Study Abroad in Dublin

Study traditional and modern playwriting, from concept to production, and from classical form to new site-specific work. Topics might include narrative structure and the rise of the monologue, issue driven work, the role of workshopping, etc.

What does it mean to tell a story? Does it matter why or how someone tells a story? Storytelling is an Irish oral tradition that dates back to Celtic mythology, but is also important to modern day Ireland. This course will examine how storytelling brings Ireland to life, and how Dublin and Ireland are represented in stories. How can you use a building, a street, a painting, or a performance to construct a story that can be shared with others, and that creates a narrative that resonates with the specific time and history of that place? The course will look at the tradition of the short story in Irish writing, and also the development of the Irish novel. Students will also think about their own stories, and how they can be told.

All students studying in Dublin will take this course, regardless of their track choice. This course has three main components: gain knowledge of Ireland past and present through modules focused on areas such as economics, religion, language, sports, and education; engage with the host-country with activities such as internship, research, performance, volunteer, sports team, or teaching practicum; and explore Ireland through a range of study tours to Western Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Students will study and actively participate in the art of performance, focusing on Irish writers like Samuel Beckett, Brian Friel, Conor McPherson, Martin McDonough and more. Actor training, and so this course, is physical, emotional and intellectual. The work will include vocal training and expression, dynamic conditioning of the instrument of the body, and textual analysis. In addition the course will help actors unlock the specific voices of Irish playwrights. Students will work on scenes and monologues as well as their own improvisations.

This will be an acting class, and will require one previous fundamentals of acting or performance class at your home institution, or permission by the instructor.

This course will focus on the contemporary writing in drama, film, and poetry, and will follow the legacy from Yeats to Marina Carr. Irish cinema will be explored from silent films in the early 20th century, to recent Oscar nominations for Irish made films. The course will also examine the interconnection of literature and film, with a focus on turning fiction into film.

This International Marketing course will help you develop an understanding of the scope and challenges of marketing in the international context. The course examines how the global dimensions technology, research, capital investment and production impact marketing, distribution and communication net-works. The breadth of this course will provide insights into the increasingly interdependent global economic and physical environment and its impact on international marketing. Globalization has led to increasing interdependence. ‘Connecting the dots’ has thus become essential to the survival and success of businesses, even those not operating in the international arena. By examining these linkages, the students will gain an understanding of how companies develop strategic plans that are competitive to survive and succeed in these global markets. The local Dublin instructor will present further regional insights into the key issues surrounding marketing from an international perspective.

The International Economics course provides an understanding of the key economic issues in the global business environment. The course provides an understanding of how global businesses are impacted by real world developments in economics, politics and finance. The business environment is dynamic in nature. The course coverage is therefore updated periodically to include current real world evidence as well as recent academic and empirical findings. The five broad topics covered in the course are: Globalization, Country Differences, Cross-Border Trade & Investment, the Global Monetary System, and Competing in a Global Market Place.

Cities around the world are striving to be “global.” This interdisciplinary course focuses on the physical, socio-economic, political, and cultural development of Dublin through space and time. Before students explore the city, chronologically they will examine ancient Ireland’s globality in terms of its educational and religious influences, particularly on mainland Europe. Then, starting from the 10th Century, students will retrace the Viking city through to the city’s current form that is characterised by urban sprawl, multiculturalism, and its connection to Europe and the global economy. Much of the first half of the course will explore the creation of the colonial city (Georgian Dublin) and, following independence from Britain, the creation of the postcolonial city. Each of these phases in the city’s morphology can be witnessed/read through an examination of the city’s architecture, nomenclature, museums, art, and in relation to the post-colonial city, oral histories, which requires an interdisciplinary toolkit for city exploration and analysis. 

The second section of the course will explore the policies that fostered the rapid speed at which Dublin grew from being a sparsely populated, non-industrial and disconnected urban space in the 1970s to a post-industrial/post-modern relatively highly populated dense plural space in the 1990s. Students will investigate the relationship between these policies and the devastating recession of the 2000s. Students will also explore the result of these rapid physical and socio-economic and cultural changes in terms of gentrification, immigration, and the complicated and contested nature of inner city residents’ notions of place, space, and identity. Students will also explore the creation of new multiethnic spaces and the city’s rebranding as a literary-cultural space (tourist Dublin). Finally, students will investigate the processes that occur in most global cities, which contribute to the creation of invisible spaces and subcultures that are found on the physical and cultural margins.

This course will address the principal ethical issues facing journalism, advertising, entertainment media, and online content. It will examine the moral obligations of the producers as well as the responsibilities borne by consumers. The course will provide an overview of the applicable ethical principles and philosophies then apply these to present day cases in the media through case studies. Finally, students will learn to critically engage with the content in order to analyze for themselves the ethical issues that are present in the production and consumption of the media on an individual and societal level. 

This course aims to develop American students’ understanding of business environments in an international context, with a specific focus on Ireland and the European Union. Students will study the political, economic and ethical contexts for policy and business operations as well as the cultural context of doing business within international/global contexts. Students will compare and contrast this new understanding with their existing knowledge of business policy and practice within America. In this case, as a result of taking this course, which includes site visits to international companies in Dublin and or guest speakers, students will be better placed to have the broad perspectives required of successful managers working in an increasingly globalized world and workforce. This includes an understanding of the challenges and adaptations required to succeed in host countries and regions with differing cultural, political, legal and economic systems. 

This course explores the world of work in Ireland and how students respond to the challenges that they can expect to encounter while interning in Dublin. More information on internships can be found here.

Syllabus for Global Internship: Dublin—3 credits
Syllabus for Global Internship: Dublin—6 credits

Global Identity: Connecting Your International Experience with Your Future is an optional 1-credit online course that helps you process your international experience and apply what you've learned upon your return.  Global Identity gives you the opportunity to work individually with a trained cultural mentor, helping you articulate your newly acquired skills for future professional opportunities, and differentiating you from your peers.

This course is offered at no additional cost on programs six weeks or longer. There are several sections offered including: Honors, College of Liberal Arts, and Leadership Minor focused versions of the course. Here is a link to additional Global Identity Course Information for details on how to request registration, deadlines and grade basis.