Revival (Part 1 and Part 2)
- Yeats’s Early Phase: Introduction (Refer to Primer on Yeats’s Early Phase)
- Yeats’s Transitional Phase: Introduction (Refer to Primer on Yeats’s Transitional Phase)
- Yeats’s Middle Phase: Introduction (Responsibilities), “Pardon Old Fathers,” and “To a Wealthy Man” (Refer to Primer on Yeats’s Middle Phase)
- Yeats’s Middle Phase: Introduction (Wild Swans of Coole)
- Yeats’s Late Phase: Introduction (Refer to Primer on Yeats’s Late Phase)
- Two additional poetry selections from each phase of Yeats’s career (Early, Transitional, Middle, and Late). Please feel free to watch as many mini lectures as you’d like; the more you know about Yeats before you leave, the more you will get out of the class and the Yeats Summer School activities.
- Read Conroy’s Belfast Diary
- Write your first reflection and post it to the Virtual Scrapbook before we leave on July 16
- Begin thinking about your research/creative projects:
- By June 24, send us some general ideas and we will respond with some suggestions.
- By July 7, send us a full prospectus of your project that includes a clear description of your focus and aims and a bibliography/list of resources that you will be consulting.
TRIP SCHEDULE (Readings are listed below – unless otherwise noted, you can click through the link to find the text)
Thursday, 16 July 2015
Activities:
- Overnight flight, JFK to Shannon
- Aer Lingus Flight 108, Departs from JFK at 9pm
- BE AT THE DEPARTURE GATE BY 7pm
Friday, 17 July 2015
Activities:
- Flight 108 will arrive in Dublin at 8:40 am
- Bus transportation from Dublin to Galway
- Walking tour/orientation to Galway
- Free afternoon
Lodging:
- NUI Galway (Link to NUI Galway housing: http://www.campusaccommodation.ie/)
Meals:
- Breakfast on the plane
- Lunch and dinner on own
Saturday, 18 July 2015
Readings:
Activities:
- Seminar on plantation, the penal laws, and foundations of the Ascendancy
- Free afternoon
Lodging:
- NUI Galway
Meals:
- Breakfast included with lodging
- Opening banquet
Sunday, 19 July
Readings:
- J.M. Synge’s “Riders to the Sea”
- Selections from J.M. Synge’s The Aran Islands
- Lady Augusta Gregory’s “Grief of a Girl’s Heart”
Activities:
- Bus tour of the Burren, Doolin and Cliffs of Moher
- Lecture on landscape, mapping, and sustainability issues
- Seminar on the peasant literature of the Irish Literary Revival
Lodging:
- NUI Galway
Meals:
- Breakfast included with lodging
- Lunch and dinner on own
Monday, 20 July
Readings:
Activities:
- Bus transport to Strokestown Park and the National Famine Museum
- Tour and seminar discussion of the Famine at Strokestown Park
- Bus transport to Dublin
Lodging:
- Generator Hostel, Dublin (http://generatorhostels.com/en/destinations/dublin/)
Meals:
- Breakfast included with lodging
- Lunch at Strokestown included with admission
- Dinner on own
Tuesday, 21 July:
Readings:
- Coursepack including writings of Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmet, and Daniel O’Connell
- Poetry of Thomas Moore (“O Breathe Not His Name”, “She is Far from the Land”, and “The Minstrel Boy”), James Clarence Mangan (“Dark Rosaleen”), and Thomas Osborne Davis (“A Nation Once Again”)
Activities:
- Seminar on Young Ireland and 19th century nationalism
- Walking tour of Glasnevin Cemetery
- Free afternoon
Lodging:
- Generator Hostel, Dublin
Meals:
- Lunch and dinner on own
Wednesday, 22 July
Readings:
- James Joyce’s “Eveline” and “Counterparts”
- Coursepack of Writings on the 1916 Rising
- W.B. Yeats’s “No Second Troy”, “He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven”, “When You Are Old”, “September 1913”, “Easter 1916”, and “To a Wealthy Man” (all are available in the required book Finneran’s Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats)
Activities:
- Literary and historical walking tour/discussion of Dublin city center
Lodging:
- Generator Hostel, Dublin
Meals:
- Breakfast included with lodging
- Group lunch on walking tour included
- Dinner on own
Thursday, 23 July
Activities:
- Free Day in Dublin. Geneseo alumni will be touring in Dublin on that day; students are welcome to join up with them in the afternoon for visits to the Leinster House area museums, the mummies at St. Michan’s Church, and the National Museum of Ireland – History. (Please note: some of these tours will require a small fee for museum entrance, though most will be free).
- Evening trip to Howth
Meals:
- Breakfast including with lodging
- Lunch and dinner on own
Friday, 24 July
Readings:
- Coursepack on the Anglo-Irish Treaty
- The 1937 Constitution
- Review your reading of John Conroy’s Belfast Diary
Activities:
- Bus transport to Battle of the Boyne Museum
- Tour of Battle of the Boyne Museum and lecture on Unionism and 20th century Northern Ireland history
- Bus from Battle of the Boyne Museum to University of Ulster Magee Campus, Derry
Lodging:
- University of Ulster Magee Campus, Derry (http://www.accommodation.ulster.ac.uk/short-term-let-summer-vacation-accommodation/)
Meals:
- Breakfast included with lodging
- Lunch and dinner on own
Saturday, 25 July
Readings:
- Poetry of Seamus Heaney (“Digging”, “Requiem for the Croppies”, “Punishment”, “Ministry of Fear”, “Strand at Lough Beg”, and “Casualty”)
- Coursepack on the Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland
- Review your reading of John Conroy’s Belfast Diary
Activities:
- Seminar on the history and literature of the Troubles and walking tour of city walls
- Walking tour of the murals with Bogside Artists
Lodging:
- University of Ulster Magee Campus, Derry
Meals:
- Breakfast included with lodging
- Lunch and dinner on own
Sunday, 26 July
Readings:
Activities:
- Bus transport from University of Ulster Magee Campus to Glenveagh Castle and Gardens (Leave at 9 am)
- Tour of Glenveagh Castle and lecture on 19th century land policies and Glenveagh history
- Bus transport from Glenveagh Castle to lodging in Sligo
- Evening Activities at Yeats Summer School, including banquet
Lodging:
- Yeats Village
Meals:
- Breakfast included with lodging
- Lunch on own
- Banquet dinner included with Yeats Summer School tuition
Monday, 27 July through Friday, 31 July and Monday 3 August through Friday 8 August:
Activities:
- For these two weeks, on Monday through Friday, students will participate in the Yeats Summer School activities
- 2 hours of morning lecture over 5 class days (lectures meet at 9:30 and 11:15 in the Hawks Well Theatre)
- 2 hours of afternoon seminars over 5 class days (seminars meet at 4:30 in the Yeats Memorial Building)
- 1-2 hour poetry readings some evenings, along with other evening events.
Lodging:
- Yeats Village
Meals:
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner on own
- Picnics on two evening trips
- Opening banquet on Monday, 27 July and closing banquet on Thursday, 6 August
Monday, 27 July
Lectures:
- Margaret Mills Harper, “The Rhythm of A Vision.”
- Matthew Campbell, “The Epiphanic Yeats.”
Seminars (Attend the same seminar for the entire week):
- Anne Fogarty, “Gender and the Poetry of W. B. Yeats.”
- Catherine Paul, “Yeats and Pound.”
- John Paul Riquelme, “Yeats in Dialogue.”
- Helen Vendler, “Middle Poems.”
- Eamonn Hughes, “Yeats Young and Old.”
Evening:
- Banquet at Elsinore Restaurant, Rosses Point
Tuesday, July 28
Lectures:
- John Paul Riquelme, “The Mask in Yeats and Other Wildean Thefts.”
- Anne Fogarty, ‘The weasel’s twist, the weasel’s tooth’: Reading the Poetry of Eavan Boland and W. B. Yeats.”
Seminars: See July 27 for list.
Evening:
- Optional Evening Out with Geneseo Alums.
Wednesday, July 29
Lectures:
- Nicholas Allen, “Yeats at Sea: An Offshore History of Irish Literature.”
- Frank Shovlin, “Deliberate Happiness: John McGahern and ‘Ego Dominus Tuus.’”
Seminars: See July 27 for list.
Evening:
- Tour of Glencar Falls and Rosses Point, with picnic dinner and poetry reading by Nicholas Friedman.
Thursday, July 30
Lectures:
- Eamonn Hughes, “Yeats: Young and Old.”
- Hannah Sullivan, “How Yeats Learned to Scan.”
Seminars: See July 27 for list.
Evening:
- Poetry Reading by Medbh McGuckian.
Friday, July 31
Lectures:
- Catherine Paul, “Yeats and the Problem of Belief.”
Seminars: See July 27 for list.
Evening:
- Poetry Reading by Eavan Boland.
Saturday, 1 August:
Activities:
- Bus transport to Connemara, with stop at Kylemore Abbey
- Free Afternoon in Connemara
Lodging:
- Clifden Town Hostel (http://www.clifdentownhostel.com/)
Meals:
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner on own
Sunday, 2 August
Activities:
- Free Day in Connemara
Lodging:
- Clifden Town Hostel (http://www.clifdentownhostel.com/)
Meals:
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner on own
Monday, 3 August
Activities:
- Bus transit to Sligo
Seminars (Attend the same seminar for the entire week):
- Helen Vendler, “Middle Poems”
- Joseph Valente, “Mad Yeats”
- Alexandra Poulain, “Calvary and Resurrection”
- Marjorie Howes, “Yeats, Politics, and History”
Evening:
- Optional Evening Poetry Reading by Fanny Howe.
Tuesday, 4 August
Lectures:
- Marjorie Howes, “Material Yeats.”
- David Lloyd, “The Poetics of Decision: Yeats, Benjamin and Schmitt”
Seminars: See August 3 for list.
Evening:
- Poetry Reading by Bernard O’Donoghue (Note: the scheduled time for this reading might be changed to the afternoon. Time and place will be announced at the summer school).
Wednesday, 5 August
Dr. Doggett’s birthday. (Be nice to him).
Lectures:
- Warwick Gould, “Satan, Smut and Co’.: Yeats and the suppression of ‘Evil Literature’ in the early years of the Irish Free State.”
- Former directors’ roundtable: Jonathan Allison, Patrick Crotty, Elizabeth Cullingford (video), Denis Donoghue, Barbara Hardy (video), John Kelly, Declan Kiberd (video), Bernard O’Donoghue, James Pethica, Ronald Schuchard, Helen Vendler
Seminars: See August 3 for list.
Evening:
- Bus Trip to Knocknarea with Picnic Dinner
Thursday, 6 August
Lectures:
- James Pethica, “‘That I might rid myself of a contamination’: The Genesis of The Unicorn from the Stars.”
- Alexandra Poulain, “Unseen forms of Violence: Synge, Yeats, and Passion.”
Seminars: See August 3 for list.
Evening: Closing Banquet
Friday, 7 August
Lectures:
- Joseph Valente, “Yeats, Aging and Disability.”
Seminars: See August 3 for list.
Evening:
- Drama Workshop Production of Calvary in the Hawk’s Well Theatre directed by Sam McCready
Saturday, 8 August
Activities:
- Bus transport to airport
- Mid afternoon flights to JFK
- Aer Lingus Flight 109 departs Dublin at 4pm and will arrive at JFK at 6:30pm local time