ENGL5030 · English
Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences
Half-human, humanoid, and therianthropic creatures have captured the Irish and wider human imagination for centuries. This quasi-human, half-human trope can teach us about human relationships with the environment and about colonialism in Ireland. Using cutting-edge theories of the environmental humanities, blue/oceanic humanities, and posthumanism, this class examines the literature and lore of vampires, mermaids, and an enchanted environment from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. We will read this Irish, more-than-human world in relationship to the Enlightenment ideology of British culture during the same period, exploring how they contrast and illuminate one another. Readings will include texts by Jonathan Swift, Elizabeth Sheridan, Brian Merriman, Eibhln Dubh N Chonaill, William Carleton, as well as oral folklore.
Course experience
Averages use the original five-point historical evaluation scale.
Organization
4.7 / 5
How well the course was organized
Challenge
4.7 / 5
How intellectually challenging students found it
Attendance
4.7 / 5
How necessary attendance was
Assignments
4.5 / 5
How helpful assignments were
Weekly effort
~5
hours per week
Estimated from the original workload response buckets. Individual sections may differ.
Instructor options
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Across time
Section-level results available in the recovered archive.
Spring 2024
1 section