Students in UCLA’s English 119 “Literary Cities: Dublin”, study a variety of major Irish literary works, from the Book of Kells to Beckett, while digitally interacting with images of and artifacts from Dublin spanning from the Neolithic era to the 20th century. As a blended course, students supplement the traditional lecture with online exploration of digitized archival and historical items and tour Dublin through the ages. Grounded in geography, urban study, and history of Dublin, the course encourages students to consider various dimensions of Irish experience in the twentieth century, from Ireland’s status as a country under British rule to the embittered fight for independence.
Facilitating digital interaction with urban spaces throughout history, our blended course allows students to deepen their understanding of the people, places, and ideas that have shaped Irish consciousness and contemporary Dublin space without hopping in a plane (or time machine). Throughout their online exploration, students maintain this virtual travel diary to creatively document their interests and observations and build toward their final projects: collaborative annotations of the course website and independent research papers.
For more information on the course, contact Colleen Jaurretche or teaching assistants Emma Ridder and Elizabeth Crawford. For more information on the UCLA English Department, visit the department website. Happy travels!
