I’m enjoying the Academic life here at Champlain Abroad Dublin. It has been great to learn about Irish history, the economic state of the country, the government and politics that form the Republic as a nation, etc. The teachers at the program are incredible people and are more than qualified for their positions.
Academic Centre.
Seamus White, a business teacher, is teaching two of my five courses. In the management 335 class titled Ireland, The Celtic Tiger and European Union, we have been learning a great deal of the setup, parties, rules and legislation that forms the Irish government. We have also begun to learn about what the Irish economy is based upon and its current standing in the world. In the macroeconomics and international business course that he is teaching, we are learning of the various concepts and forces that affect international businesses and trade. We are also learning a lot about why international trade is so important, why it can be harmful, and about how and why it affects each and every country specifically.
Seamus teaches in a way that gets the whole class involved and interested, he is able to put it into context, make the information clear, while adding some humour and making the class quite conversational and enjoyable. I have not asked specifically what he does, outside of being a professor, though I know that he is an extremely worldly person, has studied at Trinity College among other excellent schools, and has some serious life connections. He really makes us take control of our learning by assigning us current news articles each week to read and present in the class. On top of this he assigns at least four larger presentations throughout the semester, along with a paper. All of these presentations give the students excellent practice on how to truly entertain while being very informative at the same time. This keeps students up to date in the world and able to put these random facts and statistics into context and really get a grip on how this affects a country’s economic, political, and cultural states. I have not talked to one student who does not thoroughly enjoy his class.
Seamus White, a business teacher, is teaching two of my five courses. In the management 335 class titled Ireland, The Celtic Tiger and European Union, we have been learning a great deal of the setup, parties, rules and legislation that forms the Irish government. We have also begun to learn about what the Irish economy is based upon and its current standing in the world. In the macroeconomics and international business course that he is teaching, we are learning of the various concepts and forces that affect international businesses and trade. We are also learning a lot about why international trade is so important, why it can be harmful, and about how and why it affects each and every country specifically.
Seamus teaches in a way that gets the whole class involved and interested, he is able to put it into context, make the information clear, while adding some humour and making the class quite conversational and enjoyable. I have not asked specifically what he does, outside of being a professor, though I know that he is an extremely worldly person, has studied at Trinity College among other excellent schools, and has some serious life connections. He really makes us take control of our learning by assigning us current news articles each week to read and present in the class. On top of this he assigns at least four larger presentations throughout the semester, along with a paper. All of these presentations give the students excellent practice on how to truly entertain while being very informative at the same time. This keeps students up to date in the world and able to put these random facts and statistics into context and really get a grip on how this affects a country’s economic, political, and cultural states. I have not talked to one student who does not thoroughly enjoy his class.
Academic Centre.
Kelli Maoileoin is also one of Champlain Dublin’s gem teachers (I have not had any over here that I dislike). She teaches the Northern Ireland History class that I am enrolled in, along with an Early Irish history class also available in the program. In this class we have learned things starting with the rise of Protestantism in Britain in the 1600’s and the Protestant ascendancy’s grueling effects on the Irish people (Catholics) of that time under British rule (Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, etc.). We covered the potato famine starting in 1845 and how the Irish made their way to North America and have just started to learn about Michael Collins and the Easter Rising of 1916.
Kelli has a vast grip on Ireland’s history and is able to tell you anything you may need or want to know. She makes the class extremely informative and factual while also telling a story, giving us images and comparisons along the way to make things more relatable, rather than throwing out facts and dates at us. She also shows us films on the various topics that she will describe in thorough detail, this provides another prospective and a very visual way of taking the information in. This incorporates multiple learning styles and really leaves no student in the dust as long as they pay attention and try to do well.
This is just to give you a taste of some of the excellent academic choices one has when studying with the Champlain Abroad Dublin program. Although you are not in a school with other Irish kids, the teachers themselves are local. They know a great deal about the country you are in and give you excellent new ideas and perspectives on the world. It truly is an academic experience that one cannot receive while studying back home in the states.
Henry S Schwartz
Champlain Abroad Dublin, Spring 2014
Champlain College, Environmental Policy and Business Administration 2015