科克大学

Ireland has one of the world's largest folklore archives. Folklore has been a vital aspect of Irish identity for hundreds of years, contributing to its literature, history and culture. Folklore, however, is not just in the past or in the countryside, it’s also in the contemporary world and in cities. It remains a significant element in the ongoing cultural process of popular traditions and expressions.

Folklore at UCC introduces the main areas of the discipline, such as narratives, stories, festivals, rituals, tools, technologies and material culture, before developing the theories, ideas and methods of Folklore, including the theories of fieldwork, original research, archives and community identity.

Folklore is one of very few courses that makes culture its main interest. Fewer again do it with a serious anthropological and ethnographic perspective as we do at UCC. Folklore is a unique subject and discipline in this sense alone, in which you will have the opportunity to seriously consider Irish narratives, rituals, festivals, symbols or beliefs. UCC is one of only two universities where you can do this comprehensively.

By studying folklore, you can add the rich tapestry of tradition, culture and everyday life to other disciplines that seem to consider everything else except these. The cultural context and background will fill in the gap in your knowledge like nothing else will. It will help you to understand the role of culture in both past and present societies.

Ireland has one of the largest folklore archives in the world. The Department of Folklore at UCC is a leading institution nationally and internationally for the study of folklore and ethnology. Yet folklore one of the newest academic disciplines, with a wealth of information and knowledge at its disposal. Culture surrounds us like the air we breathe so why not study it, explore it, test it and research it. This subject is unique in placing culture in the centre of things. It offers opportunities to enter a rich and varied discipline, using unique resources in the archive and outside it, in original research and community settings.

Skills and Careers Information

Graduates from this course have gone on to pursue careers in the following areas:

• academia
• media (audio-video)
• primary and secondary school teaching
• archive assistance
• heritage sector (museums, with the Heritage Council)
• translation
• writing
• community-based folklore and arts
• local history projects.

The course also equips you with a range of useful transferable skills for journalism, television production, urban planning and environmental planning.