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Irish Studies Summer School

18 July - 5 August 2011

Celebrating its tenth year in 2010, Queen’s University’s Institute of Irish Studies International Summer School is proving just as popular as ever with students arriving from all over the world to attend this three-week programme.  Belfast will be buzzing as students of all ages arrive in the city in July 2011, travelling from as far afield as the USA, Canada, Austria, Spain and Romania. The programme has participants aged 18 - 60+ hailing from a variety of backgrounds. Students are administrators, teachers and professors as well as undergraduates and postgraduates and those who simply have a passion for Irish history and culture.

Those international students fortunate enough to make the journey will once again have the opportunity to study Northern Ireland politics, history and culture as part of the Summer School. The Institute of Irish Studies, established in 1965 and the first of its kind to be established in the United Kingdom and Ireland, is an internationally-renowned centre of Irish scholarship.  This is an exciting time for Irish Studies at Queen’s University and the Institute is at the centre of the university’s International Research Initiative. 

During this exciting and jam-packed programme, lectures and seminars are given by internationally-acclaimed scholars from Queen's University and elsewhere.  But it’s not all study! Students are also given the opportunity to meet with some of Northern Ireland’s decision-makers and there are excursions to archaeological, historical and cultural sites in Belfast and beyond.  The programme also explores many aspects of the conflict, and the current situation in Northern Ireland through meetings and dialogue with community group leaders, church leaders, politicians and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.  

 The programme offers students the opportunity to immerse themselves in the life and culture of Belfast, and incorporate fieldtrips and meetings with important political and cultural figures from across Northern Ireland.

The 2010 programme will be published early in 2010 and will follow the format of the 2009 programme, highlights of which included:  

  • An evening with Councillor Tom Hartley, former Lord Mayor of Belfast
  • A visit to Stormont to include an opportunity to meet and discuss with representatives from all the political parties in Northern Ireland
  • A visit to the PSNI in Antrim to meet officers from divisional headquarters, including the Tactical Support Group.  Students will learn about new community policing initiatives and the problems of policing in interface areas
  • A traditional music session with renowned musicians
  • Belfast’s Titanic Quarter with Stephen Cameron of the Belfast Titanic Society
  • A Ceileidh in the Great Hall on Tuesday 21 July – a highlight of last year’s programme
  • Guided tour of Belfast’s murals and interfaces
  • The Centre for Migration Studies at the Ulster American Folk Park
  • A morning looking at the role of the churches in responding to conflict – speakers will include Bishop Donal McKeown, Rev Harold Good, Rev Lesley Carroll and Rev Earl Storey.
  • Londonderry - to include a visit to the Tower Museum, Museum of Free Derry and a tour of the murals and the city walls
  • The Antrim Coast, Glens of Antrim and Giant’s Causeway

 

For more information about the 2011 summer school (including fees, accommodation and scholarships), please visit the Irish Studies summer school pages or contact Valerie Miller or Joan Watson at irish.studies@qub.ac.uk