Irish and Irish Immigration Studies

 

Opportunities for Irish Studies Abroad:

SIUC and University College, Galway

A special relationship exists between Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and University College, Galway to encourage student exchange on the undergraduate and graduate levels. Students enrolled at SIUC have the opportunity to undertake at University College, Galway both formal course work and, especially on the graduate level, independent reading and research projects. Enrollments, housing, collection of fees, and awarding of credits will be facilitated by faculty and staff involved in Irish Studies at both universities. A constituent College of the National University of Ireland, University College, Galway offers instruction to over 6400 students through Faculties of Arts, Celtic Studies, Commerce, Engineering, Law, Medicine, and Science. The campus on the western bank of the River Corrib is one of the most attractive university sites in Europe, and the city of Galway (population over 50,000) is a beautiful and lively center of Irish culture, including very active musical, artistic, and dramatic communities.

Galway is at the heart of Gaelic Ireland; Connemara and the Aran Islands constitute the largest remaining Irish- speaking area in Ireland today. Since the 1930s, University College, Galway has served as "the cradle of the Irish language at university level," teaching many courses in Irish as well as English. The College has one of the strongest Celtic Studies programs in the world and today the Faculty is the center of the European Celtic Studies Network. In addition, the Summer School features well- established programs in Irish Studies and the Irish Language.

Since the establishment of the program, students from across the SIU campus have used their time in Ireland for academic research, language and cultural studies, and to engage in creative writing using resources only a semester in Ireland can provide. To see comments about the program provided by recent exchange participants, click here.