(Donna Vinter), 4 credits, prerequisites: ENG120. Enrollment cap: 20. This course will study modern Irish literature written between about 1890 and the present, including fiction, poetry and drama by such authors as W.B. Yeats, J.M. Synge, James Joyce, Sean O'Casey, Elizabeth Bowen, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney. It will introduce the student to the turbulent history of modern Ireland, while considering how these writers foster, invent, reinvent and critique ideas of Irish national, cultural and religious identity. It will also look at how the authors engage with themes that speak to the wider modern human experience. We will take advantage of opportunities to see Irish plays and hear Irish music in London, and there will be a field trip to the Republic of Ireland.