UNC Asheville Abroad: Ireland and Scotland

UNC Asheville Summer Adventures 2022

By UNC Asheville

June 29^th, 2022

A little bit of UNC Asheville could be found in Ireland and Scotland this summer, when UNC Asheville professors Sarah Judson and Anne Slatton took their students across the ocean for a faculty-led study abroad trip.

Students studied The Art of the Travelogue with Slatton, assistant professor in mass communication, and Humanities 324: The Modern World with Judson, chair and professor of history, while exploring and learning about the natural and cultural wonders of Ireland and Scotland. Two students, Ell Woolard and Addison Wright, take us on a tour of their experience.

Addison: I think, if given the opportunity, studying abroad is essential in learning as it opens the mind to new perspectives. This trip caught my attention because not only did it connect my two majors, but also seemed like an experience where I would be challenged to deeply learn.

Because of the combination of taking humanities and an arts class at the same time, I was interested to see how the historical, economic, social, and political changes in Irish society are expressed in the Irish arts.

Additionally, having some experience with writing and photography, I was drawn to the hands-on learning aspect of the trip and wanted to build my skills. I hoped to broaden my perspective, learn more about the connection between the arts and changes in society, build hands-on skills, and meet new people on the trip.

I was especially drawn to the trip because of the unique opportunity to make new UNCA friends!

UNC Asheville Abroad: Ireland and Scotland

Ell: I love just being out in nature, so I think probably my favorite thing was visiting the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. It’s this really amazing area on the coast where there are a lot of hexagonal basalt columns that look like giant paving stones. They were formed by volcanic activity in the area, but there’s a myth that they were made by a giant to create a bridge between Ireland and Scotland.

It was just indescribably beautiful, and I’d never seen anything like it before.

We also got to follow a trail that led to the top of the cliffs and got an incredible view of the coastline.

Addison: I loved learning about the history of where we traveled, especially in countries where ruins still stand from thousands of years ago. It made the experience so much deeper and sparked my curiosity for learning as I was able to actively engage with what I learned.

Ell: I was really moved by touring Kilmainham Gaol. There was just so much history there, and a lot of it is incredibly tragic, but I was in awe of the stories of resiliency and strength that we learned about too. So many people were imprisoned there during the Great Famine, some because they committed crimes on purpose just to have access to prison food. The prison also held revolutionaries from the Easter Rising and is the location where many of them were cruelly executed, which went on to inspire further revolution against English rule. The Museum at Kilmainham Gaol holds artifacts from former prisoners, like a pair of glasses, letters to loved ones, and a wedding ring.

It was just an incredibly moving experience to be that close to the human part of history and understand even just a little of the lived experience of Irish history and the fight for independence.

Addison: I loved finding the Scottish Highland cows. A couple of other students on the trip and I took public transportation and a strenuous hike to find them. At that point, we were all pretty close, and it was fun and a comfortable thing to go on an adventure together.

The cows were massive and fluffy, and it was accomplishing to be standing on an open mountainside with the cows, overlooking Edinburgh and the ocean beyond - all due to some teamwork with new UNCA friends.

Ell: I think being able to do a Humanities class as part of study abroad is a unique experience. It doesn’t just affect the way you understand the course material, but also the way you experience the cultures and history you’re interacting with on the trip.

Humanities 324 has major themes of understanding history in order to contextualize what we think of as modernity, and I felt that it really added to my experience of travel.

In Ireland on a daily basis I was seeing things like 11th century Viking ruins, cells that held revolutionaries during the Irish Civil War, and the cultural and physical ramification of English colonization systems, and I think the themes and material of Humanities 324 were an important framework by which I was able to better understand and contextualize what I was experiencing.

Addison:

You really get the most out of the trip because the professors plan so many amazing opportunities into the trip that I would have missed without their insight.

It was nice to have time to explore on my own, but I also learned so much by being provided with full days of museums, tours, and more. The professors were a blast, and I am so thankful for all the work they put into the trip. Definitely take advantage of the opportunities they provide and get to know them!