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Category Archives: University College Cork
Gestalt
There’s a compositional idea in some 20th– and 21st-century music known as gestalt, referring to the perception of a larger structure created by many unique components. In composition, it basically means the juxtaposition or superimposition of different ideas without connective … Continue reading
Normalized No More: Gaining Perspective from Irish Prisons
The first time I stepped foot on Rikers Island, New York’s main jail complex, was in 2012 for a college course. I was struck by the long bridge, big fences, high walls, and sharp barbed wire. The old, run-down buildings, … Continue reading
Posted in University College Cork
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Simplicity: Accepting Ireland’s Charge
Sea-soaked air settled into my lungs as I disembarked my bus to the unfamiliar din of chatter; I am definitely not in Kansas anymore. Groan-worthy clichés aside, Cork – Ireland’s second-largest city at 119,230 residents – is more densely inhabited … Continue reading
Half-Irishmen, Stouts, and the Dilemma of Belonging
I occupy a strange identity space here in Ireland. I’ve never lived somewhere where the vast majority of people look very much like me, yet lead lives quite different than my own. I have red hair, a red-ish beard, and … Continue reading
Homecoming
Dia daoibh! I have a deep affinity for all things Irish. This enduring fascination with Irish culture was a predetermined eventuality put in place long before I was born. Seven of my eight great-grandparents emigrated from the Emerald Isle to … Continue reading
Thoughts from Milan
It feels so strange to be writing my last blog as a Mitchell scholar. I got an e-mail notification that I’d been added to the Mitchell alum google group the other day, and I have to admit that my first … Continue reading
Posted in Class of 2014, University College Cork
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Rough Transitions
The form that sat lifeless on my computer screen still managed to mock me in some subtle way. It symbolized the inevitable passing of time and the arrival of new things. My year in Ireland is coming to a close … Continue reading
Mitchells for Maths! A story of cross-class service
Last week, thanks to Midwest, Southeast, LMFM, and KFM, I got my 5 minutes of local Irish radio interview fame talking about the MATHletes Challenge 2014, my current project as Public Policy Advisor with SOSventures and the O’Sullivan Foundation. MATHletes … Continue reading
Posted in Class of 2012, mathematics, Uncategorized, University College Cork
Tagged Alumni, math, maths, technology
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Looking for Answers
Studying foreign policy and diplomacy as an American in a foreign country is complicated enough. Add in the minor detail that I am in the Navy and it becomes a whole new ballgame. For a lot of my classmates, I … Continue reading
Posted in Class of 2014, University College Cork, US Military
Tagged University College Cork
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North
Three weeks ago we made our way up to Belfast for the spring Mitchell weekend and a chance to learn a bit about Northern Ireland. I was looking forward to seeing part of the island I hadn’t gotten to yet, … Continue reading
Thoughts on composing
When you decide early that you want to be a composer, you get used to people asking you “So how do you plan to make a living at that?” Sometimes the question is aggressive, sometimes kind and genuinely curious, but … Continue reading
Coming back to Cork
My program got off to a good start. All of us in the MA in composition were told to bring our instruments for the first day of class. When we arrived, the course coordinator told us we wouldn’t be doing … Continue reading
Posted in Class of 2014, University College Cork
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