Study Abroad Ireland 2016: Stories and Legends
June 27th – July 10th
LEAD FACULTY
Lead faculty members will be Kerrigan Sullivan, Professor of Communications Studies and Theatre, who will teach CST 100 Introduction to Public Speaking and CST 130 Introduction to Theatre and Becky Boncal, Adjunct faculty in English at JTCC who will teach ENG 295.
COURSES OFFERED
ENG 255 Major Writers in World Literature – Examines major writers selected from a variety of literary traditions. Involves critical reading and writing. Major world writers will be studied with particular focus on the fiction of James Joyce and the poetry of William Butler Yeats. (3 credit hours: literature, humanities, or general elective credit).
CST 130 Introduction to Theatre – Surveys the principles of drama, the development of theatre production, and selected plays to acquaint the student with various types of theatrical presentations. Major areas of focus will include the early royal and restoration theatres, Irish restoration dramatist such as Congreve, Goldsmith and Sheridan, and later Irish dramatists Wilde, Shaw, Beckett, Synge, Lady Gregory, Yeats and others. (3 credit hours: conceptual humanities or general elective credit.)
CST 100 – Principles of Public Speaking – Applies theory and principles of public address with emphasis on preparation and delivery. (3 credit hours: communications, applied humanities or general elective credit.)
ROUGH ITINERARY
Day 1: Depart Richmond
Flight from Richmond to Dublin.
Day 2: Dublin
Travel by Aircoach bus from the airport to the hotel in Downtown Dublin. After storing our luggage for a later check-in, we’ll have the rest of the day for an introductory walking tour of the Temple Bar area and lunch and then to Trinity College campus and its Books of Kells Museum and Long Room. On the way back to the hostel, we’ll take a bit more time to get acquainted with at our “neighborhood.” Group dinner.
Day 3: Dublin
We will arrive at O’Connell Street in the morning and visit the General Post Office (a major site of the 1916 Easter Rising). Then we will all visit the Dublin Writers’ Museum and stop at the Garden of Remembrance along the way. After lunch nearby, the Literature students will take a James Joyce walking tour. The Theatre students will go to the Smock Alley Theatre for a tour of this first Royal theatre. In the late afternoon we will all visit the Joyce Center and then meet with John Joyce, great nephew of James Joyce for some first hand knowledge. In the evening, theatre students will see a show at the Samuel Beckett Theatre while others should find a pub for Gaelic music and dance or enjoy a literary pub crawl at your own expense through historic Dublin.
Day 4 :Dublin
We’ll devote the day to all things related to James Joyce including optional trips via public transportation to Joyce’s Tower at Sandymount or the Guinness Brewery or Grafton Street shopping, and local street performers.
Day 5 :Dublin
We will meet in the morning and walk to St. Stephen’s Green for a tour. We’ll break for lunch at noon and meet again for our reserved entry to the National Gallery; we’ll meet afterwards to walk back across the Ha-Penny, Dublin’s only pedestrian bridge, and then explore Dublin Castle (site of the first recognized Irish theatre production in 1601), and Christ’s Church Cathedral. We’ll return to the hostel in late afternoon. Students will attend an evening performance at the Abbey Theater.
Day 6: Galway Residency
We will take a leisurely morning bus across Ireland to Galway with visits to the monastic site at Clonmacnoise, Athlone Town and Castle, and the Horse Museum at Dartfield. Plan to share your favorite Gaelic phrases on the bus since Galway is Gaeltechts, a Gaelic speaking area. We will check into our rooms at Forster Court Hotel off Eyre Square in downtown Galway and then enjoy a walking tour of Galway, a scenic and bustling college town filled with history. We will meet for an early evening walking tour and dinner.
Day 7 : Galway Residency
Today, we will enjoy a lecture on Irish literature and publishing History by Irish Writers Center, Fred Johnson. In the evening, theatre students will see a show at the Black Box Theatre and others can take in local music scene at area pubs as Galway is known for traditional Irish music.
Day 8 :Galway Residency
We’ll leave in the morning for a day-trip to the mountains of Connemara. We’ll travel through the glens of the Twelve Pins Mountains to beautiful Kylemore Abbey. We’ll have lunch in the restaurant at Kylemore and then stop briefly at Clifden, a tiny picturesque town where Marconi transmitted the first wireless signal. The scenery, reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands, continues as we return to Galway.
Day 9 :Galway Residency
Morning sites include Coole Park with its associations with W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory, then on to stunning Cliffs of Moherand itsobservation center, and the strangely lunar landscape of The Burrenwith a stop at thePoulnabrone Dolmen.
Then we’ll take a chilly late afternoon ferry (45 minutes) across the mouth of Galway Bay to ÁrasÉanna, one of the Aran Islands, to see an evening performance of Gaelic language theatre at TaibhdhearcnaGaillimhe. Late evening return by ferry to Galway. Bring Irish woolens!!
Day 10:Sligo
Today we travel by motor coach from Galway to Sligo, stopping to explore the Village of Cong, the Museum of Country Life, and the FoxfordWoollen Mills, before we check in at the Sligo City Hotel in the vibrant riverside area of O’Connell Street. The afternoon will include a visit to the Yeats Memorial Museum, County Library (Yeats manuscripts) and the Sligo County Museum. In the evening, we can go to Hardagan’s Bar for traditional music. Students will attend a performance at the Hawk’s Well Theater.
Day 11: Sligo
We’ll spend the day seeing the sites in Yeats Country: Queen Medb’s Cairn, Knocknaree, DrumcliffBenbulben, Yeat’s Grave, Loch Gill, Lake Isle of Innisfree. Today you will need sturdy walking shoes!! Evening open to explore or relax on your own.
Day 12: Sligo
By motor coach, we’ll travel to the Belfast along the Causeway Coastal route with stops at Bushmills(Since I would like to remain an employee at the College, the entry fee for the Bushmills Tour is not included.) and along the Giants Causeway. We will arrive in Belfast after 6 p.m. Tentatively, we will meet and dine with students from the Belfast Metropolitan College and perhaps see an evening film at Metropolitan College or a show at the Lyric Theatre. Overnight at the Day’s Hotel in central Belfast.
Day 13: Belfast
Tentatively, we will hear an introductory lecture at Metropolitan College and then take a Black Taxi tour of Belfast: Falls Road Republican Murals, the Peace line, the Ulster Museum, Sinn Fein Headquarters, and perhaps St. George’s Market. Afternoon to shop, pack, relax. Farewell group dinner.
Day 14: Return
Travel by motor coach to Dublin Airport and head home to Virginia.
COST
Package includes airfare, internal travel, hotel, most admissions, breakfast daily and two group dinners. In addition to these costs, students will need to pay for class tuition, meals and a few other admissions that are not included in the group package.
16-23 Paying Travelers: $2,945
24-35 Paying Travelers: 2,755
36-42 Paying Travelers: $2,640
Single Supplement: $580
Triple Reduction: $60
Travel Insurance: $80
A deposit of $680(includes travel insurance) will be due November 2nd. A paymentof $1,000 will be due January 11th and the finalpayment of $960 - $1,265 (depending on number of travelers) will be due April 11th.
For more information, contact Kerrigan Sullivan at or Becky Boncal at .