Field Course Title: The West of Ireland: Land, Landscape, and Culture
Location: Galway, Ireland
Faculty: Mark Feinstein (Cognitive Science)
Course Number: CS-242S
Tentative Dates: January 4-17, 2013
Program Fee (approximate): $1,800 + airfare

Course Description:
The west of  Ireland, with its mist-covered mountains, vast bog-lands, soaring cliffs, and rugged rockbound shorelines, is an astonishingly beautiful place. For more than 6000 years people have struggled to build communities and sustain their lives here by farming and fishing. But it’s a challenging environment: There is relatively little fertile soil, a great deal of rain and wind, and often dangerous seas. Over the millennia vast forests were cut down, creating a striking vista of peat bog and bare hills that contrasts with the rolling green fields of much of the rest of the country. Just a century and a half ago, a million Irish people--mostly small farmers in the west who depended on potato monoculture--died of starvation and disease in the Great Famine. Millions more emigrated. The character of local agriculture has been deeply shaped by the physical landscape, and so has the culture, more broadly: the unique language, music, and social life of the region. In this course, we’ll travel for two weeks in the west of Ireland, and explore it from a multidisciplinary perspective, looking at the history, present reality, and possible futures of this remarkable landscape and culture.

Photo by Emma Opitz F'10, January 2012 Program Participant

Irish culture has always been deeply rooted in the land, and in the rural west much of  traditional Irish culture remains vibrant: farming techniques that have been handed down for countless generations are still in use; the Irish language, which has all but disappeared in much of Ireland, is spoken widely in the west; traditional forms of music and dance abound. Will these unique, rich cultural forms persist as fewer and fewer people now make their living directly from farming? How does this affect a society where, just a few decades ago, the vast majority of the population was engaged in agriculture? And the beautiful landscape has been challenged by development (housing, roads, etc.) as well. Can environmental degradation be avoided or controlled? Can the treeless landscape be restored by afforestation? Should it? Is it possible (or desirable) to sustain traditional agricultural practices such as free-range sheep farming on the hills? How have changes in agriculture affected the ecology of native plants and animals? How are economic crisis, European integration, globalization, and global climate change affecting Irish agriculture, land use, and culture?

We’ll visit farms, re-forestation and sustainability projects, research centers, and important archaeological sites. Along the way, we will hear presentations by Irish scientists, farmers, and artists, and engage in group discussion (based on extensive required set of readings) about a wide range of issues from fields as diverse as ecology, ethnomusicology, environmental sciences, linguistics, history, and politics. Our home base will be near Galway city, an old, small, lively, and cosmopolitan center of traditional Irish culture in the west. But we will spend most of our time in the surrounding rural areas: the mountains, bogs, and rocky shores of Connemara; the great peat bogs of the midlands; the Burren in County Clare, a rare and remarkable limestone karst environment with a unique ecosystem. We’ll visit Dublin (where a quarter of the Irish population lives) to look at an urban contrast to the rural west; and (weather and sea conditions permitting) the Aran Islands, set off the coast in the ‘wild Atlantic,’ to get a sense of a place that has been relatively little-affected by modernization. A thoughtful, detailed written journal must be submitted at the end of the course by all participants. Students who want Division I credit must also propose a project or analytical paper on a relevant topic of their choosing, in consultation with the instructor, which can be completed during the semester following the course.

Photo by Emma Opitz F'10, January 2012 Program Participant

Learning Goals
MCP, QUA (with additional work)

Evaluation Expectation for Students
All students will keep a detailed journal, including several assigned essays, relating to course readings, travel, and group discussion. For Division I credit, interested students must also write a more sustained research paper on a topic to be chosen in consultation with the instructor.

Types of Activity Involved
This course involves a lot of walking, some hiking on rough terrain, and hill climbing. Participants will need good rain gear and footwear.

Prerequisites or registration requirements
This course is open to all students. There are no prerequisites. Some background in a field related to the course topics is, however, desirable.

Photo by Emma Opitz F'10, January 2012 Program Participant

Program Itinerary  
Jan 3: Departure (most flights are overnight)
Jan 4: Arrive in the morning at Shannon airport; van transportation to Galway
Jan 5: Connemara Coast
Jan 6: Atlantic coast of Clare
Jan 7: The Burren
Jan 8: Dublin
Jan 9: Free Time
Jan 10: Old growth forests, re-forestation projects, Co. Galway
Jan 11: Ceide fields neolithic farming site, Co. Mayo
Jan 12: Connemara mountains (hill sheep farm)
Jan 13: Sustainable agriculture project
Jan 14: The Connemara Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking region)
Jan 15: Aran Islands
Jan 16: Free time
Jan 17: Clonmacnoise, Co. Offaly
Jan 18: Depart Shannon Airport

Travel Plans
Participants arrange individually to arrive at Shannon Airport in the west of Ireland on the morning of January 4, 2013. All other transportation is by rented van.

Housing Arrangements
Self-catering apartments in Galway

Program Fee
Approximately $1,800 includes tuition, accommodation, in-country transportation, meals, course activities, and entrance fees

Additional Expenses (costs not included in the program costs)
Approximately $800-$1,000 to include airfare, U.S. transportation to and from airport, and personal expenses 

HOW TO APPLY

Application Deadline: Thursday, October 11, 2012.

All short-term applications are due to the global education office by 4:30 p.m. on the application deadline. Applications can be found in the global education office or can be downloaded from this page. A non-refundable deposit of $500 (credited to tuition) will be due November 5 to the GEO for those approved to join the course. Jan Term enrollment deadline is November 9; enrollment only permitted if deposit is paid.

Financial Aid
Students who receive need-based financial aid from Hampshire College are eligible to apply for financial assistance through the global education office to offset the program fee. Students are expected to cover all additional expenses, including airfare. Awards vary from year to year and are dependent on the number of applicants and the amount of aid available. Eligibility for financial assistance does not guarantee that aid will be awarded. Please indicate your eligibility and desire to apply on your application form.

Questions?
Questions about the application process or financial aid should be directed to Heather St. Germaine in the global education office at geo@hampshire.edu or 413.559.5542 

Questions regarding the academic content or itinerary should be directed to Mark Feinstein at mfeinstein@hampshire.edu.