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MA Social Anthropology (Irish Music)

If you choose the specialism in Irish Music, you will study the following modules:

1. (ANT7007) Anthropological Methods in Context and Practice (Semester 1)

Key objectives: To teach you how to use the main methods of anthropological field research and to
make you critically aware of the place of such methods in the discipline.

Teaching methods: One seminar per week for twelve weeks throughout the first semester.

Learning outcomes: A good understanding of the methodological distinctiveness of anthropology; a good knowledge of the appropriateness of anthropological methods – quantitative as well as qualitative; the ability to critique the methodology underpinning anthropological work; and the capacity to put anthropological methods into practice.

Assessment methods: Completion of one assignment (100%).

2. (ANT7013): Anthropology of Music (Semester 1)

Content: The module will focus on the main theoretical approaches in the anthropology of music, particularly those of recent and current influence. These include: debates surrounding the analysis of 'music as text'; approaches to the study of musical performance; approaches to the study of the construction of musical meaning; issues in the representation of musical ethnography; and reflexivity in musicological research.

Key objectives: To offer students a grounding in current theoretical orientations within the anthropology of music which will enable them to produce a dissertation in this field and, together with the remainder of the programme, can form a sound basis for further research.

Teaching methods: Two seminars per week for six weeks (12 sessions), mainly student led.

Assessment methods: One extended essay of 4000-4500 words.

3. (ANT7016): The Anthropology of Ireland (Semester 2)

Content: This module will explore the development of anthropological research on Ireland, examining what social and cultural anthropologists have added to our knowledge of society in Ireland. It will look at issues surrounding perceptions of rural Ireland, developments in urban anthropology, and particularly explore understandings of identity around the notions of ‘borders’ and ‘community’ and the Irish diaspora. The module will specifically look at understandings of conflict in Ireland, with particular reference to the north, and through this look at anthropological approaches to symbols and rituals.

Key objectives: To develop a broad understanding of the development of the anthropology of Ireland; to develop a broad understanding of communities and society in Northern Ireland derived from anthropological and ethnographic studies; to explore the use of the concepts of identity, ethnicity, culture, community, border, symbol, ritual and tradition in understanding the nature of coflict in Ireland and the Irish diaspora; to be able to apply theories of identity politics to the conflict in Ireland with reference to specific issues; to increase competency in research and the writing of academic papers.

Teaching methods: One seminar per week for twelve weeks throughout the second semester.

Assessment methods: One extended essay of 4000-4500 words.

4. (MUS7006): Irish Music: History and Criticism (through the School of Music) (Semester 2)

This module is designed to give students a thorough grounding in source materials for and recent scholarship on the development of musical cultures in Ireland from the late eighteenth century. Successive seminars will explore the preservation of ancient Irish music and song in the Romantic period, the development of a characteristically Irish tradition of dance music in the early 19th century, the effects of the Great Famine and other social change on 19th-century music making, the development of educational, religious, and musical institutions, and changes in Irish musical culture in the early 20th century.  The module concludes with examination of recent work in the ethnomusicology of Irish traditional music and the relationship of Irish music to contemporary politics.

Assessment methods: Essay 80%, seminar contribution 20% (participation in weekly seminars and written projects totaling no more than 10,000 words).

5. (ANT7014): Dissertation

Content: Students will be required to prepare a research proposal and a dissertation, the topic of which will be selected in consultation with a supervisor who has expertise in the selected specialist area. The supervisor will normally, but not necessarily, be one of the teachers on the student's chosen specialist module. Students should submit to the module convenor a working title and brief abstract, on the basis of which s/he will allocate supervisors for Dissertation research. The deadline for this is Friday 5 December 2008. In consultation with supervisors, MA students will then prepare a research proposal and risk assessment by 30 April 2009. The format of MA dissertation proposals should be as follows: proposal abstract (approx. 250 words); justification (approx. 1,500 words); methodology (approx. 1,500 words); bibliography. It should be submitted together with a Risk Assessment Form. The dissertation should be 12,000 words, submitted by 15 September 2009.

Key objectives: This module will set out to develop the following skills in employing methods of data construction and analysis to address anthropological questions in the particular sub-field to which each of the new MA Degrees relate:

• Retrieval of information from a range of sources.
• Research planning (setting research questions, scheduling, budgeting, risk assessment).
• Field research skills, such as establishing contact and rapport with people, asking questions sensitively, conducting interviews, applying questionnaires, and engaging in participant observation.

Written and verbal feedback will be given to students on their performance and used both to elaborate upon assessments of their work and to give direction and encouragement for further development of subject-specific skills.

Teaching methods: Direct teaching and training in connection with the dissertation will be provided via one-to-one supervision by an appropriate member of staff. As convenor of this module, the Postgraduate Coordinator will be responsible for allocating supervisors.

Assessment methods: The dissertation will be marked by two internal examiners and the external examiner for postgraduate modules in Social Anthropology. Although the research proposal will not be given a mark, its submission will be a formal requirement for completion of the module. This module will be double weighted – the dissertation mark will be treated as two final marks when calculating the final degree.