Study abroad opportunity available next term

If you want to spend St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland, all you need to do is talk to Sue Mach or Ida Flippo for details. “There are three different classes involved in the Ireland trip,” Mach said.

Clackamas Community College will offer a study abroad trip to Ireland in March of 2016.

Flippo, Instructor/International Education Committee Chair, said she was charged last year with re envisioning our study abroad options. She is the one who got the idea for a chance for international studies to be a short-term, faculty-led model instead of the long-term independent study option.

The first eight weeks of classes will be at CCC, and the last two weeks will be in the little coastal town of Bundoran, Ireland. That is the home of the Institute of Study Abroad Ireland. The last few days of the trip, everyone will be in historic Dublin.

Several instructors will be a part of the trip. Mach teaches Writing 265, Digital Storytelling; Yvonne Smith teaches Gerontology 181, Intercultural Issues in Aging (Ireland and the U.S.) and Toni Thomas teaches, Humanities 299 Lightness, Imagination and
Resilience in Irish Culture. All of these classes are credit classes that take the trip to Ireland.

Mach also said there is a noncredit, travel-only option for both students and community members. “This trip is a fabulous opportunity for students on a limited budget to have an incredible study abroad experience,” Mach said.

“I’m particularly excited about the service projects that students and faculty will participate in,” said Mach. Mach also said, “Students will be interviewing people and creating digital stories,” relating to her WR- 265 class.

This trip will fall over St. Patrick’s Day in 2016. Mach said, “This group from CCC will be constructing a float to participate in the Bundoran St. Patrick’s Day parade,” along with all of the other once-in-a-lifetime experiences that will be part of the CCC adventure.

Besides the Bundoran St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the participants will visit the Newgrange ancient burial grounds and the Boney Valley. Also, they’ll visit Drumcliff Church, which is the burial site of poet WB Yeats.

They’ll visit St. Patrick’s Well, Catsby Cave, Donegal Castle in Derry, Northern Ireland, and take a walking tour of Legendary Dublin, as well.

The cost for students is $3,000, and the cost for community members, who are not participating in any of the courses will be $3,200. That includes the plane ride, in-country transportation, shared rooms in Aparthotel, admission to attractions, and some meals.

There are ways to help Pell Grant eligible students to get financial assistance. Contact Ida Flippo at iflipp@clackamas.edu or call her directly at 503-594-3363.

As for students that do not qualify for finacial aid, Darcie Iven, finacial aid and scholarship coordinator said, “There are no existing scholarships at this time.”

Students interested in fundraising projects should contact Flippo’s office about the opportunities.

The CCC trip will also include a visit to Parke’s Castle in Leitrim, Ireland.

Students will see this Celtic-inspired artwork that overlooks the shoreline in Bundoran.