About
Irish art, in all forms, has long responded to various senses of place--to the beauty and challenges of the environment, to colonial rule and its legacy, and to competing senses of how the island might best be imagined or mapped. This undergraduate course offers a two-week introduction to English-language literature, as well as music and art, written in Ireland from medieval times to the present. It explores real places around Galway and Dublin together with poetry, prose, and plays that imagine, represent, or shape those places. Our work with you is meant to help you learn to move fluidly among literary texts and other sorts of materials, including maps, statues, paintings, street environments, architecture, gardens, and photographs. Most days will include some seminar discussion and afternoon or evening time for visiting sites, talking with Irish poets, musicians, actors, or scholars, or engaging with arts and culture. There will be time on your own to write, read, and walk.

Yeats Tower at Ballylee

This course offers a two-week introduction to literature written in Ireland from medieval times to the present. We explore real places around Galway and Dublin together with poetry, prose, and plays that imagine, represent, or shape those places. We will discuss classic works by authors such as St. Patrick, Spenser, Yeats, Joyce, and Kavanagh, as well as new work by living writers such as Seamus Heaney and Eavan Boland.

Housing
Faculty and students will stay in two centrally-located hotels, the first week in Galway and the second in Dublin.

Students on a James Joyce walking tour

Faculty

Elizabeth Fowler
Professor Fowler loves teaching undergraduate and graduate medieval and renaissance poetry in the English department here at UVA, including the big survey - Beowulf to Milton. She is on a team of editors of Edmund Spenser's writing for Oxford University Press, where her special responsibility will be Spenser's work in Ireland. Other passions include architecture, gardens, Victor Luftig, and their seven year old son Josiah, who is looking forward to hearing lots of traditional Irish music.

Victor Luftig
Professor Luftig is fond of teaching modern Irish literature to undergraduates and graduates at UVA. He co-edited a volume of essays on James Joyce and has written about various aspects of Irish and English literature. He is a former resident of Galway and has made many visits to Ireland for research and pleasure. Other passions include baseball, eating, Elizabeth Fowler, and their seven year old son.

An Irish Sense of Place:
Literature, Music and the Arts
(ENSP 3200; 3 credits)

UVA group with renowned traditional musicians
Alec Finn, Mary Loughnanes, and Cormac Cannon

Course Information
Prerequisites
The course is designed for undergraduates of all levels and all majors. All are welcome to apply.

Course Syllabus and Itinerary
2010 January Term: ENSP 3200 Itinerary

Read student comments from previous sessions
Comments from past participants

Study Abroad Policies
General Information Session
Students must attend a General Information Session (GIS) prior to completing the UVA Study Abroad application.
Fall 2009 GIS Schedule

Refund Policy
Withdrawal and Refund Policy

Please note
No refund or credit will be given to students who are suspended and/or dismissed from any UVA study abroad programs for conduct and/or academic violations reasons.

Important
Students attending the Ireland program must have proof of insurance and must be prepared to pay cash for emergencies at local hospitals, etc.

Cost
The program cost and payment schedule are listed under the "Budget Sheets" link at the top of this page. In addition to these, students are responsible for the following expenses:

• International Airfare
• Some meals
• Some local transportation costs
• Personal expenses

Financial Aid is available
Applications for Financial Aid should be submitted by October 1. Please visit the Finances page for instructions.

Further Information
Program Directors
Elizabeth Fowler
Department of English
PO Box 400121
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22904
ef4n@virginia.edu

Victor Luftig
Department of English
PO Box 400121
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22904
vl4n@virginia.edu