College pupils off to Ireland

CANTON — The course requirements for the St. Lawrence University class titled "Place, Memory and Literature" sound typical at first glance: writing a research paper, attending lectures, keeping a journal ... and visiting a pub.

The course, which is being offered for the fifth summer in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, will take place from July 6 to 23 and require students to do fieldwork in some unusual locations.

"Because we're emphasizing place, they have to do an assignment in Dublin where they go out to specific locations in small groups," said St. Lawrence University Dana Professor of Global Studies Eve W. Stoddard, who will be co-teaching the study abroad course with Barry A. Carson Jr., an adjunct instructor at the college. "It sounds funny, but pubs are a very central part of Irish culture, and there are very different types of pubs. They usually interview the bartender and report back to the class."

In addition to the Dublin pubs, the 13 St. Lawrence students enrolled in the literature course will visit Stone Age archaelogical sites in the Boyne Valley, hiking trails in Connemara, an arts festival in Galway and a play at Dublin's Abbey Theatre. Along the way, they will stop at national monuments and study the use of oral, written and visual narratives in reinforcing and challenging established histories.

The students will also be enrolled in a peace studies course titled "Peace and Conflict in Northern Ireland" and co-taught by Ms. Stoddard and Mr. Carson. According to Ms. Stoddard, the class will give students a valuable look into ongoing tensions between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

"We're there in Belfast and Derry during the marching season, which is the time of year when there's the highest level of emotional conflict," she said. "Even though the peace process has been in place since 1998, there's a lot of deep-rooted feelings on both sides. We get to experience it firsthand."

Students will spend nearly a week in Derry working with a community organizer and former Irish Republican Army member to learn about opposing perspectives in the conflict. In both Belfast and Derry they will meet with various Protestant and Catholic organizations to investigate peace and reconciliation efforts throughout the region.

As with "Place, Memory and Literature," the students will be expected to complete various readings and write an in-depth research paper about their findings while abroad. Ms. Stoddard said that her students are often astounded to learn about the historical animosity between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, but that they are excited to be participating in the course.

"I've wanted to go there for a long time," said Conner P. Eldridge of Brasher Falls, a rising junior and an English major at St. Lawrence. "It's not just a literature course and a peace studies class: it's studying these things in their own environment and being able to actually engage with them. I've got some Irish heritage on both sides of my family, so hopefully I'll be able to see some things that are important to me."