Mitchell Scholar Blogs

January 2009 Reflection

Posted on January 1, 2009 by jcanto09

December was a month of pilgrimages for me: one to Rome and two others to Bushmills, Northern Ireland, and Middleton, Cork County.

Before the pilgrimages began, I wrapped up some work at UCD where I am learning more and more about the EU. For the past month, I have been working on a project with Dr. Diana Panke on the structural disadvantages that smaller EU states face in advocating their policy agendas on the wider EU table. Through interviews and case studies, this project has helped me learn more about the problems that smaller EU members are up against, from language barriers to the brain drain in the public sector in their respective ministries, to simply a lack of money to travel to Brussels to assist the permanent representation. While very different from faith-based development in Washington, DC, this project has given me much exposure to the dynamics of European politics. It is community development, in the sense that recognizing and fixing these structural problems will lead to the empowerment of weaker EU States and a more sustainable and fair EU policy.

Not long after finishing the project, I found myself sitting behind the wheel of a 1983 Mercedes Benz with the goal of learning more about the EU from the open road, rather than interview transcripts. I left Dublin on December 17th with two good friends—Adam Tart and Bernie Rausch—with miles of open road ahead of us. Over the course of 10 days, we caught the Rothko exhibit at Tate Modern in London, saw the Cliffs of Dover, drove on the German Autobahn, paid a visit to Mozart’s birthplace, and toured the Schloss Schoenbrunn. While all these sights were worthwhile, the most important part of the trip was our arrival in Rome to attend midnight Mass at the Pantheon and to receive the Christmas blessing at noon later that day from Pope Benedict XVI.

While making the trip to Rome was a pilgrimage of religious sorts for me, another pilgrimage of secondary importance was to the Bushmills Distillery in Northern Ireland and to the Middleton Jameson Distillery in County Cork. When my high school friend Charlie Swisko bought a ticket to Dublin after Christmas, I knew we needed to make that trip. We are both whisky connoisseurs and hope to one day start our own micro-brewery back in the States. Although Kentucky bourbon is impossible to beat in our book, we do tip our hats to the Bushmills label—founded in 1608 and is the oldest licensed distillery in the world—and to the Middleton’s Jameson distillery, which houses the largest pot in the world.

Belfast is also a great city for Scotch drinking, as Charlie and I found out when Frank McMillan (Mitchell Scholar, Class of ’08)—he himself a sophisticated Scotch drinker—took us to Bittles Bar, where we had a selection of 100 Scotches at our finger tips for only 3.50 pounds a shot. After Frank picked Charlie and I up from the ground,(not from drinking but from the cheap price tag) we went right to the counter to enjoy several Scotches while surrounded by portraits of Ireland’s greatest writers.

The second semester at UCD is starting in a few days. I will be back to our normal routine after weeks of living out of my book bag. Vicki, Ryan, and I will soon be on the move to Birmingham, England, at the end of January to participate in the ToughGuy competition. This is a one-day competition that combines—as Vicki put it—the best of Navy Seal training and Fear Factor. I’m glad I got the Pope’s blessing before signing up for this.

Posted in Class of 2009, University College Dublin | Tagged Georgetown University, José Canto, mitchell scholar, mitchell scholarship, Sociology, UCD, University College Dublin | Comments Off

January 2009 Reflection

Posted on January 1, 2009 by jbrestoff10

Ireland came to a standstill last week, and Cork was no exception despite being on the southern tip of the island. This country has struggled through a national famine, centuries of oppression, and in the face of every major challenge Ireland has persisted. But last week this country faced a truly formidable foe: snow.

On Sunday, January 10, approximately one inch of snow fell onto County Cork. Cork City shut down for two days, and University College Cork cancelled classes until Wednesday because road conditions were so poor. The transportation authority here isn’t equipped with the proper tools to clear roads and to make them safe enough for drivers who are plenty used to rain but not its frozen counterpart. Lauren Parnell Marino (NUI Galway); her husband Jon; Lauren’s good college friend, Ellen; my good college friend, Stephanie; and I went to Blarney Castle that day and were nearly stranded there. The woman at the gate to the castle grounds deemed the five of us “Officially Crazy,” and we gladly accepted that title out of anticipation for seeing Ireland’s most photographed castle covered in snow. An adventure well worth it….

It seems that my life has recently been full of adventures. At the end of the fall semester, I embarked upon a solo adventure through Europe and Northern Africa. I started on a Sunday by taking the train to Dublin. Sarang Shah (Trinity College) and I philosophized until the wee hours of the night, talking about the nature of time, the differences between and merits of Chinese and Western medicine, and the importance of communicating science to the public, among other things.

Then I had my first encounter with Ryanair. Not fun. Unaware that Ryanair requires non-EU passengers to have their passports checked before going through security, I attempted to board my flight to Paris to no avail. The next flight to Paris was twelve hours later, so I changed my flight (at a dear price), arrived in Paris late at night, and made it to the center of the city when the metro stopped running. Taking a taxi to my hostel seemed to be a bad idea because I was traveling on a budget, but I met a Sri Lankan man named Gobi, who helped me find my way. Gobi, you are a good man, and your shop makes a mean panini. Keep up the strong work, my friend.

Then I went to Malta for three days and spent Christmas hiking 18 miles through the northernmost Maltese island, Gozo. The scenery there is stunning, and there is something surreal about stumbling upon one ancient ruin after another. The Roman saltpans were unlike anything I had seen before, and Djwerja Bay – home of the Azure Window, Fungus Rock, and the Inland Sea – was an ideal place to perform a few yogic sun salutations as the sky turned pink. The next day I visited Mdina and the Tarxien Temples before flying to Bari, Italy and taking a night train to Rome. I spent my first day at the Vatican, and then I wandered aimlessly through the streets of Rome. The Coliseum and the Roman Forum were beautiful, but by far the best part of my trip to Rome was having lunch at the Irish Embassy to the Holy See. Noel Fahey, Ireland’s Ambassador to the Holy See, and his wife were gracious to invite me into their home, and in our conversations, I learned much about Irish culture and the role of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Experiences such as these are only made possible by the U.S.-Ireland Alliance, and each is a reminder of the great privilege it is to be a Mitchell Scholar.

To escape the hustle and bustle of Rome, I spent a day in Florence to see Michelangelo’s David and to have a fine Italian meal before departing for Morocco. I flew to Tangier and initially planned to spend three days there. But I made friends at the Tangier Airport and decided to cancel my hotel reservations to travel to Fes with them instead. I spent New Year’s Eve with Ana (Spain), Sylvia (Italy), Giovanni (Italy), and Michele (Italy) at a fine Moroccan hotel, although we stayed in a nearby hostel in a run-down area of Fes. We then spent two days walking through the Fes medina, which was one of the most unique places I have ever been. Every ten feet there was a new stimulus for each modality of sensation.

We then traveled to Mergouza, a small city in the Sahara Desert approximately 30 miles from the Algeria border. After a traditional Berber breakfast, we rode camels to an oasis tucked among some of the largest sand dunes in Morocco and enjoyed each others’ company while listening to Berber myths and riddles and to the sounds of the desert. In the middle of the night, we climbed to the top of a massive dune to watch the moon and stars, and then we sprinted down the side of the dune, laughing the entire way.

After camping in the desert for the night, I parted ways and took an overnight bus to Nador. The blaring Moroccan ballads and winding roads placed me into a trance that enabled me to ignore the smell of a very overcrowded bus (I was lucky to have a seat!). In a café I met a Moroccan fisherman, and we practiced speaking Spanish. That afternoon I flew to Madrid to meet an old college friend before returning to Cork.

Now that I have returned and settled, I have started to work diligently on my M.P.H. thesis and am excited about the project. I am conducting a case-control study on morbid obesity and underweight in order to identify environmental risk factors associated with these conditions in the Irish population. I am using the Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes & Nutrition 2007 (SLÁN 2007), a comprehensive survey of more than 10,000 people residing in the Republic of Ireland, for my thesis. I am fortunate to have as my mentors Jan van den Broeck and Ivan Perry, both of whom are outstanding epidemiologists.

Prior to and after my travels, I spent much of my time working on Project Cork Underwater. My classmates and I have acquired full academic support from the UCC Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, but the economic status of the institution is such that no funding is currently available. Resource constraints are forcing us to downsize the scale of Project Cork Underwater, but we still plan to build a website that serves as a central hub of information on all available flood relief resources. We are also working on the development of a long-term needs assessment tool. Unfortunately, many people are still recovering from the flood, and we are currently focusing our efforts on fundraising to enable the development of our website and implementation of our needs assessment tool. Project Cork Underwater has the potential to facilitate the recovery of those who are still struggling with post-flood aftermath, and we hope to launch Project Cork Underwater as soon as possible.

Posted in Class of 2010, University College Cork | Tagged Jonathan Brestoff, mitchell scholar, mitchell scholarship, public health, University College Cork, University of Pennsylvania | Comments Off

January 2009 Reflection

Posted on January 1, 2009 by tgreen09

I am currently on the training camp trip with the UCD Boat Club in Seville, Spain. Since I have said that I would be doing some thinking, I thought I would share some of those thoughts instead of a travel entry. Here goes a beginner’s attempt at philosophy.

Returning to Ireland from home has made me think a lot about reality. Well, really the multiple realities: the one that we each hold in our heads, the one we perceive that each person we meet holds in their head, and the objective sort. Perception of reality is part of what makes us human. We perceive data from the world, integrate it with our thoughts and experience, and try to take the action we think is the best. We assume that similar mechanisms exist in those around us as we form a “theory of mind” about other people. Often, we ask our friends and advisors for their ideas and experiences when we make decisions because their views help us to be more “objective,” and will help us make better decisions or form more accurate thoughts. The interactions between these three senses of reality seem to cause a lot of problems. In courtrooms, friendships, relationships, business, and especially when outside our comfort zones, we are forced to see where our reality does not match those of others. If they were the same, we would avoid a lot of arguing, but also lead pretty boring lives.

As individuals, we have several ways in which we can approach our often-contradictory perceptions of reality. One, we can assume that our perception is completely accurate and objectively correct. Two, we can assume that there are multiple interpretations of reality, with some being closer to objectivity than others. Three, we can assume that no perception of reality can be judged to be more objective than another. Four, we can assume that no objective sense of reality can exist.

Let’s say you assume that your perception of reality is completely objective, and that it is the only objective sense of reality. This makes life pretty easy to describe in that all other perceptions of reality are wrong, and ours is right. A good image here is of everyone trying to copy a great work of art, in that only the original one (objective reality) is flawless. However, unless this assumption holds true, your perception is brittle. Any conclusive evidence to the contrary must be ignored, or the entire house of cards will fall down.

Now let’s instead assume that there exist multiple perceptions of reality, and that ours may or may not be correct. Imagine lots of people trying to flatten crumpled pieces of paper. Each one will look a little bit different and, with lots of effort, will start to look like the original, but will never be quite right without some heavy machinery. This approach has solved the brittleness problem. Now we can adapt to information contrary to our current perception by shifting to a new paradigm. However, we now have a new problem, in that we have no idea if our current perception is correct, or if any paradigm we see is more correct than any other. We can, and psychology says we do, create (possibly arbitrary) criteria to determine which are more “objective.” By introducing these criteria, we inherently distort the possible realities we apply them to, further shifting us away from any sense of objectivity. Under this assumption, we constantly desire and try to make our criteria more accurate, often by talking to others or examining new experiences. It requires lots of time though. We must first understand our own opinions sufficiently, then understand the opinions and experiences of others, to sufficiently compare the two. This process requires a level of self-awareness that is difficult to achieve, and an investment of time that makes its application necessarily limited.

Let’s assume instead that there exists no way to determine objective reality, but that one still exists. Unlike the analogy above, we are no longer trying to flatten the pieces of paper, but rather we each make origami from them and share them with each other. This “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” approach runs contrary to what our brains appear to be programmed to believe. However, this approach solves the problems outlined above. Perceptions are robust in that they can adapt to contrary information, and we no longer need to discover objectivity, or the one reality, because understanding each person’s perception of an objective reality is what’s really important. But, can we judge any perceptions to be more valid than any other? Can one eyewitness be judged to be more accurate than another? Can one person’s reading of the Koran be truer than another’s? Is murder always bad? Is the sky really blue? What this particular approach posits is that the validity of a particular perception of reality is just a matter of individual choice.

Finally, the last approach is to assume that no objective reality exists. As a self-respecting scientist, this grates me because it means that things exist that are unknowable logically. Then again, Gödel’s incompleteness theorem shows that, at least mathematically, no set of ideas can be both complete and consistent. This means that anything that completely explains the world will never be always true, whereas something that is always true cannot explain the world. If contradictory views are both viewed to be true, then, supposedly, we can completely explain the world. Even so, we are still left with the same questions about the validity of perceptions of reality and still left without clear answers.

I have no idea what’s correct from the options above, but guess that the correct one isn’t on this list. That said, who’s to say what is correct?

Posted in Class of 2009, University College Dublin | Tagged Dartmouth College, mitchell scholar, mitchell scholarship, Neuroscience, Travis Green, University College Dublin | Comments Off

January 2009 Reflection

Posted on January 1, 2009 by Catherine Fontana, Alumna, Class of 2009

t has been said that the brain makes thousands of calculations while the body walks on cobblestones. Slight adjustments to the ankle in fractional degrees otherwise unnoticed keep students, tourists, teachers, and the smallest toddler ‘afloat’ in Trinity’s Front Square. And then there are the thousands of thoughts the brain produces at the first glimpse of the campanile. We are lucky to have our mind racing through multivariate calculus so a simple moment of awe can be enjoyed – on two feet.

I still get a rush every time my feet scamper along the cobblestones in Front Square. The sounds of sneakers and stilettos echo limestone to limestone building, creating a chorus of chaotic canters. And I, I have become one of the echoes.

Similar to the ‘unthinking’ our minds do while we walk across cobblestones, every face we meet releases a thought within us, a second where we think, “He looks just like my friend from high school!” or “That scarf is incredibly beautiful,” or “I wonder what she’s thinking.” And being an American abroad, I’ve found my mind tossing around the latter statement every time I walk across campus, down Dawson Street, or enter a pub. I wonder what they’re thinking of me, the American.

And the minute they know I’m American, a myriad of assumptions might be made: “She must be vacationing here;” “She probably drinks herself silly in Temple Bar, calling herself cultured and worldly;” “She has come here on Daddy’s dime looking for love with an Irish guy;” “She wants to go Irish jigging and needs you to point her in that direction;” “She doesn’t like the taste of real Guinness and probably thinks that Killian’s is a traditional Irish brew. How wrong she is.”

Instead, I ache to shed my shell of Americanism, but even here, I’ve come to realize such a task is impossible to do. My country will always remain ingrained in me.

In a culture of many, being American represents the fundamental ability to absorb, adjust, and appreciate. There is an openness in Americans to retain individuality, while appreciating the richness of cultural expression. And what do I mean by that? It’s my desire to understand the correct context for saying “cheers” – and to know that just because it’s Irish, it doesn’t always have to relate to drinking. And furthermore, when traveling to even more exotic cultures, such as that in Fes, Morocco, it is valuing the cultural significance of being invited to celebrate the Eid with a Muslim family. Or waking at 5:45 am to hear “God is great” in Arabic, resonating off a cold tile floor, into my ears, under the warmth of my pillow, and through my sheets. Or sharing a meal with Spanish travelers and Moroccan locals in the Djmaa el-Fna, exchanging only points and smiles when a language barrier prevents me from exclaiming to them, “This is the most delicious olive oil I’ve ever tasted!”

Perhaps my greatest realization of my Americanism was while Travis and I traveled to Marrakech and Fes, Morocco, this past December. Every corner we turned through the souqs, Moroccan artists shouted to us from their stores, “Hello, bonjour, do you like?” In their eyes, we were Americans: known for our incredible privilege, our mockery of democracy, our love of hegemony, our bottomless bank accounts, our endless desires to fill our mansions back in the United States with knick knacks from our extravagant travels, hoping that one day, a Moroccan tea set or glass ceiling fixture would inspire a guest, perhaps with cocktail in hand, to remark, “My, what a lovely piece of artwork.” And to wear this weight on my shoulders became more than I could bear, to the point where I started addressing Travis in German, hoping to break free of the American stereotypes that lingered on my clothing.

Where did these ideas about America come from? I knew the moment I met a woman I’ll call Nancy on our first night in Marrakech.

“And you know what? The SUV didn’t even have heating!” Nancy squawked in the small, vibrantly tiled lobby of Riad Sherazade. Travis and I stared at her, open eyed, wondering when the next gush about her “horrible” stay in Morocco would come. Apparently, Nancy and all of her girl friends had just toured the beautiful High Atlas Mountains in the desert that day, not by foot, but in an SUV no less. Granted, I was pretty sure that my 4th grade geography teacher emphasized that mountains have snowcaps because the climate was cold…very cold. Perhaps Nancy had missed this lecture in primary school. I almost forgave her misunderstandings about these crucial facts until she told us that she was an American living abroad in Norway, a country surely not known for its incredible warmth.

There are some tourists who are looking for America in foreign lands. “America” could be things like heat, in Nancy’s case, or warm showers or personal cars or Jif peanut butter or Gap. And if we look abroad for something that is at home, why bother booking a plane ticket? Perhaps the greatest thing I’ve learned by looking at Irish and Moroccan people in the eyes is that I am American. But, I have flown here and there and back to delicately etch another scar on my skin, and mash delicious bread into sautéed eggplant, and stumble on cobblestones as every, every person does when they realize just how difficult and demanding it is to walk on centuries of history.

My American heritage is my cobblestone. And I am the echo across Front Square.

Posted in Class of 2009, Trinity College Dublin | Tagged Albion College, Catherine Fontana, Environmental Science, mitchell scholar, mitchell scholarship, TCD, Trinity College Dublin | Comments Off

November 2008 Reflection

Posted on November 1, 2008 by vmoore09

I had an unusual undergraduate experience. Ok, that’s an understatement. I went to the Naval Academy, a school that was 80% male, required me to wear a uniform daily, and only let me venture outside the walls on the weekend. Another trademark of USNA was a rigid schedule. I woke up at 7am for morning formations, attended at least four hours of class a day, ran at track practice every afternoon, participated in meetings throughout the night, and stayed up late cramming to fulfill both military and academic requirements. I had a particularly challenging second semester as a Company Commander, a job that compounded my responsibilities and commitments. With such a schedule, I rarely had time to simply catch my breath.

Next October, I will return to the Navy and serve as a junior officer onboard a ship. Once again, I will encounter a similar lifestyle in which I will have little time for myself. In the meantime though, my life in Ireland could not be more different. No restrictions, no major responsibilities, no schedule, and plenty of free time. So I’ve decided to make this year a year dedicated to myself, involving a lot of learning both inside the classroom and out. Perhaps inspired by Eat, Pray, Love, I’ve made several goals to make 2008-2009 a year of self-discovery and improvement.

1. Travel, travel, travel. One piece of advice I received before leaving Annapolis was to take advantage of every opportunity to travel. I’m in Europe- why not make use of RyanAir, Easyjet, and affordable public transportation? So far, so good. I’ve traveled every weekend, touring parts of Ireland and several major European cities. In Ireland, I ventured to Galway, Limerick, and the Aran Islands during the Mitchell Introduction weekend; Glendalough to admire the ancient monastery ruins; Wexford for the Opera Festival; Cork to enjoy some great music during the Jazz Festival; and Blarney to kiss the infamous stone (and now I have the gift of gab!) Around the continent, I biked through Munich during Oktoberfest; ran the original marathon in Athens; admired Gaudi architecture in Barcelona; and even reunited with some of my classmates from the Naval Academy in Oxford. During the next couple of months, I plan on heading to Egypt, South Korea, and maybe even Italy. If only RyanAir had frequent flyer miles!

2. Setting my own schedule. What a change of pace! I have no set daily schedule and no serious stress in my life- I don’t even use an alarm clock to wake up in the morning (and a bell doesn’t sound at 6:30!) I truly have the freedom to decide what I want to do every day. I only have 10 hours of class a week (which is mostly material I am interested in- an added bonus). I also take naps when I want to, have time to go out with friends on weeknights, and work out when I feel like it in the awesome DCU gym. My academic program also allows me a significant amount of freedom- readings are recommended and not compulsory, allowing me to follow my interests. I even have the opportunity to improve the Spanish I picked up living in Miami this past summer. Outside of the classroom, I am actively trying to not over-commit myself so I have more time to enjoy life this year. My only set obligation is a weekly yoga class. My schedule is a lot more fluid, allowing me to take advantage of unique opportunities, like running the Athens marathon. Having so much freedom is an enjoyable adjustment.

3. Furthering my cultural acumen. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the theatre too many times during my four years on the Severn. To make up for a relative lack of culture, I am trying to visit a museum, attend a play, or sit in on a lecture at least once a week. Luckily, the Dublin Mitchells are great at scoping out opportunities. Just this past week, I went with Ryan and Travis to see the Vienna Boys choir, which was phenomenal. I did not know 9-year-olds could sing so well! I also had the chance to see my first opera in Wexford with Lara and Erin. All fun aside- I came woefully unprepared to attend an opera that weekend, so I invested in a 35-euro dress at a clearance store in Wexford for the occasion. Leaving the brand new opera house after the production, I was stopped by a well-dressed operagoer and complimented on my outfit, which was probably several hundred euros cheaper than hers (I think she liked the feathers Lara and I had in our hair!) Other productions I have seen include Thomas Beckett’s Happy Days with Fiona Shaw, which literally featured a talking head on stage, and The Cripple of Innishmaan, a dramedy about the Aran Islands and 1930’s Hollywood that I really enjoyed. I have seen and heard more in theatres in two months than I have in the past four years!

4. Exploring Dublin. Dublin is such a dynamic city, full of fascinating history and great nightlife. When two of my friends from USNA came to visit, we had a chance to visit several of the major sites. We learned about Dublin’s history through walking tours; saw the leftover symbolism of the British domination of Ireland in Dublin Castle; admired the artistry of the Book of Kells and the city’s numerous cathedrals; smelled the flowers in the Botanical Gardens near DCU; became certified taste testers at the Jameson Distillery and Guinness Factory; and visited Kilmainham Gaol, an incredibly moving experience. I cannot adequately describe in words what I felt standing near the black cross that marks where the leaders of the Easter Rising were assassinated. I have been fascinated with Dublin’s history, particularly the Easter Rising- we went on a great 1916 walking tour and walked through an interesting exhibition at Collins Barracks. I still get chills every time I walk past the General Post Office and see the bullet holes left in the columns from that Easter weekend. On a lighter note, Temple Bar has proven to be a great place to party and listen to live music. One of my favorite memories so far is getting strange looks while dancing at Purty Kitchen dressed as an American tourist on Halloween. I am looking forward to checking out more museums, pubs, and clubs in the next few months.

5. Keeping in touch and keeping a journal. I have been much better at keeping in touch with family and friends via email, Skype, and Facebook, though I can always improve. I have also been a good little scholar and have kept track of the daily events of my life in a journal. It is nice to have a chance to reflect and look back on all that I have been doing.

6. Getting to know my fellow Mitchell Scholars. I am so fortunate to be associated with such an amazing group of people. Not only is everyone brilliant, each person is dynamic, has a lot of personality, and is fun to spend time with. It is so great to have a built-in group of travel buddies who will nerd out in museums by day and dance until 3am at night. We’ve already had some adventures together- hanging out in beer tents in Oktoberfest, nearly getting arrested for wearing togas in the Agora in Athens (who knew that togas were considered disrespectful?), munching on tapas in Barcelona, and learning about the beauty of Ireland. I look forward to even more exploits in the near future.

7. Most importantly, learning about Ireland. Coming into September, my knowledge of Ireland was limited, most of it a result of reading Leon Uris’ Trinity. I want to learn as much as I can about Irish history and culture during this year. I remember the night I fell in love with Ireland. In Galway, at a local pub called “the Crane,” I sat drinking pints with my fellow scholars in awe of the Irish music jam session that surrounded us. Anyone can bring an instrument to the pub and just rock out. People belted out well-known Irish ballads and moved their legs ridiculously fast in fits of Irish dancing. I realized after that night that Ireland is a country with such personality as well as a moving history. I can’t help but root for Ireland, the consummate underdog. Unexpectedly, Ireland has also radically changed my perspective of the British Empire. I am learning about the horrors of British occupation. For example, despite what I learned in my freshman world history class, the “Glorious Revolution” of William of Orange really wasn’t bloodless or all that glorious. Ireland is just so fascinating- I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to learn its unique story.

8. As important as #7, getting to know Irish people. I have made some really great Irish friends in my first two months here. My class has spent a couple of nights in “Matt Weldon’s,” the pub right outside campus, drinking pints and celebrating the completion of numerous assignments. We also have lunch together twice a week, which always allows for good conversation. I’ve learned from my Irish classmates about the sing-songy Cork accent, the necessity of watching “Father Ted”, what a fanny is, and what constitutes good craic. Within my program, I am the only American, as well as the only military member, which puts me in a unique position during class discussions. I really enjoy the lack of American perspectives- it puts me outside of my comfort zone and allows me to understand people from all over the world. I am learning a tremendous amount about Irish culture, humor, and perspectives through my new friends.

Those are my main goals for the year- an Irish manifesto of sorts. It can really be boiled down to three things that I really want to do this year: travel, learn, and get to know new people.

So schoolwork isn’t listed as one of my priorities? No worries though. I am still doing homework and really enjoying Development. School is not the same priority for me this year, though, as it was at the Naval Academy. I have to take advantage of my situation, since I will not encounter this much freedom for at least five years. This year involves more than academic coursework for me; it constitutes coursework for life.

Posted in Class of 2009, Dublin City University | Tagged Development Studies, Dublic City University, mitchell scholar, mitchell scholarship, United States Naval Academy, Victoria Moore | Comments Off

November 2008 Reflection

Posted on November 1, 2008 by atart09

When I arrived in Cork, the first thought that came to mind as I stepped off the airplane onto the tarmac was, “Is this really what Cork looks like? Or is this some big landscaping project that was performed to make the airport look nicer?” Right by the airport were beautiful, green, rolling hills and an expansive sky with clouds dramatically thrown across it. After going through customs and hopping into a taxi, I realized along my way to my new apartment that it wasn’t just some landscaping project; there was beautiful countryside everywhere. I couldn’t believe it. (And I’ve since realized that this countryside isn’t even the most breathtaking in Ireland!)

Before coming to Ireland I had heard that it would be beautiful. The country has far surpassed my expectations. (I still can’t decide if the grass here really is greener than in Georgia, where I’m from, or if I’ve just convinced myself that it is!)

The countryside is not the only beautiful aspect of Cork: University College Cork’s (UCC’s) campus is outstanding! And not just for its aesthetic qualities: I REALLY enjoy my classes. My professors are fantastic (and most of them are Irish, which makes me feel especially like a part of the Irish culture), and the course material is interesting and challenging. As fascinating as my Statistics program at Georgia Tech was, it’s nice to finally be taking classes again in a subject I’m especially passionate about (computer science). Surprisingly, my program (M.Sc. Mobile Networking & Computing) has only 7 people in it, and only 1 guy is Irish! It looks like some international friends and I are going to become a tight-knit group!

I’ve tried to get involved in a few things on campus to meet new people and get the most out of my experience here, but for the past few month or so it seems as though fate has been working against me. I joined the Ultimate Frisbee team, and at the end of the very first training session, I dislocated my shoulder. If you’ve never done this before, I can’t recommend trying it. I had to be rushed to the hospital, and I was placed in a sling for four weeks. This prevented me from doing the activities on campus I was most interested in (ultimate frisbee, mountaineering (a hiking club), and running). But of course, I did not let this prevent me from making the most of my time here! Sling or no sling, I’ve been sure to get in plenty of traveling, including trips to Prague, Paris, Barcelona, London, and all over Ireland. Traveling around Ireland is especially great since I get to visit the other Mitchell scholars and see what their experiences are like. I’m so glad we all get along so well. I feel very fortunate to have been picked for the Mitchell Scholarship when I see what amazing people they are!

I can’t believe I’ve already been here in Ireland for two months. The time has just been flying by, I’ve been having so much fun! Getting to be a part of Irish life, see all of the beauty, history, and activity this country has to offer, getting to meet so many amazing people, and getting to travel so many places has really been a dream come true. And, now that my shoulder has finally healed, I can’t wait to get started on all the other things I’ve been looking forward to so much. I’m having a blast, and it looks like the rest of my year here is going to be even better. I can’t wait!

Posted in Class of 2009, University College Cork | Tagged Adam Tart, Georgia Institute of Technology, mitchell scholar, mitchell scholarship, Mobile Networking and Computing, University College Cork | Comments Off

November 2008 Reflection

Posted on November 1, 2008 by erhoda09

I was terrified to leave Maine. The weeks before I left for Ireland, I busied myself with cleaning clothes, packing, and sewing up all the little tears in my shirts and jacket and in the quilt my Nana made years ago. I didn’t want to be frayed at the edges, from the very beginning. I said goodbye to the garden by picking carrots and then canning them. I plucked the tomatoes, hot peppers, and onions and made salsa. These pieces of home would come with me, wrapped in layers of plastic bags and sweaters. My father piled my luggage in the van; his worn hands pressed the trunk door closed.

When I arrived in Dublin, the quilt was the first piece to come out of my suitcase as I unpacked in my new room in the Graduate Memorial Building at Trinity College. Its patches of red, purple, blue, and green stood out from the gray cobblestones beyond my window. The first person to greet me was a cleaning lady named Liz, and I was grateful for her company. She chatted about cheap places to shop in Dublin and warned me not to store food in my room, or I’d be fined. She said it like it was our secret, like the college wanted students to store food in their rooms, so it could fine them.

When there was a knock on my door a little later, I jumped to open it. It was Catherine, the other Mitchell Scholar at Trinity, and we hugged. We were the exact same height—five feet, three-and-a-half inches—and we both went to small, liberal arts colleges. I soon learned she was immensely talented at speaking in a high-pitched, helium-induced-sounding voice. And, she brought an entire Corelle dinnerware set in her suitcase to Ireland. We’d be fine together, I thought.

A few days later, at the four-day Mitchell orientation in the west of Ireland, I met the other Mitchells, a group of unselfish, intelligent people who were ready to rule the world. We ate dinner with U.S.-Ireland Alliance benefactors at Doonbeg Resort, where Catherine and I also made use of the hotel’s luxurious spa. We watched the play The Cripple of Inishmaan in Galway, running through the rain during intermission to grab sandwiches at a nearby corner shop. We caught the Cliffs of Moher on a sunny day and were treated to dinners with good wine and conversation. We biked around one of the Aran Islands, Inis Mor, and, coming back on the ferry, I stood outside with the wind whipping my windbreaker, looking for whales.

Back in Dublin, Catherine and I explored the city’s many streets, pondering the depths of our map. I was surprised at the number of immigrants and foreign visitors and often stumbled down my steps in the morning to find tourists taking pictures outside my building. For one of the few times in my life, I had stretches of time to run, and so everyday I woke up and explored Dublin by running for hours, fighting through the throngs of city centre to the urban-suburban sections and then the outreaches of the city.

Once, I even made it to the ocean. Past the Travelers living in campers, I ran down a breakwater to a lighthouse, and at the end was a sign for a men’s swimming club. It was so windy I could barely run, and it was freezing, so I couldn’t imagine swimming in the ocean there. But the light appeared to be shining up from the bottom of the water. Another day I ran until I reached a cemetery and then ran through it. All the old gravestones were either falling apart, or the horizontal slabs were removed, so I was slightly afraid of seeing bodies. There was gravel everywhere instead of grass—truly a dead place. But it was a good space in which to run and a change from the row houses and run-on of small businesses, all attached to one another.

One weekend, a few Mitchell girls and I took the train to Wexford, located two and a half hours south of Dublin. Wexford was having an opera festival, and so I saw my first decent opera, an Italian comedy. The resonance of the tenor’s voice was so honest and clear, I was awestruck. Vicki and Lara each wore a head clip with feathers, all for good laughs, and a well-dressed woman commented to Vicki, “You look nice!” Vicki was so surprised she said, “Really?” And we laughed.

My life began to take more of a hold at Trinity. I joined a singing group and a quartet on campus, and then I found my classes starting in my creative writing program at the Oscar Wilde Centre, the house in which Oscar Wilde was born in 1854. It’s a small building on Trinity’s campus, and I can imagine it as a home. We have class in rooms that used to be bedrooms or living areas; and the rooms’ small sizes, the entryway from the street, and the steep stairs, give off a feeling I understand from my ancient farmhouse in Maine. It has to do with the smallness of the doorframes and the worn nature of the walls. It’s as if the older a house gets, the more it comes alive. So many writers have passed in and out with hangovers, leaves of genius, empty notebooks, holding hands, drinking tea, lonely, loud; and each of their footprints are still there.

There are only fifteen people in my program, and we are becoming more relaxed around each other—drifting towards becoming a makeshift family. The first day of class, we stood squished in a circle where we introduced ourselves and then were let loose to talk. Eventually, everyone left the room except Rahul, Danny, Maírín, and me. During a moment of silence, Danny looked around and said, “Shall we grab a beer?” We looked at our watches and saw it was only noon.

We walked to the Pav where Danny got his Guinness, and the rest of us bought lunch. It was so calming to sit outside with three strangers, and I loved talking to each one. Throughout the fall and the half-eaten vegetables on my plate, I thought, this is what I’ll miss when I leave.

There would be many firsts. The same week the U.S. elected the first black president, I also ran my first marathon, along with three other scholars. It took place Sunday, Nov. 9, in Athens, Greece, and, according to legend, covered the same course run by the Athenian messenger Pheidippides when he brought news of victory from the battlefield of Marathon almost 2,500 years ago. While following Pheidippides’ footsteps, I more importantly felt I was following the path set by my mother who has run six marathons and continues to run to this day. At her last marathon—the Boston Marathon—she completed six miles of it because she was eight months pregnant with me. Growing up, she never forced me to run, but I went to her 5K and 10K races, and I watched her slather Vaseline on her face before running in negative temperatures during Maine winters. At an early age, I picked up the habit of running, secretly driven by complete adoration for the most important woman in my life.

After finishing the Greece marathon, I hobbled through the queues; scarfed down bananas and granola bars and chugged juice; changed clothes; and waited in line for a free massage. I sat on the pavement, exhausted, not believing I’d just run 26.2 miles, and imagined my mother there, with her arms around me, proud. I might be walking to class, writing in a café, or riding the bus, and it strikes me how lucky I am to have been given the chance to do what I love: to write, read, sing, run, travel, meet new people, and grow. I’ve been given time, a place, a purpose, and gradually I’m building a new place to call my own. As my plane from Athens landed in Dublin, a flight attendant said over the loudspeaker, “Welcome home to Dublin. And for those who are passing through, safe travels.” Falling into both categories, as people usually do, I unclipped my seatbelt, stood, and reached for my suitcase. I found I couldn’t wait to get back to Trinity.

Posted in Class of 2009, Trinity College Dublin | Tagged Colby College, Creative Writing, Erin Rhoda, mitchell scholar, mitchell scholarship, TCD, Trinity College Dublin | Comments Off

November 2008 Reflection

Posted on November 1, 2008 by rmccartney09

There’s a perfect way to pour a Guinness. Although I’ve heard the nuances of the craft vary from bartender to bartender over here in Ireland, the general rule of thumb is to pour two-thirds of a pint, let it settle for 119 seconds (give or take), and then top it off so that the white head of the beer lifts just slightly over the top of the rim of your glass.The art of this “perfect pour,” one professor told me, is an example of what the Irish call “dukkus” — a Gaelic word (I’ve tried to spell phonetically) that means an ingrained, cultural understanding of how something should be done. I was told the word doesn’t have any real equivalent in English.

I was reminded of my professor’s words somewhat randomly Nov. 4, when I stood alongside the other 11 Mitchells at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin for the American Embassy’s U.S. presidential election party. On that night, the Guinness flowed like water as the 12 Mitchells had the opportunity to stand amid a sea of Irish politicos and American expats to watch the results come in from the States in the final few hours before Sen. Barack Obama was announced our next president. The night was without a doubt a culmination of the first part of my Mitchell experience. More than that, though — and perhaps on a sometime trite level — it was a night when the dukkus broke down. Case in point: Guinness was served alongside Budweiser.

For the past seven weeks, I have had the unique opportunity to watch the U.S. presidential race from Ireland as a Master’s student in Dublin City University’s “Political and Public Communication” program. In part, this has meant acting as the token American. But in a larger sense, it has meant evaluating American politics and the media’s coverage of American politics from the outside looking in, during what was one of the most historic elections in American history. Everyone from the students in my program to Joe the cab driver from Dublin has tuned in with rapt attention. From the experience, I have had three first-blush reactions. First, the Irish, like most Europeans, like Obama a lot. Not a huge surprise. Second, the average Irish citizen knows a heck of a lot more about American politics than the average American citizen. Third, the Irish are somewhat shocked by the flashiness of U.S. media — and somewhat resistant to new media in shaping the way people talk about politics.

More than anything else, the first weeks of the Mitchell forced me to make the unfamiliar, familiar, and wrestle with the notion of “dukkus” in the process. On a very basic level, I finally have a visual map drawn out in my mind of Dublin’s City Centre. (That said, I don’t think I will every master the city’s mystifying public transportation system. It’s much more complicated than the rules for pouring a pint.) On a deeper level, though, my time at DCU has pushed me to re-think the way I have long viewed American media and politics. As a result, I am now starting to plan out my M.A. dissertation, in which I hope to look at political blogs in Ireland and Europe and attempt to figure out how they have shaped and have been shaped by the “public sphere,” as Habermas envisioned it in his landmark 1962 work “The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere.”

But I have also had the chance to appreciate the extent to which balance is ingrained in the Irish “dukkus.” Talk of politics and research is fine and good, but these things can also be discussed over that pint of Guinness at the pub. It is a fact I think I overlooked a bit too much when I was in high school and college. I have enjoyed taking a few steps back from the grind, if only for this year.

As I write this first journal entry, I am sitting in an Air France terminal waiting for a flight to Barcelona, where six other Mitchells and I have rented an apartment for the weekend. In early October, a number of us went to Munich for Oktoberfest and a few weeks later we headed down south to Cork for the city’s annual jazz festival and learned that the Dublin-Cork rivalry is all that it’s cracked up to be and more. Last weekend, three days after the Guinness Storehouse party, four of us traveled to Athens to run the original Marathon, from Marathon, to Athens. (Unfortunately, we didn’t win. In fact, we lost by two hours. But I fully intend to tell my grandchildren one day that it was a close race and it came down to the finish.) I’ve reached my word limit, and I need to board. Luckily, they have held off the Air France strike long enough to get me out of Dublin for the weekend. I need to say, in closing though, that the factor that has without a doubt made these first seven weeks what they have been, quite frankly, are the other Mitchells. Dublin is an inspiring city to study and live in, and the Mitchells I’m lucky enough to count myself among are the kind of people who possess that infectious joie di vivre that is both inspiring and motivating. I certainly look forward to what the next ten months will bring, but more than that, I look forward to learning more about the members of our group on a one-to-one basis. Right now, we’re even trying to rally the troops to run another Marathon in Prague May 10, 2009. We’ll see how that goes.

But back to point. Goal for the next 10 months: learn how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness.

Posted in Class of 2009, Dublin City University | Tagged DCU, Dublin City University, Duke University, mitchell scholar, mitchell scholarship, Political Communication, Ryan McCartney | Comments Off

November 2008 Reflection

Posted on November 1, 2008 by alaidman09

As I walk through the old campus of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, I pass beneath gray stone buildings dripping with bright red ivy and accented with arches and towers. Overtaking the ruins of Maynooth Castle at the college gate, I head down the village main street beyond pubs, banks, cafes, and a town square until I reach an iron archway that encloses a long and perfectly straight park path, flanked on either side by trees turning yellow and orange with the November frosts—trees that were a vibrant and classic Irish green upon my arrival in September. The park ends at a stone gate that opens to the rolling hills of the Carton House golf course and reveals a winding walkway over streams and past putting greens. My resting place is in front of the main house of this beautiful eighteenth-century estate.

This is one of many gorgeous destinations that I’ve found for a walk during a free morning or afternoon in Maynooth. Looking to spend a leisurely hour outside, I can walk along the Royal Canal that connects the towns of the Kildare region or stroll past a few of the many horse and sheep farms that fill the countryside surrounding the university.

Whether routine or extraordinary, it seems each moment and experience in my year as a Mitchell Scholar in Ireland presents a spectrum of exciting choices and fascinating opportunities. From taking a morning walk to designing my master’s thesis project, I make decisions daily that lead to beautiful sights, valuable knowledge and new friendships—three central facets of this year abroad.

The chance to travel, both inside of Ireland and throughout Europe, is an incredible element of the Mitchell experience, and my two months here have included trips to the west of Ireland and the Wexford Opera Festival, as well as long weekends in southern France, Belgium, and Spain. I explored Marseilles, Aix-en-Provence and Lyon with my closest childhood friend who visited for the trip, traveled across Belgium with a Flemish native who has become a good friend in my studies at Maynooth, and discovered the beauty of Barcelona with the company of five other Mitchell Scholars.

Travel has been a wonderful forum for becoming great friends with my fellow scholars, impressing upon me that building relationships during our time in Ireland is a fundamental component to the year. While we view Ireland and Europe’s greatest architecture, works of art and historical sites, our trips are marked with fascinating conversations and comedic encounters that make for truly unique memories as well as lasting friendships. I am consistently impressed with all of the scholars; we routinely and easily engage in a type of intellectual conversation and political discussion, which I cherish due to its rarity during my undergraduate years. It is wonderful to know these individuals who are passionate about their courses of study but have also cultivated entirely diversified interests (from art and philosophy to magic tricks and marathons) while maintaining caring and lighthearted personalities.

Through the International Student Society at NUI Maynooth, I have also become acquainted with a number of students from across the European continent. I’ve enjoyed endless discussions comparing almost everything in our respective countries, including our university systems, governments, media, entertainment and cuisine. And in my master’s program in Anthropology & Development, I’ve found a group of Irish students who share my passion for international issues of development and human rights and my desire to work toward a better world through scholarship.

Because of these relationships and travel experiences, it feels as though the Mitchell Scholarship is made up of a series of once-in-a-lifetime moments. Just last night, for instance, I watched the sunset sitting atop Park Guell in Barcelona. Looking out over the city blocks and the Mediterranean Coast, I had to metaphorically pinch myself to mark what a surreal reality I am living this year.

November 4, our election night, included several of these unbelievable moments. I attended an American Embassy election party with the other scholars at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin before sitting on an election panel on RTE, Ireland’s national television network, to give a young American democrat’s thoughts on the incoming election results. The experience, which I shared with a Mitchell scholar speaking from her viewpoint as an American republican, gave me the opportunity to speak about Barack Obama’s historic candidacy to an Irish television audience, answering questions on race in American politics, Iraq War withdrawal strategy, the Obama campaign’s groundbreaking use of the internet and grassroots techniques, and other areas of presidential politics that I have long been studying and discussing. I may never again watch the electoral vote tally come in from a commentary seat on live TV; it is exceptional experiences like this that have made my first eight weeks in Ireland so remarkable.

It is with a certain irony that I begin researching and working on my master’s thesis, however, since I will spend the year among individuals whose lives have been defined by a lack of opportunity and choice, rather than the endless options with which I find myself. I will be conducting field research in two communities of Congolese refugees living in Ireland, in order to study how ethnic identity is impacted by migration—focusing, in particular, on ethnic tensions and divisions that existed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and examining how they are seemingly lessened or erased by relocation.

It will be a stark and potentially difficult contrast for me to move between these realms—from my own feeling of endless opportunity into communities of individuals who fled their homes due to a lack of choice—but I find myself all the more grateful in the midst of my experiences because of this. I have always believed that with opportunity comes the responsibility to work for and with those with few prospects, and I think that my time as a Mitchell Scholar studying these difficult issues will further cement my commitment to change through scholarship and advocacy.

For now, I am looking forward to the Thanksgiving gathering of Mitchell Scholars in Dublin next week, to the visit of my closest friend from Notre Dame in December and our planned travel to both Galway and Edinburgh, and to beginning my work in two of Ireland’s refugee communities at the start of the spring semester. I will continue to experience all of these events with an overwhelming awareness of how fortunate I am to be in Ireland, travelling across the region, developing friendships and studying important issues.

Posted in Class of 2009, National University of Ireland Maynooth | Tagged Andrea Laidman, Anthropology and Development, mitchell scholar, mitchell scholarship, National University of Ireland Maynooth, University of Notre Dame | Comments Off

November 2008 Reflection

Posted on November 1, 2008 by ljanson09

Two days ago, I finished the 2008 Athens Marathon at the exact same hundredth of a second as two fellow Mitchell Scholars, Erin and Vicki. Before embarking on my year as a Scholar, I never could have imagined I would complete such a journey, or do so alongside such extraordinary individuals. Travelling to Greece for the marathon turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life, and the trip was filled with a spirit of camaraderie. I would not have made it to Greece or to the marathon’s finish line without the enthusiasm and support of the three scholars who accompanied me, or the countless cheers of “Bravo! Bravo!” from Greek people of all ages who came out from their homes in Marathon and Athens to clap and encourage the runners.

Five days before the marathon, a much more significant event transpired: Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States. For the first time in a long time, I felt proud as an American abroad. Everyone, whether in Ireland or in the States, seems to be talking about dreams, opportunity, and transformation. Right now—two tellers at my local grocery store have initiated giddy conversations with me about their high hopes for Obama and how he will change America and world politics, and even New York Times editorialist David Brooks has gone sentimental on us since the election, confessing that he, too, has dreams. I don’t know if it’s the presidential election high, or the after-effects of the runner’s high I experienced at the end of the marathon upon entering the Panathenaiko stadium, built for the first modern Olympics, but something has got me thinking about new possibilities for change and growth and the personal discoveries that have been made possible by the Mitchell Scholarship. Only three months have passed since I arrived in Northern Ireland, but I feel that my experiences here are already shaping me in ways I could never have foreseen.

The changes seem small. My relationship to running has transformed, for example. I have run from a young age, but I was always racing to get somewhere, focused on the end-point (I am also a notoriously fast walker, which vexes my shorter flatmates here to no end). I have slowly come to realize that it is more about the journey one takes than the actual arrival. One of my college mentors always says, “It’s all about the process.” I always believed and agreed with him, but I think I have only recently begun to understand why it’s all about the journey and not the destination. Possessing the freedom to immerse myself in a new context, Northern Ireland, without fixed, preconceived notions of the desired outcome, has enabled me to discover new routes, routines, and perspectives and also to forge fresh relationships with my surroundings and with other people here. Northern Ireland and Europe were strangers to me when I arrived, and I have taken great joy in getting to know them since my arrival, by embracing the unknown.

One of the best ways to get to know a place is to get lost in it, in my opinion. I revel in the “aesthetic of lostness” that makes exploring so exciting and enjoyable. The marathon served as an impetus for getting out daily to explore Derry/Londonderry and the surrounding area. I set out somewhere new for each run, deepening my relationship with the city with every excursion. I must admit, I am a poor explorer: I follow no method and am more of a wanderer. Derry/Londonderry is a lush garden to me, full of textures, activity, smells, colors, weeds, and flowers. I enjoy my romps through it. Call me strange, but I smile and dance as I run. I hop up and down off of benches, and jump up to touch the brilliant, gilded autumn leaves. I sing Regina Spektor and Etta James tunes to the cows and sheep who have the poor fortune of grazing near country roads. My runs have taken me across bridges to both sides of the river that divides Derry/Londonderry, from the Bogside to the Waterside, around the old city Wall, into the countryside, and out to the animal shelter where I volunteer, in a nearby town. Not reaching my desired destination has often resulted in the juiciest discoveries. In my quest to cross the largest bridge across the River Foyle, I had finally found an expansive, bright-green meadow through which paved paths wind their way, right alongside the waterfront, but I took the wrong route to get up to the bridge. It turnd out to be a happy misfortune, however, because I came upon what appeared to be ruins: a castle-like stone house, with no roof or windows. Only the stone frame remained, covered with lush green vines, like something out of The Secret Garden.

Derry/Londonderry, famous for its prominence in the Northern Ireland conflict (e.g. Bloody Sunday, the “Free Derry” Bogside murals, the contentious city name, etc.), exudes character. Neither a small town nor a large metropolis, the city bridges the River Foyle and sits in a valley encircled by rolling green hills. The day I arrived in Northern Ireland, a friendly and talkative taxi driver (a woman!) carried me from Belfast to my new home, explaining the landscape and its history as we went. The panorama transformed as we neared Derry/Londonderry. Suddenly, magnificent hills—”mountains,” the driver corrected me—of all shades of green popped out in front of us out of the nondescript farmland that had surrounded us since Belfast. About midway through our journey, I started seeing evidence of the conflict in the region, on graffiti covering the signs pointing to Derry/Londonderry. All the signs said, “Londonderry,” and on several signs, “London” had been spray-painted, leaving only “Derry.” The last sign I saw showed retaliatory graffiti, however—someone had spray-painted “derry,” leaving just “London.”

In addition to my fresh surroundings, I have entered a new academic field: Peace & Conflict Studies. I have found that, in addition to the novelty of the readings themselves and the appropriateness of studying conflict in an area wedded to conflict for so long, the best part of my program is the student dynamic. Our course is comprised of several Irish and Northern Irish students, Americans from all different states, a Sri Lankan, a Colombian, a Ghanaian, and a Japanese student. Who would have thought that a relatively small university campus in Northern Ireland could connect such a wide array of people and cultures? We have met for tea, potlucks, and dinner outside of class, where we converse about what brought us to Northern Ireland. The Japanese woman, Eriko (who is also my beloved flatmate), left her career as a television reporter and documentary creator, to immerse herself in Peace & Conflict Studies. The Colombian student is a trained psychologist from Medellín, who explained to us over a potluck meal what it was like hearing bombs go off around her when she was a teenager. She said she became accustomed to it, to the point where a bomb going off nearby would barely interrupt a conversation with a friend over the phone. My Irish flatmate’s boyfriend then chimed in that in Northern Ireland, the conflict reached a similar point; violence was normalized and could occur at almost any moment. The Peace & Conflict Studies program offers students many opportunities to engage with local and national community members who played central roles in the conflict and in the peace process. We had the honor of meeting Nobel Laureate John Hume, and we attended an emotionally riveting seminar about the “Towards Healing and Understanding” storytelling and dialogue project, which facilitates “inter” and “intra” community conversations between people who have been affected by the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict.

The flexibility and more relaxed pace of studies here have allowed me to chart my own course at the university. In addition to taking courses in my intended program of study, I audit two classes: French and Drama/Acting. I have always wanted to learn French, and Beginner’s French quickly became my favorite class at the University of Ulster, in spite of my low-level performance in it. All of the other class participants are mature students who come from Derry/Londonderry and the surrounding communities, and they’re an absolute hoot to learn with, particularly when we all stand up to do role-play. Every class, we take a break after an hour to collectively migrate to the café in our library, where we share a tea break and switch professors. These fifteen-minute breaks, on Tuesday and Thursday nights, create some of my favorite moments in each week—we discuss anything from international politics to travel tips to who suffered the worst school lunches growing up (a man originally from England seemed to win, since he was fed mysterious spam cakes at school, eww). The other course, Drama/Acting, puts me in contact with students from the other end of the spectrum: undergraduates. I am the only graduate student in the course, and the other students energize me with their playfulness and keen wit, both in scene work and in acting games. I feel lucky to continue pursuing my interest in drama, in the unfamiliar context of Northern Ireland. Since the students in my program tend to be of a certain ilk, I feel that these additional classes make my experiences at Ulster well-rounded; they allow me to learn with and from people from all ages and backgrounds.

My flatmates have been another fantastic surprise in my life. I truly consider them my family here in Northern Ireland. We tease, support, and comfort one another, barge into one another’s rooms to hang out, and cook for one another. From the first night we met, we felt comfortable joking with each other, and we quickly hatched a plan to start a band together that boasts two names, just like the city in which we live, and will play traditional Irish music, with a zesty twist of hip-hop. Our band is called “Block 12 Dangerous,” because we live in Block 12, and also “Giants & Elves,” because we fall into two categories: very short and very tall women. Six women form the band: Dacia, an American who gives insightful Tarot card readings and is a hot-shot at bowling and archery; Eriko, the Japanese woman I mentioned, who made a documentary on a Japanese marimbist and on sea ecosystems around Japan that were destroyed by fishing/seaweed farming; Maria, an Irish careers counselor who (literally) feeds our collective obsession with apple tarts; Linda, a Northern Irish history major whose small frame belies her ability to hurl a bowling ball wildly; Brigitta, an animated and comical lawyer from Hungary who studies International Human Rights Law, practices Tibetan massage (she gave me a wonderful massage before I left for Athens), and does an uncanny shrieking monkey impression.

All six of us carved Jack-O-Lanterns together for Halloween, the holiday for which Derry/Londonderry is known, and we suited up in costumes (I went as a Freudian slip) to watch the parade and magnificent fireworks. Dacia and I, a vampire and a Freudian slip, respectively, headed to a local bar afterwards to party with the likes of The Joker, a Spartan, Cat Woman, and a flock of cotton-ball-clad sheep. My flatmates serve as daily reminders of the way in which living with and learning about others makes it possible to enjoy, rather than fear, cultural differences. I cannot believe I have been placed in the midst of such incredible, loving, and mature individuals, and I look forward to our first concert and to the release of our debut album (look for it in stores around the holidays).

Many other scholars have said this before, but one of the best parts of the scholarship is the freedom it gives one to discover Europe (and beyond!). First, we all attended the orientation together on the west coast of Ireland, where we stayed at a seaside golf resort that left me starry-eyed (picture a castle on a long stretch of beach, with waves of tall grasses gently swaying in the sea breeze). We got to know each other better by running on the beach together and cooking Irish food in pairs, under the tutelage of a kind, older Irish home economics expert. Later, some of us travelled to Munich, where we helped celebrate d’ Wiesn, or Oktoberfest. It far exceeded my expectations! Besides sitting in the beer tents (the Löwenbräu and Paulaner ones, to be exact) drinking Maß in steins and eating Kaiserschmarrn, a delicious platter of sugared pancakes with raisin and applesauce, we also took an illuminating guided bike tour through the historical center of München. A great portion of those attending d’Wiesn were decked out in beautiful traditional Bavarian costumes. I must say that young men look quite dashing in Lederhosen, the stitched leather knickers… And the dirndls worn by the women varied from simple, make-shift costumes to ornate, hand-embroidered skirts and blouses. A few weeks later, a group of female Scholars headed south of Dublin to Wexford, for the town’s opera and arts festival. Vicki and I looked quite fetching—and ridiculous—in our matching feather headbands, which we wore to see the comedic opera, “Tutti in Maschera,” with Erin. All of us also enjoyed watching hurling on the quay in the morning and wandering the curved cobblestone streets at night, lit with criss-crossing strings of cheery white bulbs.

One of the most exciting trips thus far was one of the shortest: I traveled with my flatmate, Dacia, to Dublin to attend the 2008 Presidential Election reception/party hosted by the U.S. Embassy at the Guinness Storehouse. The storehouse was packed and filled with excitement, and the other scholars and I joined everyone in watching the election results come in on a gigantic television screen. Because of the time difference, Obama’s victory was not declared until those of us who had come from Northern Ireland were boarding our bus home, at 4am. The election frenzy carried on through the night until morning, for Dacia and me, because we went straight from the Embassy party to a short radio interview with BBC’s Radio Foyle back in Derry/Londonderry. The interview arose, bizarrely, from my unfortunate brush with scabies/bed bugs earlier that semester—because I was the only American the head of Residential Services at Ulster could remember (from helping me with my infestation), When called by the radio station asking about a possible interview with an American, I came to mind. In the end, Dacia and I had not slept before the interview, but we felt so elated from the historic events of the evening that we were wide awake, though a bit inarticulate, for the interview.

Most recently, I travelled to Athens with Ryan and Vicki, and it was a superb bonding experience. In addition to helping each other slather Vaseline all over our bodies before the marathon and sharing Gatorade/water bottles and sponges during the race, we took the time to explore the city together. Within an hour of arriving in Athens on Friday night, we took a night walk up to a rocky overlook right next to The Acropolis, the sacred hill site, at which the ruins of three temples built in the 5th century BC can be seen: The Parthenon, the Temple of Athena Nike, and the Erechtheion. To get there, we walked up Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, a beautiful, curving road filled with arts & crafts vendors, as well as bustling cafés and shops, in the daytime. We returned to The Acropolis during the day and walked all around the rock, which offered spectacular views of the various shades of white buildings that compose Athens. Other memorable events included dining at two quaint outdoor cafés with our whole group of marathon runners, about 12 of us in all (the rest were a jovial, super-fit group of friends from Vicki’s Naval Academy). The peaceful ambiance and our getting-to-know-you conversations were broken by constant hawking in our faces by street vendors peddling anything from lottery tickets to remote-control airplanes to scrubbing pads for pots and pans. These motley intruders made our dining experience both entertaining and irritating. After the marathon, we gorged on Greek and Mediterranean pizza at a cozy pizza parlor near our hotel, which provided just the carbohydrate-binge our bodies craved…ahhh, I love olive oil-soaked bread! The Athens Experience came to an end with a delightful breakfast at a café on the main square in the heart of Athens, which had served as our rendezvous during the whole weekend: Constitution Square, or Syntagma Square, where Parliament is located. I highly recommend trying cream-filled honey croissants and Greek yoghurt with cinnamon and honey, treats Vicki and I shared.

Though I live relatively far from other Scholars, we have found many opportunities to see one another and to travel together, as one can probably tell. I am in awe of the other scholars, and I have so much fun around them. I get a kick out of discovering their skills, interests, and quirks—Erin can do handstands on the edge of a cliff; José is the best and most upbeat travel partner one could wish for and ‘has a thing’ for transportation systems; Ryan runs fast and reads Nietzsche almost just as quickly; Katie is a true “Galway Girl,” playing traditional music in bars in Galway; Catherine does hilarious animal impressions, which are just one part of her vast comedic arsenal; Tyler has already won a dissertation grant to study same-sex marriage legislation throughout Europe and has endeared himself to all of us with his southern charm; Vicki, who exercises endless patience in the face of my ignorant questions about the Naval Academy and the military, somehow manages to be a subtle leader and motivator at the same time that she is relaxed and laid-back (it makes her an outstanding travel partner); Adam’s advanced card tricks baffle the mind, no matter how many times you see them; Chris is a natural-born professor and is my go-to guy for information on the Israel-Palestine conflict; Andrea knows how to jig Irish-style and is a skilled debater; and Travis, a master of email quips, can explain artificial intelligence and ride a bike at the same time.

These are some of the adventures I have experienced in my year thus far in Northern Ireland. Just three months ago, I was doing full-time outreach with a non-profit human rights organization in Newark, New Jersey, searching for victims of human trafficking in detention centers, strip clubs, massage parlors, youth shelters, streets, and farm camps. Now, I find myself surrounded by completely new people, studies, cultures, and places. The adjustment was considerable, but my program and experiences here in Northern Ireland are teaching me that openness to change and to difference constitutes one of the most challenging, but also the most rewarding, imperatives we face as individuals and as communities, if we are to create more just and equitable societies. I look forward to immersing myself more deeply into the study of how to end the many conflicts that perpetuate oppression throughout the world. The field of Peace and Conflict Studies has already provided fresh tools, vocabulary, and lenses for approaching the problem of human trafficking, and I hope it will be possible to channel all of this idealistic excitement into concrete research and community activism in the upcoming months. Also, I will most certainly continue to frolic through Derry/Londonderry and through more of Europe—not everyone has the freedom to explore, and I do not take this privilege for granted. I am so grateful to Mary Lou Hartman, Trina Vargo, and the U.S.-Ireland Alliance for making all of these opportunities possible. I am sending these reflections from magnificent, balcony- and museum-filled Barcelona, where I have come with many of the Scholars, so it seems fitting to end by saying ¡hasta pronto!

Posted in Class of 2009, University of Ulster | Tagged Grinnell College, Lara Janson, mitchell scholar, mitchell scholarship, Peace Studies, university of ulster | Comments Off

November 2008 Reflection

Posted on November 1, 2008 by crosson09

A little over two months ago, my wife Kacey and I embarked on an adventure here on the Emerald Island. The two of us enjoyed living the 9 to 5 in Washington, D.C., but the thought of a year of travel and study in Ireland was worth making the move away from that bustling city we called home. After arriving, we quickly moved into a flat in South Belfast atop a lovely family’s home in Windsor Park off the Lisburn Rd. Our living room window frames a view worthy of hanging in a glamorous gallery. Autumn has caused the trees’ leaves to turn different hues, and a gothic spire stretches into the hazy Belfast sky, overlooking a magnificent row house.

I must also insert here that another feature that defines Belfast living, or rather living anywhere here on the island, is the rain. Upon hearing that I was selected for the Mitchell Scholarship, I became keen on checking the Belfast weather while still in the states. I noted that most days were forecasted as being rainy. I personally loath cold and rainy weather, but I have come not to enjoy but rather to respect the wetness of Northern Ireland. You see, I came prepared to Belfast with waterproof shoes, jackets and, of course, multiple umbrellas. Despite my efforts, there is no escaping the rain. It is as if, when it rains, the rain comes from every direction…from above, below and sideways.

The rain is not all bad, however, as it does have some positive side effects. The rainy days create the perfect backdrop for staying in, building a fire in our flat’s fireplace, and picking up a good book. My courses at Queen’s University are very interesting, and with only two courses per week, I have the leisure to pick up a few books outside of each course’s required reading list. In this way, I am expanding my knowledge base in ways that I had not imagined before coming to Ireland. As of late, I have found Hemmingway as the perfect complement to a cup of tea on these rainy days, but, over the course of this year, I am looking forward to exploring several other classics in addition to my academic readings.

Another side effect of rainy Belfast days is the desire to skip town. There was one particularly unbearable stretch of rainy days here in Belfast, so my wife and I decided to hop a plane to Paris, France for the week. There, we discovered more than a drier climate. It was a trip full of romantic experiences that we will forever remember. From visiting all of the main attractions (Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, etc.), we savored escargot and similar local cuisine, casually strolled past the artists along the Seine River, and enjoyed some impromptu singing and dancing at a local festival in a quaint neighborhood on the outskirts of town.

To be fair, however, there are some really beautiful days here in Northern Ireland. On these days, I have enjoyed getting out and about around town and exploring. The area near Queen’s University is beautiful. The main university building was modeled after Magdalen College at Oxford University, but maintains its own unique redbrick look. The structure itself brings back fond memories for me from my time studying at Magdalen in Oxford a few years ago. Next to Queen’s is one of my favorite spots in Belfast, the Botanic Gardens. This outdoor garden hosts a colorful rose garden as well as many other picturesque spots. For a local Belfast treat, I often turn to my favorite “chippie” called Café Fish on the Lisburn Rd. While the sign outside this quaint little hole-in-the-wall storefront says that they serve traditional fish ‘n chips, rather I liken it to battered heaven in a box. (For those Northern Ireland readers, “hole in the wall” is not to be confused with an ATM.)

I have also been fortunate to discover some areas in Northern Ireland beyond Belfast. Recently, my wife and I took a trip to the northern coast to visit the Giant’s Causeway. This magnificent wonder of a site is truly unique. The stones are cylindrical in form with smooth, flat tops, perfect for climbing. With the waves crashing in, this spot is truly worth the visit.

Finally, this would not be a proper journal entry from an American living in Belfast without mentioning the Troubles. One quick read of my profile and you will see that I have no problem finding trouble whenever I travel abroad. But here in Belfast, I have…well.. had trouble finding trouble. It is hard to believe that this was once an urban battleground. Sure the Troubles are still at the forefront of many local residents’ minds, but their cordiality and forward-looking demeanor make it difficult to notice. I must have only been in Belfast a few days when I quickly hired a Black Taxi for a tour of the Peace Lines and the Falls and Shankill roads. While the mural here were a very interesting display of the pride of differing nationalisms, I was taken aback by how relatively peaceful these areas were. They seemed like good places to grab a pint and a bag of chips more than anything else.

I am forever grateful for this opportunity. I have only elaborated on a few of the highlights from my short time here thus far, but every day has truly been full of memorable experiences. In the coming months, I hope to continue this new adventure in my life with the humility and appreciation it deserves. I hope to yet again feel the crisp breeze off the Irish coast, walk the cobblestoned streets of mainland Europe, and perhaps find a bit of trouble as well.

Posted in Class of 2009, Queen's University Belfast | Tagged Christopher Rosson, mitchell scholar, mitchell scholarship, QUB, Queens University Belfast, Violence Terrorism & Security, William Jewell College | Comments Off

November 2008 Reflection

Posted on November 1, 2008 by jcanto09

After only two months in Ireland, I’m happy to say that I am a bit more Irish now. The realization came to me about a month ago while sitting in St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral during an Irish-spoken Mass, wearing my Kerry jersey amidst a sea of other Kerry fans awaiting the Gaelic Football Match against Tyrone later that day. Or was it the 1916 Easter Revolution walking tour when—while running my fingers along the bullet holes in the columns of the General Post Office—I felt a surge of excitement as I imagined the fighting before my eyes as the Irish Republican Army fought for independence from the Crown in the same way we Americans did a hundred-plus years before? Or was it simply the good judgment I showed in Cork a few week-ends ago when I ordered a pint of Beamish instead of Guinness?

Mitchell scholars are ambassadors from the US to Ireland and Northern Ireland. And I cannot express how grateful I am to consider myself to be one of these twelve ambassadors. I feel that it is our goal to give Ireland a taste of American culture and for us to take a large bite out of theirs. From eating Burdock’s Fish and Chips with a pint of the black stuff in hand to attending Samuel Beckett’s ‘Happy Days’ at the Abbey Theatre, Mitchell Scholars dive right into the excitement and richness of Irish culture. I am most grateful to be surrounded by scholars who share this common desire to become more Irish.

Besides biking through the Island of Inishmaan and attending Cork’s internationally-acclaimed jazz festival, Lara and I made a trip to Zurich last October to admire some frescoes in Fraumunster and to see who could recite the most of Winston Churchill’s famous “Europe Arise” speech in Guild Hall. We soon met up with Vicki, Ryan, and Travis in Munich for Oktoberfest to down several one-Liter glasses of Paulaner in Hofbrauhaus and to take in the sights of the Bavarian Alps from Alte Peter. We learned some useful German drinking songs, too, like ‘ein prosit, eine prosit, der Gemutlicheit!’

In a few hours after finishing this reflection, Vicki, Lara, Adam, Andrea, Tyler, and I will be in Barcelona, Spain, with the hopes of seeing Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia and practicing our Catalan.

This is what the makes the Mitchell Scholarship unique. While we are all here to complete postgraduate degrees, I feel that the most important part of the Mitchell Scholarship are the scholars themselves and their particular love for learning more about Ireland and Europe at large. Never in my life have I been surrounded by a group of people who all share an unbound curiosity to learn more languages, to see more places, and to understand other cultures. From discussing Martin Heidegger’s concept of dasein with Ryan to making French crepes with my flatmate Travis Green, I can never get enough of our group’s cultural literacy.

Our group is also daring. Adam and I have planned an ambitious 1,170 mile roadtrip from Dublin to Rome starting on December 17th. With several sets of clothes, a 1983 Mercedes, and a few hundred euro, we plan to see Wales, England, France, Germany, Austria, and Italy as our Christmas/Hanukkah present to ourselves. I could only find someone this daring and worldly among someone in our Mitchell Scholar class.

Posted in Class of 2009, University College Dublin | Tagged Georgetown University, José Canto, mitchell scholar, mitchell scholarship, Sociology, UCD, University College Dublin | Comments Off

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