Students take classroom to Emerald Isle
Professors Terri Hasseler and Kristin Kennedy led a trip abroad as part of a cultural studies course.
Devon McCarty '09 (Boxford, MA) has become quite the world traveler. During her sophomore year, she spent two weeks in Panama and Ecuador with the Sophomore International Experience (SIE). She spent spring break of her junior year studying in London. Both experiences, she says, were exciting and rewarding.
So when she learned of Professor Terri Hasseler's Cultural Studies Abroad course that included a trip to Ireland, she jumped at the chance.
"I always wanted to go to Ireland, and I didn't know when an opportunity like this would come around again," says McCarty, a communication major.
McCarty was a one of 11 students who spent 10 days this summer in Galway, Belfast, and Dublin. The class spent the spring semester studying Irish history and culture, including the effect of the Potato Famine and the religious conflict in Northern Ireland. Upon their return, each student presented a research project based on their travels.
Mathematics Professor Kristin Kennedy came up with the idea for the trip to Ireland as a result of discussions with personal friends there who own Cnoc Suain, a residential heritage center in Galway that offers an educational experience for people interested in Irish heritage. (Learn more abou the Cnoc Suain.)
"Students realize the value of learning about other cultures," says Kennedy, who accompanied Hasseler and the students. "They understand that their generation will need to deal with many global issues."
Family roots
Kelly Donahue '09 (Winterport, ME) says her great grandfather, Charles Donahue, a 1933 graduate of Bryant, was very proud of his family�s Irish heritage. It fueled her desire to visit Ireland one day. Her favorite part of the trip was visiting Belfast and viewing murals of Protestants and Catholics, as well as learning about the tensions that still exist between them.
"This experience has taught me to embrace my Irish roots and has allowed me to understand the history and culture of my family," says Donahue, who is planning to attend law school.
Alicia Coleman '09 (Medford, MA) has family who live in Ireland and visited once before. She was able to enhance her understanding of the culture by experiencing the different lifestyles of the countryside compared to major cities.
"The similarities and differences we experienced in Ireland on a farm, touring the city of Dublin, or traveling north to Belfast, allowed us to get the best of Ireland in a short period of time," she says. "Each place adds its own unique aspects to the culture and history of Ireland."
Experiential learning
Bridget McNulty '11 (Madison, CT) says the trip, her first outside of the United States, helped reinforce the concepts she studied in the classroom.
"I was able to apply everything we learned, historical and current, to real places and people," says McNulty, who will travel to Germany and Greece in January with the SIE and spend next fall semester studying in Spain. "All the places we talked about in class we visited," she says. "We spoke with everyone, from scholars in their fields to people we met while touring, to learn more about the culture of Ireland."
As part of a research project she conducted on socially oppressed people, Danielle Farrell '10 (Preston, CT) had the opportunity to meet many Irish citizens. "It was incredibly interesting to talk to different types of people living throughout the country," she says.
Hasseler, a professor of English and cultural studies, developed a similar program that includes travel to London. She says the goal of teaching the class before the trip is to prepare students to go beyond the 'tourist' mindset and understand the complexities of another culture. It was especially fascinating to students with an Irish-American ethnic background, she says.
"In many ways, the course helped to enhance their understanding of their personal heritage to think about where in Ireland their families came from and when and why they might have come to America," says Hasseler.
So when she learned of Professor Terri Hasseler's Cultural Studies Abroad course that included a trip to Ireland, she jumped at the chance.
"I always wanted to go to Ireland, and I didn't know when an opportunity like this would come around again," says McCarty, a communication major.
McCarty was a one of 11 students who spent 10 days this summer in Galway, Belfast, and Dublin. The class spent the spring semester studying Irish history and culture, including the effect of the Potato Famine and the religious conflict in Northern Ireland. Upon their return, each student presented a research project based on their travels.
Mathematics Professor Kristin Kennedy came up with the idea for the trip to Ireland as a result of discussions with personal friends there who own Cnoc Suain, a residential heritage center in Galway that offers an educational experience for people interested in Irish heritage. (Learn more abou the Cnoc Suain.)
"Students realize the value of learning about other cultures," says Kennedy, who accompanied Hasseler and the students. "They understand that their generation will need to deal with many global issues."
Family roots
Kelly Donahue '09 (Winterport, ME) says her great grandfather, Charles Donahue, a 1933 graduate of Bryant, was very proud of his family�s Irish heritage. It fueled her desire to visit Ireland one day. Her favorite part of the trip was visiting Belfast and viewing murals of Protestants and Catholics, as well as learning about the tensions that still exist between them.
"This experience has taught me to embrace my Irish roots and has allowed me to understand the history and culture of my family," says Donahue, who is planning to attend law school.
Alicia Coleman '09 (Medford, MA) has family who live in Ireland and visited once before. She was able to enhance her understanding of the culture by experiencing the different lifestyles of the countryside compared to major cities.
"The similarities and differences we experienced in Ireland on a farm, touring the city of Dublin, or traveling north to Belfast, allowed us to get the best of Ireland in a short period of time," she says. "Each place adds its own unique aspects to the culture and history of Ireland."
Experiential learning
Bridget McNulty '11 (Madison, CT) says the trip, her first outside of the United States, helped reinforce the concepts she studied in the classroom.
"I was able to apply everything we learned, historical and current, to real places and people," says McNulty, who will travel to Germany and Greece in January with the SIE and spend next fall semester studying in Spain. "All the places we talked about in class we visited," she says. "We spoke with everyone, from scholars in their fields to people we met while touring, to learn more about the culture of Ireland."
As part of a research project she conducted on socially oppressed people, Danielle Farrell '10 (Preston, CT) had the opportunity to meet many Irish citizens. "It was incredibly interesting to talk to different types of people living throughout the country," she says.
Hasseler, a professor of English and cultural studies, developed a similar program that includes travel to London. She says the goal of teaching the class before the trip is to prepare students to go beyond the 'tourist' mindset and understand the complexities of another culture. It was especially fascinating to students with an Irish-American ethnic background, she says.
"In many ways, the course helped to enhance their understanding of their personal heritage to think about where in Ireland their families came from and when and why they might have come to America," says Hasseler.
