Ceol na hEireann (Music of Ireland) - My first class of the week, Monday morning from 9-11:45am. This class involves such taxing projects as building our own bodhran (pronounced like bow-ron), which is an Irish drum, learning to play the penny whistle, and attending drumming circle lessons, an Irish dancing session, and live music performances at local pubs. I know, it's a tough job, but someone has to do it. What we would call Irish or Celtic music back home is just called trad here (short for traditional music), and I plan on hearing as much of it as I possibly can this semester, and maybe learning to play a little!
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| This is a bodhran |
Earth Science lecture - This is Mondays 12:15-1:30 and Tuesdays 2:15-3:30, and is taught by the director of the study abroad program, who is an incredibly cool dude. He lived in Canada for much of his life and used to teach geology at St. Lawrence. His Phd is in, get this, peat bogs. Nothing gets him more excited than peat bogs, and we have been forewarned that on our long weekend trip to Northern Ireland in a few weeks, he is going to pull over our bus randomly to show us a peat bog. Honestly, I don't know if I've ever felt this excited for a science class. We are going to be learning about things like the physical capacity for how many people the earth can hold, rivers and how they work, climates of the past, present and future, and what Stephen (the professor) calls "sexy science" (anything that has had a Discovery channel special made about it). This class includes some great field trips as well. :)
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| This is a peat bog |
Early Irish History - Mondays from 2-3:30 and Tuesdays from 11:15-12:15, this class also has an amazing professor, though the class is not quite what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be mostly a history lesson from the standpoint of anthropology or sociology, but the approach we're taking is much more scientific. Our professor, Kelli, is an archaeologist, and she brings a TON of knowledge about prehistoric Ireland to the classroom; I'm really excited to tap into her expertise on the subject! She's great fun, in part because her speech is colored with Irish vernacular ("It's great craic!"). Some of the field trips for her class include going to Tara, one of the most ancient and holy sites in Ireland, a cave with prehistoric paintings, and a castle ruin. For class on Tuesday we are going to the National Museum of Ireland - hooray!
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| This is the Hill of Tara |
The Celtic Tiger - A 'Tiger' economy is one that grows very big, very fast, which is what happened in Ireland in the 90s. We are learning about that in this class, though we have only touched on it briefly. The professor for this class is very abrupt, though friendly, and I think that living with Patrick and Matt last semester greatly prepared me for his class. Those of you who know Patrick and Matt will understand why I say this. The professor will roll his eyes at an answer he doesn't like, or exclaim "Jesus Christ!" if he's particularly peeved, or dismiss the answer entirely with an impatient "yes, yes, we already know that - what else?" In yesterday's class he was explaining a homework assignment when someone asked if we should enter our own opinion into the writing, to which he replied "no, why would I care about your opinion? I don't care about you, you're not in my pay grade." This all may sound horrible and harsh, but there is no bite behind his words and his friendly eyes give him away. He's a very energetic man who needs to keep the class going at a fast clip in order to stay interested, and it takes a lot of mental energy to keep up with him. I was sick for the first class (still am sick, actually), and I had barely sat down in my seat before he started in with questions: "Why does China have all your money?" We were asked questions in a rapid-fire style for the full hour and fifteen minutes, eventually answering this bigger initial question. The class was very interesting and super informative, but with how sick I felt, at the end I had to put my head down on the desk in exhaustion. This one will definitely keep me on my toes. Wednesdays from 2:45-4 and Thursdays from 12:45-2
Social and Non-Profit Marketing - This is a class that Andy and I actually switched into last minute, and man am I glad that we did. Nothing against Digital Marketing, but this class seems as though it is going to be AWESOME! It's Thursdays from 9-11:45, and taught by a professor who is one-of-a-kind. All of the professors here have professional lives elsewhere, and her job is to run her own marketing consultation business. She serves on the board for Champlain College Dublin, was actually the one to find the building in which it's located, and has had a number of very high-profile clients. For this class we are going to be learning about marketing as a tool to promote change for the better - social, behavioral, or what have you. Whether this is an anti-drunk driving campaign or a way for charities to market themselves, this is a branch of marketing that I can get behind. We have a big semester-long project in this class where we pick a cause we care about and develop a marketing strategy for that cause. At the end of the semester, we give a presentation to the organization in question. Past classes have presented to Senators and the Dublin City Council among others, so I am really excited to have the chance to do some good while I'm here!
I'm really happy with the classes I chose, and, while I'm going to be working really hard, I think I'm going to get so much out of this semester. :)
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