Category / Research Blog

by shannonchance

My Family at the Cobblestone Pub

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!

by shannonchance

Contemplating Race

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!

by shannonchance

The Faces of Floyd (and Someday Mayo)

There’s a wonderful article in today’s Roanoke Times about Glen McClure and the show he’s opening this weekend in southwestern Virginia (my birthplace). Dave will be attending the opening, along with Marshall McClure, Glen’s awesome wife.

Meanwhile, back at the Irish ranch, I’m pulling together a proposal in hopes of showing photographic work by Dave, Glen, and myself in Dublin. Fingers crossed!

This kind of cultural exchange is what the Fulbright program (and my job as a Fulbright Scholar) is all about.  I’m trying to help people understand each other better, in so many respects.  That’s also the point of the social science research I’m doing here.

Dubliners: If you know a gallery that might like to exhibit Landscapes of Mayo by Glen, Faces of Mayo by Glen, Vestiges of Ireland by Dave, and/or Reflections of Ireland by Shannon, please drop me a line!

by shannonchance

Working, Actually

Multi-use space under the coffee dock.

I haven’t been posting much about the work I’m doing (my readership statistics plummet when I do!!?!).  Nevertheless, I have been working!

Yesterday, I spent the morning transcribing and completing my reading of the methods chapters from several different dissertations.

I met Gavin outside the “coffee dock”  to discuss our projects over packed lunches.  The whole place was very crowded so we found a seat in the area of the cafeteria reserved for teachers.

Lunch with Gavin.

Most of DIT’s buildings with classrooms have a cafeteria, as well as a coffee kiosk (which they call a coffee dock), and other places to hang out or eat a packed lunch.  I’m including of a gathering/eating/meeting space in the engineering building on Bolton Street.  In this picture, I’m looking down from the coffee dock to a multi-use sort of space filled with students.

I love these types of in-between spaces that encourage social interaction… you’ll find them in all of the school buildings designed by the Dutch architects Herman Hertzberger, for instance.

After lunch, Gavin and I headed to a three-hour meeting of the Educational Research Group for the College of Engineering and the Built Environment.  We spent several hours discussing similarities and differences between phenomenology and phenomenography.  Let me know if you want me to Skype you in for our next session!    😉

Three of our six seminar participants — Gavin, Eric, and Sima.

Watching Brian Bowe, Head of Learning Development, bring phenomenography to life!

by shannonchance

Thanks to YOU!

Thanks for following this blog.  It’s great to know that people are interested in the stories!  It keeps me inspired to write.  I also appreciate your comments, email, and feedback….

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by shannonchance

Engineering with the Greeks (and Irish, and Finns)

The Prezi presentation I delivered at SEFI.

SEFI attendees 2012 — I’m at the lower left.

The SEFI conference was one of the most fun conferences I’ve ever attended.  They claim to be a family and it certainly felt that way.  This was my first conference with engineers.  I suspect this special feeling of belonging may be specific to the European Society of Engineering Educators (SEFI).  It also helped in making me feel welcome that the whole Irish delegation claimed me as their own!

The Irish group included the Dean of our college at the DIT (Mike Murphy), a recent PhD who teaches at the institute of technology at Tallah (Eileen Goold), a lecturer from Trinity College (Kevin Kelley), and a scholar (Bill Williams) who has been working in Portugal for 18 years but hails from Cork (in Southern Ireland, near where my great grandmother set sail for Ellis Island). Also at the conference were Gavin Duffy and myself.

SEFI 2012 banquet — the Irish table, with friends from Spain.

Part of the reason I had so much fun at SEFI was that I knew a lot of people — or got to know them quickly. That’s because the Irish friendliness is contagious.  I couldn’t be the wall-flower I am at most conferences. Moreover, our Dean is really a great leader.  He knows everyone and he also know show to make people feel welcome.  The last night, after the conference dinner at the Hyatt, we all went for a beer in a quaint part of town.  A contingent of Finnish students came along with us.We sat outside in a gorgeous little plaza. When I say that Mike is a great leader, this evening provides an illustration.  Mike wanted to sing Irish pub songs and he managed to convince us all to sing despite our initial reluctance.

The Finns shared their songs and we found a few tunes everyone knew (What Can You Do With a Drunken Sailor and the ever-popular Bring Me Home Country Roadwhich is of course, about West Virginia, the state one half hour’s drive from my hometown).

Drs. Eileen Goold and Mike Murphy

We sang until the pub closed at 2 PM.  I’m quite sure the neighboring residents were glad to hear The singing stop.  On this particular evening, few of us could carry a tune. This level of zest is something I would never have endorsed in an American group… but when with the Irish, do as the Irish do!

During the conference, Gavin and I both made successful presentations.  I was the sixth presenter in my set, so I had to super-charge my presentation.  The audience was visibly drowsy when I stood up to present so I worked to energize the room. And I achieved a high level of engagement from most everyone.

At SEFI, I met a load (as the Irish would say) of interesting folks.  I even spent an entire lunch hour talking one-on-one with the current president of SEFI, Prof. Dr. Wim Van Petegem.  What an honor!

Perhaps I’ll be able to coordinate visits to universities in Belgium, Portugal, and Spain where I’ve made new connections.  All of them have Fulbright offices that may be able to help.

The plaza with our favorite watering hole… in the short brick building to the right. Much quieter the morning after our raucousness!

by shannonchance

My Partners in Crime

Sima with work by fourth year Architectural Technology students.

It was a fabulous first day of school!  I’m off to yoga momentarily, but I thought I’d post some pics of my collaborators.  Meet architecture lecturer (i.e., professor) Sima Rouholamin and engineering lecturer Gavin Duffy.

The photo of Sima is from the March 2011, when I visited her studio as a guest critic.

The photo of the students, Gavin and I was taken March 2012.  The students had built robotic cars and were racing against each other at mid-terms during their spring semester.  They were placing for seeds in the end-of-semester competition.  I’ll get to watch the entire competition unfold this time around….

Electrical engineering students with Shannon and Gavin.
by shannonchance

It’s All About the Light

Dublin was awash in sunshine today!

We awoke this morning for breakfast with two of our house guests–Amanda Bernhard and Jonathan Kennedy–who are in Galway for the year studying Irish.  They have a very interesting blog going and they manage to post it in Irish and English.  I invited them to stay an extra night after the Fulbright Orientation, so we could go to the Cobblestone Pub that’s just down the street.  It’s known far and wide as the best place in Dublin to hear traditional music.  Amanda and Jon each play instruments and they joined in with the other musicians playing at the pub last night.  I’m hoping Dave will provide images of Amanda with her fiddle and Jon with his pipes, so I can post them for you.

We are absolutely loving city life.  Everything is right here… no need for a car day-to-day.

Following breakfast (which included a tasty bowl of porridge with rhubarb at the Cinnamon Cafe), I visited a photo exhibit while Dave enjoyed the weekly outdoor market and the wine festival in Meeting House Square.  Then we both headed over to the Oxfam Home store (which sells used furniture) and the Dublin Food CoOp.  Yelp has proven quite helpful in locating local favorites such as these, which came highly recommended by Peter and Mark at Kildare Street Hotel.

As we ran our errands, we also stubbled across one beautiful place after another.  I’ve attached a snapshot of the park beside St. Patrick’s Cathedral that we strolled through.

After a quick bowl of soup for lunch, I dashed off to see a play with my sister, Heather Massie, who is visiting for the Dublin Fringe Festival.  The play “Guerrilla Days in Ireland” was performed at the beautiful Olympia Theater.  It was a nice complement to the play we’d each seen last week called “The Plough and the Stars.”  Both relay twentieth century Irish history.

Amazingly, Heather has seen ten shows in the week she’s been here–in addition to taking a bus trip to Kerry, meeting us in Galway and Connemara for three days, and coming along on one day of Fulbright orientation with me (to see the Hill of Tara and Trim Castle).  Today she visited the Goal (former jail), art museum and its gardens, the Queen of Tarts….

In other words, it’s been quite a busy week.  I’ve just reported about the tip of the iceberg!  I’ll have to tell you about our other adventures in future days.  I do enjoy the comments you post and emails you send….

by shannonchance

Running Strong

Our Norfolk breakfast club — Shannon, Dave, Wayne, and Morgan.

Not much time for reflection today – we hit the ground running.

After a lovely farewell breakfast in Norfolk with Wayne, Rose, and Morgan Ringer, we spent much of the day flying to Ireland.  We enjoyed spending the first leg of our flight with Glen McClure, who is now in Westport partaking of breath-taking views of the Atlantic Ocean.

After waiting at Dublin airport in the longest passport control line I have ever encountered, we successfully cleared customs using my brand-spanking new Irish work permit. We sipped coffee at the airport while setting up appointments via Skype and then headed into town.

Lunch with Glen at the Norfolk airport.

Due to a taxi strike, we had to haul my luggage in using one of Dublin’s fine bus companies.  Fortunately, the driver dropped us just a block away from our temporary abode on Kildare Street.  We successfully towed all the bags to the hotel four-handedly!  (Never underestimate the power of Dave or of roll-on luggage.  It took thousands of years for man to put wheels on luggage… we made good use of that discovery today!)

After a quick lunch and a splash in the shower, we were off to find new digs.

We sprinted to our first apartment viewing.

I loved the apartment.  I was certain I would as I’ve scoured the Internet for weeks to find it.  I know the market, and I am pleased with the space, layout, views, sunlight, and appliances in this particular unit.  I tentatively agreed to take it.

Dave with our luggage after clearing customs at Dublin airport.

We decided to keep the second viewing I had booked, but since we had a little time on our hands, we stopped by the yoga studio I’m hoping to use and got a tour from a Brazilian fellow namedWellington. We also went and got two new cell phone numbers.

The second place we visited was also very nice.  It’s located on the grounds of King’s Inn Law school.  Being that the stone row house was built in the 1500’s, and today’s  weather was quite balmy, the house felt cold to me despite being bright and sunny.  I’m sticking with the first one, but hope to hang onto the new friend I met there (another Dave who clearly loves this place and gave us a very fine tour).

We’re currently recuperating.  I now await a dinner of Guinness Pie… having just pried Dave from his jet-lag-induced afternoon slumber.

What I hope will become my new kitchen.

by shannonchance

Outward Bound

Glen McClure took this photo in County Mayo, Ireland. It’s available on his blog.

The day has finally come. My bags are packed, I’m checked in for my flight, and I think I’m ready to fly. I can’t say the same for Dave, who is still furiously editing photos. He’s been working day and night for weeks to meet his clients’ needs and help me get my computer equipment in optimal working order.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t yet started to pack. But no worries… we’ve got 10 hours until we have to bid adieu to our kitties and hit the road.

Marshall McClure, the beautiful and talented owner of Parke Press, will be driving us to the airport. We’ll be flying partway to Ireland with her husband, Glen. He will split from us at JFK because, while we as landing in Dublin, he’ll be landing in Shannon. He is going to spend a couple of weeks doing what he does best… photographing landscapes, people, and the occasional building. He often travels to the western side of Ireland to do so.

Dave and I have our work cut out for us in Dublin. We’ve got get the essentials for living in place. Once settled, we plan to join Glen on the western coast of Ireland for a few days. I’m looking forward to our little camera and Guinness club. I’m just wishing Marshall was going to be there with us, too. She’s one of my all-time favorite people and the party’s not going to be complete without her.

Wish us luck with apartment hunting! We’ll let you know how it goes….