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After taking a course (or linked courses) in the spring (in 2023, the course is EN267), students engage in a two-week academic immersion (May 14-28, 2023) in Northern Ireland and Ireland (Dublin, Belfast, Derry, Galway, and the West of Ireland). There, we encounter the culture, geography, history, and lives of the unforgettable people—political leaders, former paramilitaries, victims, police, and peacemakers—who survived the Troubles and now work for peace and justice. We end the trip in the West of Ireland, where students can explore Ireland’s beautiful landscape, history, and culture—and trace their own ancestral origins or meet relatives!

In EN267, we examine the roots of conflict from a multidisciplinary approach by exploring Irish histories, literary narratives, philosophy, and film—reading W.B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney, Brian Friel, Seamus Deane, Bobby Sands, Sinead Morrissey, among others, and watching “Michael Collins, “In the Name of the Father,” and other films of Ireland and the Troubles. While we establish a background for why the conflict persisted, we focus on how we can gain the skills to do the difficult work of peacebuilding, conflict transformation, and reconciliation. We take as our inspiration the Ignatian call for a well-educated solidarity, in which we pose the question, “How can we live together in this time and place?”

Alumni from the program have gone on to work in national security, PeacePlayers International, education, and a wide-ranging set of professions, all informed by the experience of learning peacebuilding and conflict transformation. Jeannie Kidera writes: “Attending this program was the best thing I’ve done in my academic life. The people we were able to meet and talk with were incredible, living historical resources … I found the program so impressive that I then attempted to create a smaller version for my own students at Hawken School.” Karly Kovac: “The program changed my life immensely. It not only changed the way that I view conflict and forgiveness, but made me realize the true blessings in my family and in my own life. It allowed me to connect to another culture, and take what I learned from them and their restorative process back to the U.S.”

Covers flight, hotel, insurance, all program fees, breakfast, some other meals

Payment Schedule:

October 15, 2022 $100 refundable deposit due
November 15, 2022 $500 due to reserve spot
December 15, 2022 $500 due to keep spot
January 15, 2023   $1000 due (etc.)
February 15, 2023 Total Balance Due

For more information, contact

Dr. Philip Metres pmetres@jcu.edu or 216.556.1101

Rory O'Neil roneil@jcu.edu 

More about the program from