What The Troubles (and Derry Girls) are Teaching Students about 2020
Most can agree that one of the few perks of the pandemic is a much shorter commute. For Jennifer Joyce, PhD, and her 鈥淣arratives of Northern Ireland鈥� class, going virtual means that some very special guest lecturers鈥� the Northern Irish authors the class reads each week鈥� are able to make it to class on-time!
Dr. Joyce is the Associate Director of the Center for Irish Studies, as well as an Associate Teaching Professor in the Augustine & Culture Seminar Program and Department of English. Her course examines The Troubles鈥攖he political conflict and violence that began in the 1960s between Protestant unionists, who want Northern Ireland to remain British鈥攁nd Catholic nationalists, who favor the idea of an Irish state encompassing the island as a whole. The Troubles touched nearly every aspect of life in Northern Ireland and while the violence largely died down in the 1990s, its effects are still felt in 2020. Dr. Joyce uses the literature course to not only teach about the history of the conflict, but to examine the various responses to peace and the ongoing reconciliation process, as racial and political tensions in the U.S. rise.
Despite Dr. Joyce鈥檚 worries about the course being moved to an early morning time slot, she is happy to report that her students are very tuned in. 鈥淓very morning at 8am everyone is on, everyone is ready,鈥� notes Joyce. Since 8am in Pennsylvania is noon in Belfast, the class is often virtually joined by Northern Irish authors like Owen McCafferty and Glenn Patterson, who share insight into growing up during The Troubles鈥� and how it influenced their art and writings鈥� and Irish filmmaker Maurice Fitzpatrick who made a documentary on Northern Irish politician and key peacemaker, John Hume. Dr. Joyce emphasized that the ability to converse with these writers, 鈥済ives a whole other dimension to the course. When you can step inside the texts but also draw from perspectives outside of them, it shows a fuller picture.鈥�
Part of creating that full picture of the Northern Irish experience for Dr. Joyce was assigning a few episodes of Derry Girls, a British sitcom available on Netflix. Written by Northern Irish native Lisa McGee, Derry Girls follows a group of friends in the 1980s as they encounter typical high-school experiences like crushes and class trips, against the backdrop of a civil war. Dr. Joyce uses the story鈥攖old through the eyes of a character called Erin who aspires to be a writer鈥� as an opportunity to open a discussion about how adversity drives creation, and about appreciating what you have. She shows a scene where to investigate what turns out to be the girls smuggling alcohol in a suitcase, and another where, in a darkly humorous moment of cognitive dissonance, Erin鈥檚 Aunt Sarah begins complaining, 鈥淚鈥檓 not enjoying this bomb. I鈥檝e an [tanning] appointment at Tropicana at 12.鈥�
Dr. Joyce points out that scenes like those, and another where the (or 鈥淥rangemen鈥�) from a different school, encapsulate the conditioning of the thinking around the divide. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e asked, 鈥榳hat do you have in common?鈥� and they can't think of a single answer,鈥� Joyce said. 鈥淭here is so much intergenerational hatred, and they don't know where it's coming from or why. McGee鈥檚 comedy is effective because it's glaringly obvious that human beings have much in common, and the scene gestures towards the very real peace efforts occurring in Derry at that time. We talk about how the two groups move forward.鈥�
Discussions like these seem to encourage the class, who Dr. Joyce reports are 鈥渏ust as committed as ever,鈥� despite the class being fully virtual. 鈥淭hey're bringing in all of this extra research. They are fascinated by the topic. They鈥檙e wondering why they weren鈥檛 taught about this in high school.鈥� The class keeps the discussion fresh using YellowDig, a platform that mimics social media, where Dr. Joyce encourages the students to share articles, illustrations, videos and written or recorded reflections relevant to the course materials. She emphasizes that they should contribute in their own time, and at their own pace. She tells her students, 鈥渢his is your community to create!鈥�
According to Joyce, they find the class so relevant because The Troubles function as a more contemporary case study of a country in conflict, and one that found a largely successful resolution. With the United States and other countries impacted by a global pandemic鈥攚hich has impacted public health and the economy鈥攁s well as a contentious political climate and a struggle for racial justice, the timing seems appropriate. Together, Dr. Joyce, the students, and their international guests not only talk about the works that they're reading but they get to find out how other people globally are coping with the pandemic and the state of the world.
Dr. Joyce continues, 鈥渨ith the continuance of racial unrest in the U.S. this summer, the visibility of the protests and the murders of George Floyd and others, the students are very aware of what the division and conflict and injustice looks like鈥o then look at a country like Northern Ireland which came out of a 30 year civil war and are able to come to some sense of peace and conflict resolution, the students are starting to think鈥攃an this be a model for us?鈥�
鈥淭his course translates so much more than we think today,鈥� adds Joyce. 鈥淚nstead of abstractly talking about 鈥榯his little pocket of violence and tension across the ocean,鈥� somehow, it's relating to our situation鈥攊t鈥檚 about religion and it's about race, etc. It feels like its resonating.鈥�