Level 1 Courses

100 Scottish Gaelic

Designed for students who have no knowledge of the language. Instruction in basic Gaelic grammar, phonetics, and sentence structure. Texts and recordings are used to provide practice in reading and conversation.

May not be taken concurrent with CELT 110. Six credits.

110 Irish Gaelic

An introduction to the Irish language as it is spoken in the Gaeltacht or Irish-speaking districts. Students will be introduced to the basics of spoken and written Irish.

May not be taken concurrently with CELT 100. Six credits.

120 Celtic Literature

Designed to acquaint students with the wide scope of Celtic Literature which has survived in both manuscript and oral tradition. Selections in translation will be chosen from poetry and prose in Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx, as well as Welsh, Cornish, and Breton, with a view to establishing the parallels and divergences which exist among those literatures.

Six credits.

131 Celtic Civilization I

This course will provide an introduction to the Celtic peoples from earliest times to the Middle Ages. Topics to be treated will include history, language, art, literature, mythology and early Celtic Christianity.

Three credits. Not offered 2008-09.

132 Celtic Civilization II

This course will study the fortunes of the Celtic languages and cultures of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Brittany, the Isle of Man and Cornwall from ca. 1500 to the present. Topics studied will include music, folklore, literature, present-day revival movements and what Celtic culture means today in a North American context.

Three credits. Not offered 2008-09.

161 Selected Topics

The topic for 2009-2010 is Modern Welsh. This course will introduce students to basic Welsh. Students will learn to speak, read and write Welsh. May not be taken concurrently with CELT 100 or CELT 110.

Six credits.

Level 2 Courses

200 Second-Year Scottish Gaelic

Selected readings, riddles, proverbs, poetry, and folktales; conversation and composition.

Six credits.

210 Second-Year Irish Gaelic

A continuation of CELT 110, this course will introduce students to more advanced grammatical concepts and will include conversation practice and composition. Selected readings from modern Irish literature and folklore will be used to illustrate differences in the three major dialects. The course will include an introduction to the Irish script and the manuscript tradition.

Six credits.

220 Celtic Paganism

This course examines the religious practices and beliefs of the ancient Celtic peoples that we can glean from archaeology, reports of Greek and Roman commentators, place-name evidence, and the mythology in medieval Irish and Welsh narrative tradition. Other topics include syncretism, the adaptation of pagan festivals into Christian holidays, the persistence of elements of paganism into the Christian era, witchcraft in Scotland and Ireland in the context of the European phenomenon and neo-Celtic paganism today.

No prerequisites. Three credits.

230 Celtic Christianity

This course is an exploration of the development of Christianity amongst the Celtic peoples. A major facet will be the medieval hagiographic tradition and saints' cults from the fourth to the twelfth centuries. Other topics include monasticism, peregrini, the Hiberno-Scottish mission to the continent, conflict with Roman Catholicism, material culture, the modern use of the term "Celtic Christianity," and the various types of Christianity in the Celtic countries.

No prerequisites. Three credits. Not offered 2009-2010.

Level 3 Courses

300 Third-Year Scottish Gaelic

Advanced level Gaelic. Emphasis will be on attaining fluency. The course will concentrate on the Gaelic of Nova Scotia with readings from local publications. The class will also work on transcribing recordings of local speakers.

Prerequisite: CELT 100 and 200. Six credits.

333 The Scottish Gael: Old World and New

A survey of Scottish history in the first semester. The second semester will investigate the Scottish diaspora in North America.

Six credits. Not offered 2009-2010.

340 Scottish Gaelic Poetry

A year-long introduction to Scottish Gaelic poetry from the 6th to the 18th century. It familiarizes students with some of the masterpieces of Gaelic literature, provides a grounding in the historical and cultural aspects of literary production in the Scottish Gaelic world, and introduces aspects of metrical and literary analysis.

Prerequisite: CELT 100 or approval of the instructor. Six credits.

350 The Folklore of Ireland and Scotland.

Studies in the oral traditions of Gaelic Ireland and Scotland. Topics include: types of the folktale; the storyteller; folklore collectors; folksong tradition; clan legends; the fairies; psychic phenomena; calendar customs.

Six credits.

353 Gaelic Music and Dance

This course examines the development of musical and dance traditions of Gaelic Scotland and Nova Scotia including Gaelic song, bagpipe and fiddle music, and various forms of solo and social dancing. The course emphasizes that music and dance cannot be studied in isolation but must be placed in the larger cultural context and in response to social and technological change. The concepts of "tradition" and "authenticity" guide our examination of the past and present.

No prerequisites. Three credits. Not offered 2009-2010.

361 Selected Topics I

This course provides students an opportunity to explore in detail topics not covered in other courses. The specific content varies from year to year.

Three credits.

362 Selected Topics II

A further opportunity for students to explore topics not covered in other courses; content varies from year to year.

Three credits.

Level 4 Courses

420 Seminar on Scottish Gaelic Immigrant Literature

A study of chosen literary excerpts, both prose and poetry, written in North America in Scottish Gaelic, with emphasis on Nova Scotian examples, and introduction to Gaelic literary analysis.

Six credits.

430 Irish Gaelic Poetry

Explores the history of poetry in the Irish language: 500-2000 AD. The class will cover Filíocht na Sgol, metrics, religious poetry, nature poetry and eulogy. It will also deal with the rise of amhrán poetry and modern Irish poetry.

Six credits. Not offered 2009-2010.

490 Honours thesis

Three credits.

499 Directed Study

A directed study course in advanced topics