The Power of Popular Culture

I was reading an article in the Irish Times today commenting on recent remarks by Glen Hansard, and Irish musician and actor recently known for his role in the film Once. What struck me in the article was a comment about the status of high culture in Ireland. The writers states:

>> "We do, as a nation, have a problem with high art. Public art has a terrible record of being vandalised."

Given my personal interest in Irish history this comment struck me because it echoes one of the central points of my dissertation - that popular cultural is the real barometer to measure Irish society against. It's not just political. It's not just that the IRA historically targeted governmental monuments to destroy because of what they represent. It's deeper. The Irish have had a contempt for the upper classes for so long and the number of elites has been so small, comparatively, that high culture only matters so much as that it correlates to British (or any other) culture. The popular is what truly represents the people of Ireland. The fact that class is understudied in Irish history has led scholars to assume the tension in Ireland ran solely along ethnic lines, like F. S. L. Lyons' "Culture and Anarchy." But ethnicity is only part of the issue. Were a lot of Irish elites non-Catholics of Anglo-Irish stock? Most likely. That fact, however, seems like a convenient excuse to divert a class issue into an ethnic one. Because most of the folks in Ireland come from modest means, it's only natural that they hold high art in contempt. By exploring the the popular aspects of culture helps to illustrate a more complex Irish history.

Building solidarity

Last night I spent some time with colleagues discussing various aspects of our collective graduate school experience. One of the topics we discussed is something that I have been actively trying to change this year - the lack of camaraderie in our department. It seems to me that this problem stems from a number of factors. First, we're a relatively small department. That means that cohorts are not very big and one if lucky if they have someone with a similar research project to bounce ideas off of. Second, we are an urban school in Chicago with people spread out over a large area. This creates a motivational issue for people to actually get out of their houses and participate in various activities (especially with the current shape of the CTA and the winter weather). As the president of our department's graduate student association I've made concerted efforts to increase interest in our organization and foster a sense of community amongst the students in the department. It seems like this action won't pay off for another few years as it will probably take a few more years of sustained advocacy to get our department where it needs to be. Providing opportunities for people is only one half of the equation. The other half involves people actually taking part in them. One can offer as many services as they like, but if no one uses them what is the net benefit? It seems both sides are deprived of positive opportunities. What are some ways to get people more involved? How does one go about getting people to show up to meetings, workshops, or even the bar? These are some of the issues my department will continue to face for the foreseeable future.