Story: Phillip Tutor | Photos: Caleb Walters
First-hand lessons in Irish history, culture, civil rights are embedded in聽program’s academic offerings
Before graduating from the , Emma Ryan pined for an opportunity to study abroad. But there were caveats. She was a senior. She didn鈥檛 want to spend a semester overseas. Or an entire year, for that matter.
Those factors made this spring鈥檚聽宅男福利社in Ireland program聽perfect for Ryan, who is scheduled to graduate in May with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in biology and a minor in English. For eight days, Ryan joined eleven other students and two faculty members on an academic exploration of several of the Republic of Ireland鈥檚 rural northern counties, gained in-depth knowledge of the island鈥檚 history and culture, and enjoyed the Irish鈥檚 culinary delights.
鈥淭hey ate really well on this trip,鈥� said聽宅男福利社history professor Dr. Rob Riser, who directs the university鈥檚 Ireland program.
Ryan, from Tuscaloosa, couldn鈥檛 be more pleased with the experience.
鈥淣ot only does it offer exposure to these other international places that we鈥檙e going to,鈥� she said, 鈥渨hen we went there, they had pictures or signs of previous groups that have gone. And it was cool to see a tiny university from west Alabama across the sea.鈥�
The short-term, faculty-led 宅男福利社in Ireland program began in 2018 as a cost-effective way to broaden the university鈥檚 global reach and create a study-abroad option that featured neither language barriers nor exorbitant costs for students because of the compressed schedule, Riser said.
That first trip was a success. But the Covid-19 pandemic soon intervened.
The second trip, scheduled for 2020, didn鈥檛 happen. Rescheduled for 2021, it was abruptly delayed when Irish authorities reinstalled travel restrictions last November. It wasn鈥檛 until this spring that reduced Covid-19 cases and loosened restrictions allowed the 宅男福利社party to board a flight for Europe and meet the trip鈥檚 host organization, , based in Bundoran, County Donegal.
Next鈥檚 year trip is already booked for Thanksgiving week, Riser said.
鈥淏y the time we got there, it had already been canceled on (these students) twice,鈥� Riser said. 鈥淪o the host group went to great lengths to spoil them more than students normally would be in terms of how much they packed into a program, in terms of what they were feeding them at night.
鈥淭he original idea of why we’re going there in the first place is because we were impressed by the pricing structure as much as we were the content. We try to deliver a great deal of bang for the buck.鈥�
Ireland鈥檚 tourism value is undeniable, but that content is critical, Riser said, because it solidifies the experience as academic. The program is offered as an interdisciplinary study that includes history, literature and archeology. (A fourth complement, communications, is being added for 2023.) Riser works with the program鈥檚 hosts to develop the itinerary and include site visits and classroom guidance that fulfill UWA鈥檚 academic requirements.
For 宅男福利社student Jacob Dial, a junior from Sumterville, the program was a twinned experience. His family lineage is steeped in Irish ancestry, he said, and dates to the times of the High Kings of Ireland. As an English major, he particularly enjoyed visiting the gravesite of celebrated poet William Butler Yeats at Drumcliff Cemetery in County Sligo.
鈥淢y expectations of Ireland were completely changed when I got over there,鈥� Dial said. 鈥淚 never thought that the Irish would be so fond of American culture. In fact, as we found out, the Irish love country music. 鈥楽weet Home Alabama鈥� is one of the most popular songs in Ireland.鈥�
For Ryan, countryside excursions allowed her to view Ireland through the eyes of a future biologist. But the program’s academic range codified the trip鈥檚 core element.
鈥淚t’s not really a goof-off, all-fun trip. It’s scheduled,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou go to historic sites, you learn a lot about culture, language, history. You learn about modern-day things like civil rights, women’s rights, politics. I was really surprised just by the amount that I learned.鈥�
鈥淏y visiting other countries, exploring other cultures, you gain a greater sense of our world and you also gain a new perspective on yourself. You’re able to learn new things about yourself in a way that you’re never able to do beforehand.鈥澛�
— 宅男福利社student Jacob Dial
From the director鈥檚 perspective, Riser sees the program as an introduction to history, literature and archeology that鈥檚 鈥渄one in a comparative context where you’re comparing the development of what becomes the United States with the development of the island of Ireland.鈥� The program is open to any student enrolled at 宅男福利社but specifically targets freshmen and sophomores who may be persuaded to participate in one of the university鈥檚 semester-long programs elsewhere around the globe, he said. Flexibility in how the program is credited to students鈥� academic records is another plus.
鈥淚f you are a student who’s not in the College of Liberal Arts, in practical terms what’s going to happen is you can take this and we let you substitute it as one of your general education electives,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o a student that isn鈥檛 a history major is going to take it as a history class, but say a science major could take it and it could replace one of their U.S. history electives.鈥�
The opportunity for students to absorb nations far removed from Sumter County and the U.S. South is irreplaceable, Dial said.
鈥淏y visiting other countries, exploring other cultures, you gain a greater sense of our world and you also gain a new perspective on yourself,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou’re able to learn new things about yourself in a way that you’re never able to do beforehand.鈥�
宅男福利社Scenes from Ireland
