final syllabus

The Old Main Drag: The Life and Music of Shane MacGowan HUMN 2000

Summer 2021 Online

[email protected] Instructor: John Doe Office Hours: Online by appointment

Course Description:

This course will introduce students to the life and music of Shane MacGowan. MacGowan is best known as the vocalist of The Pogues, an Anglo-Irish punk band formed in London in the 1980s. The Pogues created a distinctive hybrid style that combined punk rock with traditional Irish music. This course will analyze MacGowan's hybrid style as a case study of transnationalism. Thinking about MacGowan's career is an opportunity to consider how Irish national identity was constructed and transformed by transnational migrants that employed traditional style in a punk context.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the life and music of Shane MacGowan. 2. Demonstrate knowledge of key concepts in the study of transnationalism. 3. Analyze cross-cultural and global perspectives in the style and lyrics of the music of The Pogues.

Required Texts

MacGowan, Shane, and Victoria Mary Clarke. A Drink with Shane MacGowan. New York: Grove Press, 2001. ISBN: 0802137903

All assigned texts and films in this course can be accessed through the “Course Schedule” page in folio.

Assignments

Final Exam Students will take a final exams that will test for comprehension of the assigned readings for the course.

Final Exam: June 17

Transnationalism Paper: Students will write one 4-5 page paper in which they will analyze the transnational dimensions of Shane MacGowan's career. Further directions will be posted on Folio.

Film Analysis Paper Due: June 11

Discussion Boards Students will contribute to discussion boards for the first three modules. Further directions will be posted on Folio.

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Online Quizzes: There will be a quiz for each module. Each quiz will be due at 11:59 PM on the final day of each module.

Grade Breakdown: Transnationalism Paper 30% Discussion Posts 15% Quizzes 25% Final Exam 30%

Course Policies:

Accessibility: Students who require learning accommodations are encouraged to register with the Student Accessibility Resource Center. Thereafter, you are invited to schedule appointments to meet with me virtually to discuss accommodations and other accessibility needs.

Make-Up Exam Policy In the case of a scheduling conflict with an examination, the student should contact the instructor a week before the exam date to schedule a make-up exam. If a student misses an exam due to illness or other unforeseen circumstances, it is imperative that he or she contact the instructor via email WITHIN ONE DAY OF THE SCHEDULED EXAM. In order to qualify for a make-up exam, the student will be expected to provide written proof of valid scheduling conflict or illness.

Plagiarism Policy: The paper in this course requires no additional research beyond the assigned course materials. Therefore, bibliographies are not required for this paper. However, citations are required if you borrow language or ideas from any other source, including material found on the internet. Any bibliographic format (ie., MLA, APA, Chicago) is acceptable. If you are unsure about whether to cite material, it is always better to err on the side of too many citations. You should also feel free to ask the instructor about whether any material should be cited.

Auto-plagiarism (resubmitting or copying from one’s own previous work) is also unacceptable. It is expected that all students produce original work for the assignments in this course.

Folio Policy: The assignment for this course will be submitted as word or pdf files to a folio dropbox. It is the responsibility of students to learn to use the technology required for paper submission. If the folio system is working properly, technological failures will not be acceptable excuses for missed assignments.

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Course Schedule:

Week 1 Introduction: The first week will introduce students to Shane MacGowan and The Pogues. We will discuss MacGowan's personal biography as well as his musical career.

Listen: The Pogues, "Dirty Old Town"

Watch: Temple, Julien, dir. A Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan. 2020. New York: Magnolia Pictures.

Contribute: Discussion Board 1

Take: Quiz 1

Week 2 Transnationalism: The second week will introduce students to theories of transnationalism with particular attention to the concept of "diaspora." In her essay on whether there was an Irish diaspora, Mary Hickman will analyze how Irish migrant communities in places like the United States and the United Kingdom shaped transnational Irish identity.

Listen: The Pogues, "Fairytale of New York"

Read: Hickman, Mary J. "Locating the Irish Diaspora." Irish Journal of Sociology 11:2 (2002): 8-26.

Contribute: Discussion Board 2

Take: Quiz 2

Week 3 Tradition: The third week will examine how Shane MacGowan has employed traditional Irish music. We will analyze what exactly constitutes tradition. This week will consider what role the imagination of traditional national identity has played in counter-cultural or punk forms of expression.

Listen: The Pogues and the Dubliners, "The Irish Rover"

Read: MacGowan, Shane, and Victoria Mary Clarke. A Drink with Shane MacGowan. New York: Grove Press, 2001.

Contribute: Discussion Board 3

Take: Quiz 3

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Week 4 Hybridity: The fourth week will focus on the Anglo-Irish identity of the Pogues. We will examine the band's formation within the London punk scene of the 1980s as an expression of the experiences of transnational Irish migrants in the United Kingdom.

Listen: The Pogues, "A Rainy Night in Soho"

Read: Sean Campbell, "The Importance of Being (London) Irish: Hybridity, Essentialism, and the Pogues." In Campbell, Sean. Irish Blood English Heart: Second Generation Irish Musicians in England. Cork, Ireland: Cork University Press, 2011.

Submit: Transnationalism Paper

Take: Quiz 4

Week 5 Conclusion: The final week will conclude with an analysis of Shane MacGowan's Irish punk aesthetic. We will pay particular attention to how MacGowan's focus on sin and redemption brings together counter-cultural and traditional Irish themes.

Listen: The Pogues, "The Old Main Drag"

Read: Farrell, Kevin. "If I Should Fall from Grace with God': The Joycean Punk of the Pogues." New Hibernia Review 24:2 (Summer 2020): 150-190.

Take: Quiz 5

June 17 Online Final Exam