What could be better than summer travel to the Emerald Isle?
How about learning all about the media in Ireland and picking up three credits along the way?
The Department of Communication Studies, working with the Center for International Programs, will offer a course on Irish media in Dublin during the second summer session in 2013. The course, directed by Dr. Edward Lordan, will include guest lectures from internationally known authors and media figures as well as visits to some of the top media organizations in the Irish capital.
“I’m extremely excited to help our students learn about the past, present and future of media in Ireland,” Professor Lordan said. “The country is beautiful, the city is fascinating, and the Irish people are incredibly friendly. I hope this will be the trip of a lifetime for students interested in expanding their knowledge of the world.”
The course, open to undergraduate and graduate students from any major, will include three weeks in Dublin, where students will stay at Dublin City University and visit media organizations such as RTE (Ireland’s national television station), the Daily Mail (one of the country’s leading newspapers), and the General Post Office (not only a major media center, but the site of the major battle of the Irish revolution). “We’ll also be covering marketing, public relations, and advertising,” Lordan says. “A trip to Dublin should include a visit to the Guinness Storehouse, but we’ll go one step further, meeting with the director of marketing for the company, who will talk with us about how Guinness is distributed and promoted around the world.”
Students will also visit Google’s European headquarters and explore the city’s centers for history and culture. “To really understand the Irish media, it’s important to understand Ireland itself – the economy, the politics, and especially the history,” Lordan explains. “We’re going to take in as much as possible so that students come away with an appreciation for how a variety of factors help to shape a country’s media system.”
Interested students should attend an information session on the course on Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 6:00 pm in Main 403. If you cannot make the session, Dr. Lordan encourages you to get in touch with him to discuss your interest at elordan@wcupa.edu, or visit him in his office, Main 317.
Dublin is only one of a number of locations for courses offered by the WCU Center for International Programs. For more information about all of the classes available to WCU students, visit the Center for International Programs, Room 101 in the Old Library.
Dr. Lordan is a professor of communications studies. He can be reached at elordan@wcupa.edu.