In Winter 2012, I was part of the first online honors experience class, The Irish in America. As a young woman of Irish descent, I knew this class would help me further understand my heritage. Not only was the class designed to further our knowledge about Ireland, we also learned about stereotypes of the Irish and Americans.
During the class, we were encouraged to participate in online discussions with classmates and chat with students from Dublin City University via Facebook. It was quite interesting to hear their views on Americans and to learn more about their culture, schools, economy, and activities. The students were very willing to talk about the pop culture of Ireland, and it was interesting to hear about their plans for the future. Most will be leaving Ireland upon graduation in order to find a job somewhere else. The students also provided advice on places to visit in Ireland.
As a Lindner College of Business student, I felt this class was appropriate, as it would start to open my eyes to people of different nationalities. The College of Business pushes its students to go abroad at least once during their time at the University, and this class opened my eyes to the poor economic times in Ireland. I have always wanted to travel to Ireland, whether to work or study. I will be working at The Nielsen Company this summer, and I hope to work aboard at the company’s location in Ireland.
I found it very interesting to watch the UC and DCU students interact on Facebook. Many students shared similar interests, but the American culture, government, and economy highly influences Ireland. We have many of the same television programs, but most started in America and worked their way across the pond. American politics influences some decisions in Ireland. What I found very interesting was that their elections are not necessarily based on political parties, but instead, you vote for the issues the candidate is running with. This course opened my eyes to a new way of looking at life in America.
I chose this picture because clovers represent what the people of Ireland need, luck. Students at DCU need luck finding a job after graduation. The government needs luck to bring people back to their homeland in order to boost economic growth and repair. In talking with Michelle Duffy, she was lucky enough to win lottery ticket to the United States. Throughout the quarter, there was this constant theme of being down in the dumps, and the Irish people need to look to the clover to bring about a better future, for themselves, their children, and the country's future.
During the class, we were encouraged to participate in online discussions with classmates and chat with students from Dublin City University via Facebook. It was quite interesting to hear their views on Americans and to learn more about their culture, schools, economy, and activities. The students were very willing to talk about the pop culture of Ireland, and it was interesting to hear about their plans for the future. Most will be leaving Ireland upon graduation in order to find a job somewhere else. The students also provided advice on places to visit in Ireland.
As a Lindner College of Business student, I felt this class was appropriate, as it would start to open my eyes to people of different nationalities. The College of Business pushes its students to go abroad at least once during their time at the University, and this class opened my eyes to the poor economic times in Ireland. I have always wanted to travel to Ireland, whether to work or study. I will be working at The Nielsen Company this summer, and I hope to work aboard at the company’s location in Ireland.
I found it very interesting to watch the UC and DCU students interact on Facebook. Many students shared similar interests, but the American culture, government, and economy highly influences Ireland. We have many of the same television programs, but most started in America and worked their way across the pond. American politics influences some decisions in Ireland. What I found very interesting was that their elections are not necessarily based on political parties, but instead, you vote for the issues the candidate is running with. This course opened my eyes to a new way of looking at life in America.
I chose this picture because clovers represent what the people of Ireland need, luck. Students at DCU need luck finding a job after graduation. The government needs luck to bring people back to their homeland in order to boost economic growth and repair. In talking with Michelle Duffy, she was lucky enough to win lottery ticket to the United States. Throughout the quarter, there was this constant theme of being down in the dumps, and the Irish people need to look to the clover to bring about a better future, for themselves, their children, and the country's future.
Course Documents
In the first essay, we were to write about an Irish poem of our choosing that describes the Irish immigration to the United States. During the Great Famine, many people left Ireland in hopes of a better future in America. Unfortunately, many hopes were destroyed as they realized life wasn’t as good as they expected.
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In order to learn more Ireland, we were assigned an essay about Ireland’s history. It was important for the Irish to have the help of their friends and family who had migrated to the United States to fight in wars. Many Irish families are close-knit and live relatively close to one another. This is demonstrated in the Irish citizens living in the US during the Ireland War for Independence. Today, Ireland is still a divided country, which causes some animosity.
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For one of our assignments, we were required to interview an immigrant to the United States who attended high school in a different country. I interviewed Ms. Michelle Duffy, an Irish-born woman who moved to the United States after attending college in Belfast, Ireland. Although she moved to the United States nearly 20 years ago, Ms. Duffy faced many of the same problems the DCU students are facing today. Ireland is still struggling in its economy, and it is still quite difficult for students to find work upon graduation from college. We also talked about the stereotypes she held of Americans while still living in Ireland, and how some were true. She admitted that Americans are very nice people, and she shouldn’t have made generalizations based on the obnoxious tourists. Her comments about the economy of Ireland are still very relevant today.
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We were asked to analyze a song by an Irish band. I chose “Thousands are Sailing” by The Pogues. This song describes the harsh realities of life in America. While they held high hopes of what the United States could bring, many could only find low-class jobs that brought in little pay. The song also talks about the excitement of entering New York through Ellis Island. The Irish have a lot of pride for their heritage and homeland, which is something that is reflected in my own family still today.
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In our final assignment, we were asked to write about a common theme discussed over the quarter. Emigration is a major issue in Ireland, so I wanted to look further into what is being done to bring people back to Ireland, for tourism and residency. As a marketing major, I looked into the various campaigns the Ireland government is funding. The target market of many of the programs is the youth and teens in Ireland. Business programs have been established to help young entrepreneurs, and The Gathering, a huge event to bring people back to their homeland, is being established. It’s important to note that the DCU students feel that the biggest issue is the lack of jobs. This final project was a great way for me to connect the class to the global business world.
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