Overview

There will be four main fields from which material will be drawn (these contiguous fields will not necessarily be taught as separate units), namely:

1. Changing attitudes towards the ‘Celt’ in academic fields: i.e., changes in methodology and ideology in areas such as linguistics, archaeology, literature.
2. The ‘Celts’ in artistic media apart from literature (e.g., art, music)
3. The ‘Celts’ in the Romantic period, considering how medieval literature was rediscovered and reinterpreted (especially Welsh and Irish literature); figures such as Ossian and Iolo Morganwg may be considered, and also the development of Celtic Studies as an academic subject in European universities.
4. The political ‘Celt’: theories of nationalism, and the part played by ‘Celticity’ in the politics of the nineteenth to twenty-first centuries.

Students may also continue their study of a Celtic language.

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -Threshold students (low D grades) will display a range of appropriate knowledge – or appropriate depth – in at least part of the relevant field, and will at least partly succeed in forming an argument which gets to grips with the issues discussed in the essay(s). They will show awareness of the types of core evidence which is available, and the way in which the evidence can be used and interpreted.

-good -Good students (B grades) will show firm abilities in all the aspects noted in the above paragraph.

-excellent -Excellent students (A grades) will display these firm abilities across the criteria, as well as a particular depth of knowledge and/or skilfulness in their analysis.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will develop their understanding of the Celtic languages.

• The students will understand how the concept of the ‘Celt’ and ‘Celts’ has been formed and used in contexts relevant to the Medieval and Modern periods.

• They will be able to develop and apply research skills to this specific field, developing an understanding of various perspectives of 'Celtic' culture across a range of disciplines and discursions, forming a well developed opinion on changing ideas and theories.

• They will be able to present clear and lucid arguments, based on evidence, about the value and purpose of the different conceptual, political and ideological attitudes adopted towards ‘The Celts’

• They will plan, structure and complete two academic essays which will examine specific aspects of the field.