Eastern Mennonite University

Cross-Cultural Program: Ireland and Northern Ireland

Fall Semester 1998

Now that we're home again, we've moved our group journal to be available to the public...take a look!
In Ireland the inevitable never happens, and the unexpected constantly occurs.
--Sir John Pentland Mahaffy (1839-1919)

Before Leaving

Introduction

Ireland is a land with a rich cultural heritage and a long and tormented history of political oppression and conflict. This semester will provide a focus on Irish history, literature, and culture with a special emphasis on Ireland's ongoing history of religious and political conflict between the Protestant and Catholic communities.

The semester will include Dublin, the capital of the Irish Republic, for attention to Irish history; Ulster (or Northern Ireland), the British part of the divided country, to create a deeper understanding of the conflict including an opportunity to meet people in Derry and Belfast who are working to bring about reconciliation into a polarized situation; and other sites for a taste of Ireland's rural heritage and ancient Celtic culture.

Program Description

Course Credits: 15 semester hours

Book lists for these courses are now available. Syllabi will be distributed during orientation.

Required texts for 1998 Ireland Cross Cultural

Application

Please see our separate application form. It was due Friday, October 17th, 1997, and is now included in the group roster page.

Resources for Preparation

See our separate page of resources: website links, reading suggestions, etc.

On the Road

Travel Itinerary

We plan to maintain our travel itinerary on this website during the seminar, and publish regular reports. Your family and friends can follow the adventure as it happens! See also our page of maps and demographics.

Back Home

We've now moved our journal and earlier itinerary to be accessible to the public. You are welcome to catch up with our day-by-day adventure, reading about our experiences as a group.

(A few weeks before the trip we had moved these pages to a non-linked address, and then given that address to parents and others who requested it through the Dean's Office. This removal from the public eye was a minor precaution to ensure our safety during the trip, taken just after the Omagh bombing. It probably would have made no difference at all, but the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland can bring out all sorts of unpredictable behavior...so given a choice, we might as well be cautious. We certainly didn't want to tell any would-be terrorists who stumbled onto this web site, "here's a group of 30 Americans from a university, an easy target." During the trip we never felt that our personal safety was threatened, other than our own fears going into unknown territory where we'd heard or imagined horror stories.) [an error occurred while processing this directive]