Global Gateways

All students in the program will take the Spirit of Travel FSEM and the Travel Writing Course with Professor Nancy Barber.

FSEM: The Spirit of Travel

In this course, students will look at the relationship between travel and spirit; in other words, the relationship between outer journeys and inner ones. Pilgrimages have long been a part of religious and cultural traditions: from sacred trips to the Holy Land, Mecca, Bodh Gaya, Lourdes, and Santiago de Compostela to secular pilgrimages to places like the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Vietnam War Memorial, or Graceland. Besides pilgrimages to one specific place, many travelers have more free-ranging objectives: for example, the Australian walkabout or the college-age rite of backpacking around Europe.

In this course, students will explore why travel is such a catalyst for spiritual growth. We focus on the ways in which travel, especially unpredictable travel outside one’s comfort zone, has an effect on the spirit. Since this class will take place in Dublin, students will focus on texts with an Irish perspective—novels, films, short stories and/or essays--as jumping-off points for thoughtful insights, discussions, and writings about the spiritual transformations of travel.

ENCW 111A: Introduction to Writing Literary Nonfiction (Special Topic: Travel Writing)

In this course, students will focus on the art and craft of travel writing. We will analyze exemplary Irish travel writing and try to model some of its magic as students craft, critique, and workshop their own essays based on their travel during the Global Gateways Program. The course will include four major creative nonfiction pieces and many journal entries.

The goals of this writing-enhanced course include the following:

• To strengthen existing writing skills
• To heighten understanding of travel-writing conventions
• To strengthen other life tools, including critical thinking, public speaking and reading
• To increase information, literacy and research abilities
• To produce an archive of writing from the semester in Ireland

Students will also take two additional courses taught by IES Abroad faculty (though students will receive 4 Stetson credits for each class taken). 

Celtic Myth and Legend in Early Ireland

This interdisciplinary course offers students an introduction to Irish heroic literature, Celtic mythology and Irish fairy tales and folklore. We will read a selection of early Irish tales from The Mythological Cycle, The Ulster Cycle, The Cycle of Finn and The Historical Cycle, exploring what literary genres our stories fit into, the significance of various recurring themes and symbols, the connections between Celtic mythology and other world mythologies and the origins of Arthurian legends as based upon Celtic prototypes. These stories offer a fascinating insight into the complex world of pre-Christian and early Christian Ireland by painting vivid portraits of life, culture and legends in pagan times. In addition to the literature aspect of this course, we will also explore insular and continental Celtic archaeology and early Irish history, both of which will enable us to place our stories within a tangible, historical framework. We will also examine legends of otherworldly beings that are particular to Ireland, such as the banshee, the leprechaun and the pooka—discussing how, over time, the mythology and pagan beliefs of early Ireland transformed into Irish folklore and superstitions.

Irish Culture and Contemporary Society

This course is divided into two distinctive parts: learning about Irish contemporary society and a survey course on Gaelic culture. In the first part of the course, students will learn about issues and concerns in Irish society today. As part of this class, students must do local community engagement/volunteer work.

The second part of the course is an introduction to Irish culture. It will involve a thematic case-study-based survey of the traditional arts in Ireland. As the survival of Gaelic culture has been so dependent on our oral heritage, there will be a strong emphasis on oral history/tradition and the role of tradition bearers and collectors. Students will be given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with traditional Irish instruments, Irish songs, dances, folklore, superstitions and sports firsthand.

Students in this program will be accompanied by Professor Nancy Barber.

Nancy Barber, Sullivan Lecturer in English and faculty director of the Global Gateways Program, majored in political science at Davidson College, then worked as a journalist before getting an MA in English at Stetson University and an MFA in poetry writing at the University of Florida. Barber has taught at Stetson University for 22 years and specializes in creative nonfiction. Her published articles include topics such as family business, human cannonballs, BBQ competitions, and bicycling across the U.S. In 2008, she co-wrote Meals Worth Stopping for in Florida.

Barber has taught an FSEM entitled The Spirit of Travel for over a decade. She taught Travel Writing in Stetson’s Innsbruck, Austria, Program in 2013 and in Stetson’s Freiburg, Germany, Program in 2010. She has extensive experience traveling and backpacking in Europe, including four different Caminos de Santiago hikes, the Tour de Mont Blanc, Hadrian’s Wall Path, and the European Peace Walk in Eastern Europe. Her summers are based in England when she’s not hiking, and she's looking forward to spending the fall semester teaching and directing the new program in Dublin.

Students in this program will pay their regular Stetson tuition and will have access to all of their financial aid (with the exception of tuition exchange and work-study). Additionally, students will be charged the housing rate for an individual room in an apartment.

Students will not have to pay for a meal plan for the semester; however, they should budget for groceries and meals in Dublin.

Stetson's tuition and housing fees will cover 16 Stetson credits, all program activities and excursions, housing, a 30-day Dublin bus pass, and international health insurance.

Students should budget separately for roundtrip flights to Dublin, meals, and personal expenses.

Estimated Budget (all numbers are approximate):

• Tuition (Fall 2023 - approximate) *Paid to Stetson: $27,410
• Student Life and Orientation Fees *Paid to Stetson: $700
• Housing *Paid to Stetson: $5,256 (single bedroom, private bathroom)
• Meals in Dublin: $3,000
• Bus Pass: $200
• Passport and Visa costs: Approximately $200
• Personal Expenses (individual travel and exploration, personal items, books, etc.): $3,000
• Roundtrip Airfare: approximately $1,500

Program housing is apartment-style and located in the heart of the Dublin city center. It is about a 45-minute walk to the study center where classes are held. All students are provided with a bus pass (we’ll get you started with approximately 100 euros on your bus pass – but you can add more money to the pass if you use it all up!) and are welcome to "top up" their bus pass throughout the semester.

Students will have their own bedroom with an ensuite bathroom in a six or seven-bedroom apartment. Common areas (such as the kitchen) will be shared with their flatmates.

Meal plans are not included; however, all students have access to a kitchen in their apartments to prepare their own food, and the apartments are centrally located within Dublin City, with several affordable restaurants nearby.

Stetson is working with IES Abroad, a study abroad provider with a center in Dublin. IES requires all program participants to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before departing for Dublin.