Photo: Josh Tubbs
As a native English speaker, I always felt like studying abroad somewhere that English was the primary language was a bit of a cop out. After all, one of the main perks of studying abroad was supposed to be immersing yourself in (and, consequentially, learning) a new language. I love foreign languages, so one of my main hesitations about studying abroad in Ireland was I was afraid I would be missing out on that “foreign” experience.
I definitely didn’t need to worry. For example: my Monday morning class, Technical Writing, and my Tuesday morning class, Writing the City, are both taught by the ever-wonderful Stephen McMahon It took me two weeks to realize that he “worked” with lots of foreign students, not “walked” with them, and his accent isn’t even that particularly strong…especially when compared to Anthony O’Halloran. He teaches the Modern Irish Social History course here at Champlain Abroad Dublin and is native to Tipperary. Oh. Goodness.
His accent is akin to what you’d think of when you think of the rolling Irish hills. There’s something airy and melodic every time he asks the class “Ah, is that okay?” and I wish I could bottle it up and take it home with me when I leave in December.
My classes on a whole have been extraordinary. It is impossible for me to pick a favorite. Just to give you a taste of each flavor:
Writing the City (WRT 335): This class is based on experiential learning. Most of our homework, and about half of our class time, is spent getting out into the city of Dublin and exposing us to new, hidden treasures we wouldn’t have likely found on our own and then writing about the experience. My favorite one so far was when we went to the National Photographic Archive and studied photographs taken during the Troubles, then wrote a flash fiction from the point of view of someone in the photographs. A completely transformative experience.
Technical Writing (WRT 231): This one I was nervous about taking, mostly because I am a Professional Writing major and am naturally skeptical of any class I’m required to take. Again, I had no reason to fear. As one of my friends here said, “If you’re going to have an early class on Monday morning, there’s nobody else you’d rather have than Stephen McMahon ” On the first day of class he gave us two instructions: always show up to class, and always show up with breakfast. Over our muffins, we workshop each other’s pieces and discuss strategies to write professional sounding e-mails and grant letters.
Ireland,The Celtic Tiger and the European Union (MGT 335) : Seamus White stole my thunder and already wrote a post about this class! I highly recommend reading it as it gives you a good sense of the course. I think if I had to pick a favorite course it would be this one, mostly because so much of what we’re learning is at the eye of the media storm right now. No matter what your major, it’s completely relevant, and gives a great deal of context to modern issues that in a few short years time we will be asked to solve.
Global Environmental Earth Science (SCI 155) : I am not a science person. I am good at math, but I stopped taking science classes as soon as they were no longer required of me and never thought much about it. That said, this class is an excellent option as a science-for-non-science-people. Our class is broken up into a lecture and a lab, which each play off of one another and build upon one another. I am a very visual person, so it’s been a lot easier for me to grasp the concepts we learn about in the lectures because we are then exposed to them once more in lab. For example, in our lecture portion we learned about different rock types and how they are formed, as well as different types of erosion and what causes them. Then, for lab, we went to a graveyard to see evidence of those different rock types and the levels of erosion on them. Very cool.
Modern Irish Social History (HIS 315) :Last, but certainly not least, one of my other favorite classes. I think the best part about this class is how much it ties into everything else. As the name suggests, there is a wide swath of information to cover, and very often it bleeds over into what we’re learning in my European Union class or field trips we took in my Writing the City class. For example, last week we read and discussed the Proclamation of the Irish Republic in Modern Irish Social History, then we discussed the significance of that document and its author on modern Irish economic policy in Ireland, The Celtic Tiger and the European Union. (Again, this is the class with the heavy accent. It’s a lot of fun.)
-Kathryn Mill
Champlain College Dublin, Fall 2012
Professional Writing Major, Champlain College, Class of 2014