IRFL40190

This module equips students to undertake original research in folkloristics and ethnology within the two primary laboratories of the discipline: the archive and the field. Building on research approaches introduced in Advanced Research 1, students develop and present their findings through engagement with primary sources and theoretical frameworks.

The module emphasises critical archival practice, examining how archival materials came into being and analysing the intersubjectivities that shaped their production. Working with the National Folklore Collection and digital resources including dúchas.ie, students engage with archival sources as sites where tradition, variation, and context can be unpacked through close analytical attention.

The module addresses fieldwork methods, including participant observation and ethnographic documentation, alongside interpretive frameworks including thick corpus and organic variation; ethnopoetics and performance theory; and collaborative ethnography. Dissertations may draw on archival, field-based, or combined research approaches.

Seminars and small group sessions address research methods, sources, theoretical frameworks, and fieldwork practice and serve to support and inform individual research development.

Students who wish to undertake fieldwork with human participants will be guided in obtaining the necessary UCD HREC approvals for low-risk exemption before beginning fieldwork.

The module is assessed by a dissertation comprising a literature review, research methodology, and case study analysis.