Are you an Irish Studies Minor? Are you interested Irish culture? Or are you simply just Irish?
Well, starting Wednesday October 5th, and continuing every following Wednesday for the remainder of the month, the Irish studies program will be hosting an Irish film series in the DiMenna-Nyselius Library.
The film series is open to any and all Fairfield University students as well as the rest of the Fairfield community.
The purpose of the series is to educate the viewers in Irish culture by showing popular and award winning films through an Irish perspective, while covering themes such as Irish identity in America and Irish history.
The films are nominated by professors in the Irish studies program and usually pertain to a current course being offered. Some previous films shown were “The Secret of Kells” a 2009 foreign animated film about the creation of the Book of Kells, and “The Quiet Man” featuring John Wayne.
The first film that will be shown in the series named “The Pipe” is a documentary released in 2010 about the Corrib Gas Pipeline controversy, where Irish farmers and fisherman were brought into conflict with Shell Oil over rights to land and fishing ground.
All films shown, however, aren’t necessarily directly tied with Irish studies. Professor Pearson, an English professor who also teaches Irish studies related classes, elaborated on the different kinds of films shown and how they deal with Irish themes.
“Classic westerns that people wouldn’t think of as Irish films but deal with Irish immigration in America… if you put these films in an Irish cultural studies context, you see the background to them that you may have never thought of before,” according to Pearson,
Two students spoke about their positive experiences with the film series. After taking “Politics of War and Peace in Northern Ireland” with Professor Cassidy, Kelly Williams ‘12 was inspired by the class and started becoming a regular at the series.
She believes that, “Irish films have more meaning and depth to them than films here. They demonstrate the struggles between them (The Republic of Ireland) and Northern Ireland.” Dan Leitao ‘12 also commented that the Irish Studies program “chooses relative films that have big names, and are usually pretty good.”
The film series is held in the Multimedia room in the lower level of the DiMenna-Nyselius Library.
Screenings begin at 7p.m. and are preceded by a brief introduction to the film with a professor from the Irish Studies program, and at the films conclusion groups tend to stay for discussion.
The turnout is normally a mix between Fairfield University students and members of the community.
According to Professor Pearson you can “expect a good night of film and discussion in a way that brings back film to the experience of seeing it together and … discussing it together.”
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