Folklore - Irish Folklore

Course Outline
The Higher Diploma in Folklore gives you the opportunity to study everyday life in Ireland, in all of its rich diversity and its vast range of cultural expressions. Folklore, like its synonym popular culture, makes a study of everyday life, both past and present. Quite simply, it studies life by looking at how people lived their day-to-day lives: their houses, technologies, stories, rituals, beliefs, religion and cosmological understandings.

Folklore has a special place in the formation of Irish consciousness, in literature, and is one of the most important hallmarks of Irish culture. The Department of Folklore at UCC is ideally placed to offer unique insights into Irish life, popular culture and traditions. It is one of only two such departments in Ireland.

The study of ordinary life is at the heart of the Higher Diploma in Folklore. Years of experience in teaching and conducting original research into Irish life, traditions and folklore make the Department of Folklore and Ethnology the ideal place to study these aspects of Irish life, and make participating in the Higher Diploma in Folklore a rich and rewarding experience.

By studying for a Higher Diploma in Folklore, you will cover key topics including:

oral literature (e.g. narrative, story, and song)
popular religion (e.g. belief, healing, festivals)
popular material culture (e.g. vernacular housing, and technologies past and present).

This course will give you the skills to:

-trace the development of the discipline of Irish and European folklore
-engage with various aspects of traditional and contemporary Irish culture
-identify key genres in narrative, and recount the social and cultural context for storytelling
-evaluate the ethnographic value of archival documents
-be able to research an ethnographic project through archival sources
-design an ethnographic fieldwork project
-use recording technology to conduct an ethnographic interview.

Who teaches this course
Staff of the Department of Folklore and occasional guest speakers.

Why Choose This Course
There are only two university departments in Ireland that teach and research Irish folklore as an academic subject, making the Department of Folklore at UCC a leader in its field. The discipline itself is unique in making everyday life, traditions, beliefs and popular behaviour the actual focus of its attention. No other discipline can provide the insight or the perspective on Irish life and traditions that folklore does.

This course will give you the skills to:
trace the development of the discipline of Irish and European folklore

engage with various aspects of traditional and contemporary Irish culture

identify key genres in narrative, and recount the social and cultural context for storytelling

evaluate the ethnographic value of archival documents

be able to research an ethnographic project through archival sources

design an ethnographic fieldwork project

use sound and visual recording technology to conduct an ethnographic interview.

Modules
Further details on the modules listed above can be found in our book of modules. Any modules listed above are indicative of the current set of modules for this course but are subject to change from year to year.

University Calendar
You can find the full academic content for the current year of any given course in our University Calendar.

Requirements
It is intended for those who already have a 3 or 4 year primary degree and who wish to study the subject Folklore intensively over one or two academic years. The Higher Diploma in Arts is a conversion programme and applicants would not normally have studied the relevant subject to Honours Degree level previously.

Applicants are asked to study the modules offered before applying, to ensure that they are aware of the approach taken to the study of Folklore in the Department of Folklore and Ethnology at UCC.

English Language Requirements
Applicants that are non-native speakers of the English language must meet the university approved English language requirements available here.

For applicants with qualifications completed outside of Ireland

Applicants must meet the required entry academic grade, equivalent to Irish requirements, please find our grades comparison by country here.

International/non-EU applicants
For full details of the non-EU application procedure please visit our how to apply pages for international students. In UCC, we use the term programme and course interchangeably to describe what a person has registered to study in UCC and its constituent colleges, schools, and departments.

Not all courses are open to international/non-EU applicants, please check the fact file above.

For more information please contact the International Office.

How Do I Apply
1. Choose Course
Firstly choose your course. Applicants can apply for up to two courses under one application. Details of taught courses are available on our online prospectus.

2. Apply Online
Once you have chosen your course you can apply online at the online application portal. Applicants will need to apply before the course closing date. There is a non-refundable €50 application fee for all courses apart from the Education - Professional Master of Education - (Secondary School/Post-Primary Teacher Training) which has a €100 application fee.

Applicants for the Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health Nursing must apply on the PAC website when the programme opens for applications.

3. Gather Supporting Documents
Scanned copies of the following documents will need to be uploaded to the online application portal in support of your application. Applicants may need to produce the original documents if you are accepted onto a course and register at UCC.

Original qualification documents listed on your application including transcripts of results from institutions other than UCC
Any supplementary items requested for your course.
Please log into the online application portal for more details.

4. Application processing timeline
Our online application portal opens for applications for most courses in early November of each year. Check specific course details.

5. Rounds
For courses that are in the rounds system (Irish and EU applicants), please check the rounds closing dates via link below.

Questions on how to apply?
Please use our web enquiry form to contact us.

Additional Requirements (All Applicants)
Please note you will be required to provide additional information as part of the online application process for this programme. This will include the following questions:

You may enter the details of professional or voluntary positions held. We strongly encourage you to complete this section with all relevant work experiences that will support your application.

In addition to your previously declared qualifications, please outline any additional academic courses, self-learning and professional training relevant to this programme.

Please describe your motivation and readiness for this programme.

Please detail your computing/technical/IT skills.

The closing date for non-EU applications is 15 June

Assessment is carried out through a combination of continuous assessment, written assignments, and end-of-year examinations.

Higher Diploma 60 ECTS credits

1 year Full-time; 2 years Part-time

Additional Teaching Mode Information
The part-time option will be taught during weekday working hours over 2 years.

Start Date 7 September 2020

Skills and Careers Information
In addition to developing archival and analytical skills, you will develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of Irish popular culture, both past and present, in studying the stories, rituals, beliefs, traditions, religion and cosmological understandings of the people.

Graduates of our department have gone on to careers in:
journalism
television and radio
teaching
the heritage sector (museums, folk parks, etc.)
translation
community-based folklore and arts projects management
academia.