Off-Campus Study & Exchanges

The west of Ireland has long held a special place in the Irish imagination. The westernmost part of all Europe, the "last parish before America," refuge of the Irish language, and home to the isolated islands of the western coast, the west stands as a microcosm of an idealized IrishIreland identity. As Ireland emerged into political independence in the early 20th century, the west took on an aura of authenticity as well as a mystic status most closely associated with its legendary islands. Nearly every great Irish writer responded to this mythos of the mystic island: Yeats in his poetry, Gregory in her folklore, Heaney in his evocations of Irish rural life, Synge in his explorations of the myths and the realities of these landscapes, the Blasket Island storytellers and North Kerry writers in a combination of gritty realism and exalted visionary poetry.

During the spring semester, the course 'colloquium' immerses students in the literature, history and culture of Ireland through a range of media and methods. The primary focus of the course is on Irish history and literature, from the pre-historic period to the modern Ireland. Through literary readings, texts of cultural history, memoir, and folklore, through film and works of religion and spiritual exploration, students seek to understand the major movements in Ireland that led to its great cultural achievements in the 20th century. 

This two-week travel seminar explores the literature and culture of the far west of Ireland, focusing in particular on the concept of "the mystic island" in the Irish imagination. Through readings, discussion, guest speakers, and extensive travel along the "wild Atlantic way" of the Kerry, Clare, and Galway coasts, we will immerse ourselves in the Irish imagination as it expresses itself in numerous works of art and thought.