Sometime this weekend, dashing from the all-day seminar “Conversations on Stories” hosted by Notre Dame and the evening welcome event hosted by the Fulbright Ireland Alumni Association, I managed to capture a few fleeting glimpses of Dublin for you. These were all taken near O’Connell Bridge.
I just emailed the current Fulbrighters in Ireland to see if they want to join me at the Cobblestone Pub in Smithfield (Dublin 7) on Tuesday, October 30. I also posted this to the Fulbright Ireland alumni page on LinkedIn to see if any of them want to come along… had such a ball with them Friday. (More about that later.)
Then I realized you might want to come, too!
You may have seen my blog post about Tom Mulligan and his Cobblestone Pub and about Fulbright Amanda and Jonathan playing there.
Tom says one of his brothers (Alfie, a piper) will be playing that night between 7 and 10 pm. Alfie’s daughter and two sons will be playing as well. It’s possible that Neillidh (mentioned in the blog) might also play. They’re all related to me in some way, and this is a chance for me to get to meet them and enjoy their melodies. Perhaps you’d enjoy being part of the fun?
This is an informal event, to be held in the front bar. There’s no admission cost… just the cost of your own drinks. Perhaps I’ll see you there?
Today’s an interesting and fairly typical day… morning yoga, transcribing, fairly successful bike ride/commute, book discussion with Gavin, lunch meeting with engineering lecturers, introductions with administrative leaders in engineering.
We are preparing for a seminar that all of us will present to the College faculty in a couple of weeks. Evidentially, some things Gavin and I discussed with the Dean (while we were in Greece) interested him enough to prompt a seminar.
Later today, I’ll head to an event on “stories” at Notre Dame’s O’Connell House. For now, reading in the office.
Here’s a photo of some of the engineers I met with (Dave, Ted, and Gavin). We took lunch in the staff cafeteria in the top floor of “Kevin Street” (i.e., the DIT building located on Kevin Street).
I’m posting a few photos my husband Dave Chance took the night Amanda Bernhard and her husband Jonathan Kennedy played at the Cobblestone Pub. We’d met them at the Fulbright Orientation weekend, and invited them to stay over at our place so they’d have the chance to visit the Pub.
Both Jonathan and Amanda play uilleann pipes. Amanda also plays fiddle.
Amanda is the Irish language Fulbright to Ireland this year. They are both studying Irish–at the Master’s degree level–at the a university in Galway. Amanda has been blogging about their adventures. You might want to visit her site to learn about on the other coast of Ireland, where many people still speak Irish day to day.
Jonathan is shown here playing uilleann pipes. Amanda plays the uilleann pipes as well as the fiddle. (Copyright Dave Chance Photography, 2012.)
Amanda Bernhard playing fiddle at the Cobblestone Pub. (Copyright Dave Chance Photography, 2012.)
Amanda Bernhard and Jonathan Kennedy playing at the Cobblestone in September 2012. (Copyright Dave Chance Photography, 2012.)
The book Gavin and I discussed today. Thanks to my Mom for brining me the copy!
Yesterday, Gavin and I met for lunch as normal. We each bring new discoveries to discuss. So I brought the book Mom gifted me, “How to Write a Lot” by Paul Silvia. I found it very helpful–the chapter on group learning even ties directly to our JEE research project. I proposed that Gavin read the book, too, and we can use it to guide a learning group we’re thinking of getting started.
At the end of lunch, something interesting happened. A Muslim guy came into the restaurant, washed up and set up a little space to pray. He simply nudged one table aside and knelt down for a mid-day prayer. I was all ready to head out, so I quietly said thanks and bye to the guy working the counter, and slipped away.
I hoofed it up to Linenhall for a review of work by the third year students in the Architecture Technology program. DIT offers programs in Architecture as well as Architecture Technology.
These Technology are learning to with for and with architects. The teachers in the program (shown on the right hand side, below) do develop the basic design, and the students work in teams to detail the architect-designed building.
One team of Technology students explaining their work.
The teachers give feedback along the way, and make suggestions for refinement of the work. It’s really interesting for me to be able to learn about the construction methods used here in Ireland… which have similarities and differences to those used in the USA.
The team’s work in progress.
The “Schools of Thought” lecture series is providing me lots of “food for thought.” It’s being conducted on Tuesday evenings by the fourth and fifth year Architecture studios at the DIT.
Last night Mark Price spoke. He teaches first year Architecture students to draw at University College Dublin (UCD). Create Ireland describes him as “an architect, teacher and writer. He works with the Save 16 Moore Street Committee, the Irish Anti-War Movement and the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign.”
At last night’s lecture, Mark spoke on the topic of the Architecture “Crit.” He discussed how unequal power relationships that are inherent in the Crit format both define and limit our profession.
Overall, he was quite critical of the way Crits are conducted.
I am fascinated by this particular topic–I’ve done some research on students’ view of assessment activities like the Crit. I did this work with Michael Seymour at the University of Mississippi, who just won a national teaching award. The paper we wrote, Assessment Formats: Student Preferences and Perceptions was published in the International Journal of Learning. It even won a research award from the Mississippi Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
During Q&A session that followed Mark’s lecture last night, DIT lecturer Dominic Stevens argued in favor of the Crit format. I chimed in about what Michael Seymour and I had found. I was trying to contribute ideas for giving students feedback in more humane ways. These are techniques that my colleagues and I use at Hampton University–and that our students responded very positively about when surveyed for the Assessment Formats paper.
After the lecture wrapped up last night, a group of us headed to the Black Sheep Inn “for a pint” and to continue discussing philosophy, architecture, and revolutionary politics.
Mark Price, Dominic Stevens, and Jim Roche deep in discussion at the Black Sheep Inn. Brian Ward and I chimed in, too!
What I have found in Ireland is that the political center is quite farther left than at home in the States. This holds true off campus as well as on.
I also find that I enjoy hearing these divergent points of view. It’s a refreshing change to our two-party, little-choice state of affairs in the USA.
The biggest difference among those gathered over ale last night is that I typically conduct my research from the interpretivist (and sometimes constructivist) paradigm–an observational and participatory stance–whereas the other folks I met with are quite active politically. They are working hard to change things and make the world a more just place. They want to create big-scale change in the world and they are critical of the way things operate.
A professor at the University of Western Cape explains my stance: “Epistemologically, an interpretive researcher is empathetic in nature. The researcher would put him/herself in the shoes of the participant in order to comprehend more effectively. The researcher seeks to recognize the participant’s understanding of situations (Henning, 2005).” This is what I am trying to do in my research project for JEE.
Danna Carballo describes their stance: “Critical theories share some ideas of the interpretative paradigm, but what makes it different is that critical paradigm focuses on oppression. …They believe there are some groups who benefit from oppressing others, so their main jobs are to point out the existing contradictions, in order to help people be aware of what is really going on, and create new forms of language that will enable predominant ideology to be exposed and competing ideologies to be heard.” Mark definitely took this stance in his lecture. His point was that the Crit format oppresses students and reinforces traditionally-desired power arrangements.
With that, I can clearly agree!
Introducing the vegetarian version of the Irish breakfast….
It was delicious!
Mom with her cousin, Tom Mulligan (left) and Tim Bigelow (right) meeting at the Cobblestone Pub.
What a great send off! Mom and her friends left for the airport at five o’clock this morning, so last night we decided to meet after my yoga class at the Cobblestone Pub.
You may recall from an earlier blog that the Cobblestone is considered the best place in Dublin to hear traditional Irish music. We went there with Fulbright Amanda and her husband Jonathan, so they’d have a chance to play their instruments for an audience in Dublin.
A girl from last night’s yoga class said it would definitely not be a problem for me to go to the Pub in my exercise clothes. So I headed straight there–yoga mat and all.
When I arrived, Mom immediately introduced me to Tom Mulligan–a cousin of ours from Ballybunion in County Kerry–who she’d just met. He had inquired about her visit Ireland and she said she’d been to County Kerry visiting Eilish and Con O’Hanlon.
Picture of the Cobblestone from the New York Times.
Loe and behold, Elish is Tom’s cousin. I think he said his mom is the sister of my mom’s grandmother, but I haven’t been able to reconcile that math yet! He seems so young.
Tom soon introduced me to his son, Thomas, who was working behind the bar. And what a warm welcome we enjoyed! Thomas was so complimentary about my Fulbright, and the fact that it’s in engineering. Pretty soon, my smile was drawn ear to ear, my eyes were misty from hearing well-sung ballads, and my mom was hugging everyone in sight. Imagine! 😉
Tom is in the middle… doesn’t he look like Bill Clinton!?
Tom returned to playing, but when the musicians’ area started to get crowded, Tom packed up his flute and climbed behind the bar.
“Hum,” I thought, “wonder what that means?” So I went to Googling the topic. I discovered Tom’s the owner of the place! Someone on Yelp had mentioned him by name and noted how incredibly nice he is. (I’m in 100% agreement.)
Tom wanted to connect me with another Fulbright in the family, Siobhan. She taught Irish in the US. To connect us, he dialed her up and soon handed me the phone. Turns out, she’s the one who gave us an Irish lesson during the Fulbright orientation. I’d met her but not realized we were connected. (I’d have never realized the connection to Tom without my huggy mom and her travel-ready neighbors.)
Tom’s son, Tomás, is working on a degree in Irish politics and history at University College Dublin (UCD). His dad completed a similar degree there 2006-2010… the same years I was in school at William and Mary. Tom had gone back to be a good example to his kids. It seems to have paid off!
Tomás wouldn’t even take money for my drinks last night. And, Tom gave Mom a copy of his CD to take home. Ain’t it grand to have a family!
You may also recall that it was my 2003 visit to the UCD campus that left me determined to become a Fulbright myself. And thanks to my mom’s positive example, I set to work on a PhD three years later. That helped it all come together.
So, all in all, it’s wonderful to find a place where everybody knows my name, and they seem so glad I came! Who have thought I’d find my home in a pub?
Tom’s brother Neily is one of the world’s premier uilleann (elbow) pipers. I think he’ll be playing Thursday, October 25. See you there? For more information, you can like the Cobblestone on Facebook.
By the time I left last night, there’s been more than 14 different musicians chiming in. I can’t wait to return!
Meet Elias and Anna, two people who often brighten my day.
Elias and his mom, Anna.
Anna is the daughter of my friend Rosemary Thornton Ringer (aka, the Sears Kit House lady) who married one of my best friends, Wayne. I was the “Best Woman” in their wedding!
Although I’ve actually only met Anna and Elias a few times, I have the excellent fortune of being friends with Anna on Facebook. She’s currently in a new job teaching music at Boston University.
Her daily updates about Elias inspire me to reach for the stars. He’s an exceptionally curious kid, and she seems to be an astute mom who gives him room to explore and patiently answers his questions to the best of human ability. She also takes the time to record the events and share them on Facebook.
I personally learn so much from this little boy and her mom.
These two people make my stay here in Dublin brighter and more joyful. Elias’s comments remind me to “explore,” “go slowly,” and proceed “like I’ve never seen the world.” And, of course, to sometimes be “human tape.”
I love this kid! And his family.
On an invitation from Joanne (from the Fulbright Commission here in Ireland), I decided to attend a book launch on the subject of race last night. What a fascinating view of history I discovered!
I learned a huge amount from the people who spoke at the event (Seamus Deannes, Bruce Nelson Nelson, and Kevin Whelan), which was held at the University of Notre Dame’s O’Connell House. I met people from Dublin and beyond, including a professor from South Bend who is also a priest and political historian here doing research himself.
Bruce Nelson’s book launch at Notre Dame’s Center in Dublin. Joanne Davidson, from the Fulbright Commission in Ireland, is seated in the middle.
I’m very interested in this topic, social construction of the concept of race… in Ireland and at home in the US.
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I’ve been spending more time in my engineering office — it’s very comfortable now that the heat is on there. I haven’t turned ours on at the apartment, because the southern exposure usually warms it sufficiently.
I conducted my first interview using phenomenology as the framework (in this office) today! I’m going to start transcribing it momentarily.
My office on Church Lane.
I’m pleased to report that I successfully biked across town today. I couldn’t bear to go the wrong way down a one-way street like everyone seems to do here. I decided to push the bike three blocks instead of figuring out where the street was that went the way I wanted to go!
And, I made it to the library I love on Bolton Street, with minor evidence of my ride this time (only a small spot on my gear-changing hand this time).
Made it across town today, by bike, without incident. 🙂
Magazine on my *all* areas of study: Engineering, Design, and the Built Environment. The Education sources are also here at this library!
Ireland by Chance 