EAMON DARCY
Critical Skills Tutor
Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning
MAYNOOTH UNIVERSITY
Email: eamon.darcy@mu.ie
BIO
EAMON DARCY is a historian of early modern Ireland, Britain and the wider world. His research focuses on cultural and social exchanges between ordinary Irish people and those that arrived in Ireland as a consequence of English conquest and colonisation. Thus, themes such as (in no particular order) cultural exchange, representation, conflict, coercion, violence, legacies of violence, contested legacies, and political participation regularly emerge in Eamon’s work. Eamon has also taught courses on the history of empires (where these issues emerged in other contexts) and the historiography of slavery. In terms of the latter, it was impossible to discuss how historians viewed slavery without looking at the influence of the civil rights movement on contemporary American academics and their approaches to slavery. Both Eamon’s teaching and research, therefore, have imbued him with a keen interest in social justice.
PERSONAL STATEMENT
One of the key reasons why I am interested in this project is to build upon my experience of teaching colonial history (from the perspective of early modern Ireland) and race, slavery and black culture (in nineteenth and twentieth century America) in both Maynooth University and Trinity College, Dublin. In more recent years, I have also taught a module for first year students called ‘Critical Skills: an introduction to university learning’. As part of this course, students self-select their own essay and presentation topics. More often than not, they choose topics that hinge on topics around social justice and systemic bias. It is a useful keyhole through which we can remind students of the importance of harnessing their literacy skills in terms of searching for information, evaluating information, identifying information needs and creating their own argument. In a time of constantly evolving intellectual responses to social justice movements, it is very important that third-level students are empowered to address related issues in an informed and conscientious way.
- Develop innovative ways to encourage university students to engage with social justice topics
- Set an assignment that allows students to analyze a range of social problems in Ireland, the EU, and the wider world
- Learn from, and engage with, my colleagues across Maynooth, DCU, and UCC in order to ensure that this is achieved through the best possible pedagogical approaches
COURSE DEVELOPMENT
To learn more about Eamon’s course development and planning for the Spring 2020 semester, please choose from one of the links below.
REFLECTIONS AND OUTCOMES
To learn more about Eamon’s pedagogical orientation and approach as well as his experiences of participating in the DISCs Project, please click on one of the links below.
What is the purpose of Higher Education?
What does it mean to incorporate social justice principles into my teaching?
Reflections on the DISCs Project