M.A. in Global Affairs Students Learn Through Travel in Ireland

By Mitchell Smith

Students and faculty involved with CIS's Global Affairs master's program (GAMA) were thrilled to be able to return to Ireland in June for the program's education abroad experience. (The first GAMA trip to Ireland was in summer 2019; the pandemic prevented it from running the past two years.) The group of 22 students was led by Professor Mitchell Smith and GAMA program manager and graduate advisor Katie Watkins. A smaller group of students traveled to Puebla, Mexico, for their GAMA study abroad course with Professor Charlie Kenney.

The GAMA program, which is otherwise fully online, includes a short-term study abroad component that is nationally distinctive among online global affairs programs and projects the strength of the College of International Studies. Students that have come to know each other virtually are able to interact in person and broaden their understanding of global affairs. Learning from the education abroad experience spills back into online classroom discussions in subsequent semesters. T

he summer 2022 class engaged in a rich program of activities with the assistance of many friends of the program in Ireland, including the summer programs office at University College Dublin, Irish government officials who were generous with their time and assistance, and historian Lorcan Collins, founder of Dublin's renowned 1916 Rebellion Walking Tour and creator of the "Revolutionary Ireland" podcast.

Focusing on Ireland's adjustment to a challenging economic and political environment following the exit of Britain from the European Union, the class also examined Irish history from the first steps toward independence from Britain through the country's economic and social transformation after it joined the European Economic Community in 1973. Experiences in Dublin included a guided visit to the historically essential Kilmainham Gaol and a program at Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs tailored to the class.

The group also spent a day at a research farm in Dowth, north of Dublin, to learn about fascinating biodiversity research funded by the EU's Horizon 2020 research program. The class gained a sense of the challenges of operating a small dairy farm in rural Ireland, visiting a family farm engaged in groundbreaking marketing innovations such as direct milk sales to the public (pictured above).

The class also spent an especially memorable day in Belfast, hearing from several individuals who had direct experience in the Troubles predating the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, and who have since been dedicated to advancing reconciliation and strengthening community.

Throughout the trip, the GAMA student group blended beautifully into a mutually supportive learning community, making the study abroad experience a huge success and a joy for all.

Mitchell Smith is CIS associate dean for academic affairs.