CELTIC ART AND CULTURES



Fall 2000
117 Hanes Art Center
Mondays, 9:00 - 9:50 a.m.
Dr. Dorothy Verkerk
Rm. 108, Hanes Art Center

Office Hours: Wednesday, 9:00-10:00 a.m. Drop by my office any time the door is open or ajar.
Email: dverkerk@email.unc.edu Available anytime.
Telephone: (919) 962-0729 Use the voice mail, since I will not pick up the telephone while meeting with students.
List serv: celtic@listserv.unc.edu --check this on a regular basis.
Although Dr. Verkerk will teach this course and act as the Director of the Exhibiton, she did not create all the computer technology that makes this possible. You may want to find out more about the Celtic Art & Cultures Project.


Important links to campus and web site support:

Course Content


Although geographically western and eastern European, Celtic art from the Hallstatt and La Tène periods (7th c. BCE) to the Celtic "Renaissance" (c. 400-1200 CE) represents the culture of the Celts, or the Keltoi, or Gauls, as they were known to their Greek and Roman neighbors. The Celts were the indigenous people of Europe whose oral traditions, gods, and abstract aesthetic provided a powerful influence on the formation of what is traditionally perceived as a Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian Europe. The understanding and cognizance of the Celtic contribution are crucial to provide a more complex and balanced view of western culture.

The Exhibition


Using computer technology, we will be creating, designing, researching, and writing an exhibition catalogue that will be published on the Internet. Each student will choose a topic from those listed below (new, viable topics will be considered). After researching the topic and compiling a bibliography, you will choose the works of art that best represent the subject matter. An essay, catalogue entries, and a select bibliography will be written and published on the Internet. The combined written work of all the students will comprise the exhibition. Each student is responsible for their exhibition "space." Please consult the exhibition page for detailed instructions on writing your catalogue.

Discussion Forums


The discussion forum is essential to this course. Please be sure to check it every day. The Discussion Forum(s) will, in large part, replace the Wednesday and Friday lectures. The class will be divided into four groups: Parisii, Iceni, Nervii, and the Galatians: Celtic peoples known for their intelligence, diligence, and ability to meet deadlines, not to mention their bravery. Too cute, but it's more romantic than numbers or letters. Each week a new assignment will be posted on the listserv celtic@listserv.unc.edu for which you are responsible. You are to work within your group, but you are not restricted to your assigned forum. Not only will you post your own essays, but you will also respond to your colleagues essays. The format will change from week to week, so it is essential that you check in consistently.

Course Outline


Ideally, you would read the entire books listed in the assignments; however, you are responsible for the chapters or pages listed in the assignment. The readings are linked to the day they will be discussed, so work ahead.
August 23 - Introduction

August 25 - Computer Celts
Assignment:Begin examining web sites. Try using google.com

August 28 - The History of Collecting and Studying Celtic Art
Assignment: J. Leerssen, "Celticism," in Celticism, 1996, 1-20.
T. Champion, "The Celt in Archaeology," in Celticism, 1996, 61-78.

September 6 - The Barbarian and the Noble Savage
Assignment: J.J. Tierney, "The Celtic Ethnography of Posidonius," Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 1960, 189-275.
M. Chapman, "The Celts and the Classics" in The Celts: The Construction of a Myth, 1992, 165-184.
Julius Ceasar, De bello gallico.
**You will find the links to Contemporary Written Sources helpful.

September 11 - Oral and Literate Cultures
Assignment: C. Frazier, Cold Mountain, pp.
W. Ong, Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word, Chap. 3 "Some psychodynamics of orality," and Chap. 4 "Writing restructures consciousness."
T. Duddy, "Derrida and the Druids: Writing, Lore, and Power in Early Celtic Society," Religion & Literature, 1996, 9-20.

September 18 - Celtic Aesthetics
Assignment: A break from reading... Work through the Celtic designs and take note of the aesthetic principles indicated. Then, choose three works of art from the image index and do an analysis of the design, breaking it into its most essential parts. If you are uncertain about a term, check the Vocabulary for help.

September 25 - La Tène Culture
Assignment: Choose topic and meet with Dr. Verkerk.

October 2 - Cities, Centralization, Coinage
Assignment:Choose the works of art for your exhibition.

October 13 - Celtic Religious Beliefs
Assignment : Compile Bibliography

October 16 - Insular Pre-Christian Celts
Assignment: 1 catalogue entry posted to discussion forum

October 23 - Picts
Assignment: 1 catalogue entry posted to discussion forum

October 30 - Conversion Period
Assignment: 2 catalogue entries posted to discussion forum. For those interested in St. Patrick, here is his autobiographical Confessio.

November 6 - Monasticism
Assignment: 2 catalogue entries posted to discussion forum

November 13 - Insular Manuscripts
Assignment: Finish up catalogue entries.

November 20 - TBA
Assignment: Edit and comment on your group's entries

November 27 - Irish High Crosses
Assignment: Edit and comment on your group's entries

December 4 - Celticism
Assignment: Post your essay

December 11 - "Housekeeping"
Assignment: Finish editing


Links to Celtic Sites: History, Literature, Art, Religion

CELTIC ORIGINS

CELTIC RELIGIONS

MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE CELTS

CONTEMPORARY WRITTEN SOURCES--GREEK AND ROMAN

CONTINENTAL CELTIC BURIALS

CELTIC ART

CELTIC DESIGN

IRISH LITERATURE

CELTICISM

CELTIC RESOURCES



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