NOTE: Not all courses are offered every year | Refer to the Celtic Studies courses for 2008-09
In the event of a discrepancy between information provided in the printed material and on the website, please consult with the Program Assistant.
Complete Course Listings:
First Year | Second Year | Third Year | Fourth Year
First Year
SMC141Y1 | Introduction to the Irish Language 52L, 26TThis course in Modern Irish Language is designed for learners with no prior knowledge of the language. The course is intended to introduce students to and provide practice in the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Second Year
SMC240Y1 | Celtic Culture Through the Ages 52L, 26TThe expression of Celtic culture in literature, history, folklore and myth from 600 B.C. to the present, with particular attention to the continuing Celtic contribution to Western culture.
SMC241Y1 | Intermediate Irish Language Studies 52L, 26TThis course builds on SMC141Y1 Introduction to the Irish Language. It will provide further expansion of the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Prerequisite: SMC141Y1
An introduction to Scottish Gaelic language and culture. Students will master fundamentals of reading, writing, and the basics of grammar and will begin to speak Gaelic. Proverbs, poetry, songs and folktales introduce students to the language, literature and folklore of Gaelic Scotland and immigrant North America. No prior knowledge of the language is required.
SMC243Y1 | Modern Welsh 52L, 26TAn introductory course intended to provide a basic speaking and reading knowledge of Modern Welsh. Open to students with no prior experience of Welsh.
SMC250Y1 | Celtic Mythology 52L (formerly SMC450Y1)
This course covers the range of the Celtic mythological record from all the Celtic areas through an examination of the archaeological, inscriptional and textual sources. A critical evaluation is offered of various relevant mythic approaches.
Exclusion: SMC450Y1
Third Year
SMC331Y1 | Advanced Irish Language 52LSpeaking, writing and reading competence is emphasized in this course. This course concentrates on the study of modern Irish literary texts, both poetry and prose and advanced translation into the Irish language.
Exclusion: SMC341Y1
Prerequisite: SMC141Y1, SMC241Y1 or permission of the instructor
Various topics are taken up each year, the content of which depends on the instructor. Students should check the program brochure for details.
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.
Exclusion: SMC408H1, 409H1
Topic varies from year to year, depending on the instructor. Students should check the program brochure for details.
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.
Exclusion: SMC410Y1
SMC336H1 | Contemporary Irish Women's Writing 26L
This course explores the ways in which contemporary Irish women's writing engages with and challenges processes of patriarchy across a range of genres. Focus on women's use of alternative discourses such as folklore, the Irish language and dialect, as strategies for the appropriation of public spaces, to which, traditionally, women have been denied access. Irish language authors are studied in translation.
Exclusion: SMC 333H1 (2007-08)
SMC342Y1 | Literature and Politics: Ireland, Scotland and Wales 52L
This course examines the way in which modern Irish, Scottish and Welsh writers have responded to the pressures of anglicization and modernization, and discusses literary reactions to social, ethnic and gender issues in contemporary culture.
Literature in relation to the structure and development of the insular Celtic society that produced it; the Mythological, Ulster, Fenian, and Historical Saga cycles; voyages, visions, religious, lyric, and gnomic poetry, British heroic poetry, medieval Welsh narratives both secular and religious. Texts studied in translation.
SMC344Y1 | Celtic Archaeology and Art 52LThe art and archaeology of the Celtic peoples, with special reference to settlement patterns in Great Britain and Ireland.
SMC345Y1 | From Tribalism to Feudalism: Early Celtic History 52LThe political and social development of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Brittany from the 5th to the 12th centuries.
SMC346Y1 | Celtic Folklore and Music 52LAn examination of the relationship between Celtic mythology and the ancient art of storytelling, and an exploration of the place of traditional music in modern society.
SMC348Y1 | Modern Irish History 52LThis course explores ethno-religious conflict and Anglo-Irish relations between 1791 and 1985. Special attention is paid to the rise of the United Irishmen and the Orange Order during the 1790s, the domestic and international repercussions of the Famine, the political revolution of 1916-23, and the troubles in Northern Ireland.
SMC349H1 | Seamus Heaney and Irish Literary Tradition 26LThis course examines the poetry and other writings of Seamus Heaney against the background of a modern tradition of Irish writing. Special attention is paid to issues of nationalism, the tensions of social and historical involvement, the place of Gaelic tradition and translation in the creation of a poet whose scope and audience is international.
Recommended preparation: SMC342Y1, ENG140Y1
The religious culture of the early and mediaeval Celtic Church as manifested in the material and written record; its significance for contemporary religious movements. Texts studied include the Patrician dossier, early monastic Rules and Liturgies, selected hagiographical, homiletic, devotional and lyric texts.
SMC351H1 | The Blasket Island Writings 26LThe Blasket Islands lie off the southwest coast of Ireland. This course will examine the important "library" of books written and orally recorded by the islanders from the 1920s onwards. Special attention will be paid to "The Island Man"; "Peig" and "Twenty Years a Growing". Texts studied in translation.
SMC352Y1 | Modern Gaelic Literature 52LA study of the Gaelic literature of Ireland from the seventeenth century to the present within its poetical and historical context. Texts of poetry, prose and historical writings from this era will be examined, concluding with a reading of contemporary writers. Texts will be studied in translation.
Exclusion: SMC347Y1
An introduction to contemporary Irish writing, in its social context, in both Irish and English languages. Among writers studied are Paul Muldoon, Eavan Boland, John McGahern, Michael Longley, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, Cathal O Searcaigh, Roddy Doyle, Caitlin Maude, and Alan Titley. Irish language authors are studied in translation.
SMC354Y1 | Celtic Cinema 52L, 52TAn introduction to the films of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as they relate to representations of Celtic identity and the development of national cinemas.
SMC356H1 | The Continental Celts 26LThe course examines the early history of the Celtic peoples in Europe from their first appearance in the material culture of prehistoric Europe to their eventual disappearance as a political power in the first century of Roman conquest.
Recommended Preparation: SMC240Y1
A research project chosen by the student in consultation with an instructor and approved by the Program Co-ordinator. Arrangements for the choice of topic and supervisor must be completed by the student before registration.
Fourth Year
SMC411H1 | 412H1 Advanced Topics in Celtic Studies II 26SVarious topics are taken up each year, the content of which depends on the instructor. Students should check the program brochure for details.
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor
This course explores the history of Irish migration and settlement in Canada with a special emphasis on political, social, economic and religious themes.
Exclusion: SMC411H1 (93-94), 412H1 (94-95)
This course explores, by means of the historical method, Scottish migration and settlement in Canada, with special emphasis on religious, cultural, political, social and economic themes.
SMC416H1 | Irish Nationalism in Canada and the United States 26SThis course examines the origins, character and development of Irish Nationalism in Canada and the United States . Special attention is paid to the United Irishmen in the United States, the Young Ireland exiles and the Fenian movement in North America.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor
An introduction to the Welsh language and literature from the 10th to the 14th centuries. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor
SMC441Y1 | Old and Middle Irish 52LAn introduction to Old and Middle Irish language and literature from the 7th to the 11th century.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor
SMC 451Y1 | Senior Essay in Celtic Studies
A scholarly project chosen by the student in consultation with an instructor and approved by the Program Coordinator. Arrangements for the choice of topic must be completed by the student before registration. This course is intended for students who are in their last year of study.
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor