Posted by SMAD October 13, 2008

Professors Charles Turner of the School of Media Arts & Design, and Bob Hoskins of the Department of English are seeking students interested in exploring their critical writing skills in a place where words and imagery have always been treated with special attention and regard.

The Ireland in Text & Image program—now in its eleventh year—will spend six weeks in Ireland from June 14 to July 24 — two at University College Cork (in the South), two at The National University of Ireland, Galway (on the West coast), and two at Trinity College, Dublin (on the East coast).

Though students are wel­come from all communication-related departments on campus, the program has been created especially for SMAD and English majors, and Film Studies and Creative Writing minors.

Participants will take six credits, with everyone enrolling in a Journaling Seminar in expressive writing skills, and each student choosing one of following courses: Irish Literature and Film (Prof. Hoskins), or Representations of The Irish on Screen (Prof. Turner).

Each class will be offered with both an SMAD and a ENG course number.

Additionally, the trip will include three personal travel weekends, as well as frequent cultural events and outings keyed to the pro­gram’s text and image themes, plus field trips into the Irish countryside and coastal regions. Plans to date include attendance at drama, dance, and music events at the Cork Midsummer Festival, movies at the Irish Film Institute and the week long Galway Film Festival, plays at Dublin’s famous Gate and Abbey theatres, and day trips to Killarney, the Aran Islands and prehistoric Newgrange.

A prospective calendar of the program’s day-by-day events, a full information sheet on costs and coursework, and the necessary application forms can be downloaded from the following links:

- Ireland Information Sheet
- Ireland Calendar
- Ireland Application Form

Students interested in obtaining further details about the program, should email Prof. Turner at turnercc@jmu.edu, or attend the program’s organizational meeting on Thursday, October 21st, at 7.00 p.m. in Harrison Hall, room 0102, or

Applications are due at JMU’s Office of International Programs by November 3rd.