Over 10,000 people have signed up for Trinity College Dublin’s first massive open online course (MOOC) beginning on 1 September.
‘Irish Lives in War and Revolution: Exploring Ireland’s history 1912-1923’ will be run in partnership with FutureLearn.
More than half of those who have expressed interest in the course are from outside Ireland, with strong demand in the UK and US.
The MOOC will explore the lives of men, women and children living through war and revolution, examining the political and social changes that shaped modern Ireland. By engaging with original sources – textual, visual and aural – and encountering contradictory viewpoints, participants will learn about the contested nature of all history and the challenges facing historians.
Entry to the six-week course is open to anyone with internet access across multiple devices including desktops, tablets and smartphones.
“Our aim with the course is to question that there is a single narrative or an easy explanation of the past,” said Prof of Early Modern History and Historiography Ciaran Brady from Trinity’s School of Histories and Humanities. “We want to challenge the silent assumption that there can be one authoritative voice claiming to have all the answers. To that end, we have designed a course intended to stimulate in you a critical attitude towards the question of whose history gets recorded and sought out, and whose history, ultimately, gets told.”
Trinity’s Associate Dean for Online Education, Prof Tim Savage, added: “Online learning has the capacity to revolutionise how students learn, and to increase access to high-quality higher education. Trinity is at the forefront of innovation in Ireland, and we believe there is an opportunity for the university to leverage the disruptive potential of online learning, particularly in building our global reputation. The online environment will provide students with a stimulating learning experience by creating a structured, yet flexible, learning approach.”
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