Hibernia to Hispania or
Gaels to Galicia or
Ireland to Iberia or
Peace, Reconciliation, and Pilgrimage
Mayterm 2016 Off Campus Programs Proposal
Submitted by Deborah Dunn & Caryn Reeder
Purpose
The purpose of this program is twofold: 1) to broaden and deepen student understanding of how we create, perpetuate, reconcile, and remember conflict in human symbolic activity; and 2) to explore avenues toward peace and reconciliation via interfaith dialogue, ecumenical practices, and pilgrimage.Key to thinking broadly and deeply on these themes, students will explore and live into particular case studies (most notably in post-Good Friday Agreement Northern Ireland) as well as engage with historical and contemporary practices of interfaith dialogue and shared practices (especially at reconciliation centers, a Benedictine Monastery, and along the Camino de Santiago).
Furthering the Mission of the College
By combining readings and pedagogy from different disciplines and perspectives, by examining some of the most base and most inspired products of human interaction (from violent dispute to reconciliation and healing), by integrating competencies and talents of professors from two disciplines (communication and religious studies), and by combining rigorous intellectual exercise with creative and experiential engagement, this program embodies a high quality liberal arts program. Furthermore, students have the opportunity to hear first-hand the stories of those intimately involved in war and peacemaking, to see for themselves in three dimensions artistic expressions, to experience bodily a space, a memorial, a performance, and to explore the places many only read about. Since this course involves travel to and immersion in different cultures, students will gain cross-cultural experiences and develop a greater appreciation for the challenges of living in a complex and diverse society. Finally, by traveling together in community, with all of its challenges and joys, students will develop skills and appreciation required for living and traveling intensively with others.
Academic Content
Two professors will team teach the one course, Belfast to Santiago: Memory, Dialogue, and Reconciliation. The course is framed by a discussion of conflict, reconciliation, and memory in such a way that students are able to see the connections among context, history, institutions, and human symbolic activity. Students will make the connections via readings, lectures, discussions, site visits, testimonies, and reflection. These are key aspects of the course, as the art forms, narratives, and construction of sites of public memory are visible manifestations of changing beliefs, fears, desires, and ideologies. And understanding conflict entails exploring both how conflicts define cultures and how cultures symbolically construct and represent conflicts. For example, students will hear personal testimony from survivors of the civil rights march resulting in Bloody Sunday, will walk the route themselves, will closely observe the arrangement of the memorials, and will integrate these first-hand encounters with their readings and lectures. Theories of ideology, colonialism, and narrative rationality inform their experience of the space and the people, but the physical engagement with the space and the people conversely informs the questions they bring to bear on theories and academic discourse. Students will visit, study, engage in close readings of, and learn to appreciate the various expressions of conflict, peace, and memory over the centuries and across conflicting cultures. How do people memorialize war? Peace? Violence? Sacrifice? How do scapegoats both create recipes for genocide and possibilities for peace? At the same time, students will engage some on-the-ground peacemakers who actively work to create peace in their communities and in their nation via dialogue, prayer, and ancient Christian practices (from fasting to pilgrimage).
Ultimately, these investigations will culminate in the walking the final 110 km of the Camino de Santiago. The practice of pilgrimage has historically been associated with repentance and penitence, and our own journey on the Camino thus gives us the opportunity to process the lessons of violence in Northern Ireland, to repent on behalf of a broken world, and to pray for peace. In addition, we will learn about the peak of religious freedom in Muslim Spain, the Crusades that led to the loss of the Holy Land and gave rise to the popularity of the Camino, and the current conflicts of identity within modern Spain. Ultimately, we believe that the integration of learning in terms of theory, practice, and spiritual discipline will lead our students to more effectively and proactively become peacemakers and reconcilers in both personal and global contexts.
Students will earn credit for two courses, for a total of eight units. The courses will be taught organically, as a whole. The courses they will earn credit for include Com 134 (4 units), a course currently in the catalogue, and approved for major credit for communication studies majors and elective credit for students in other majors. They will also earn credit for a special topics course, Com 195 (4 units). Potentially, RS majors might gain RS elective units rather than the Com 195 elective units. We will submit the 134 syllabus for GE credit in “thinking historically.” Note that this course was approved for this GE category for the 2014 Mayterm.
Student Pool
We plan to advertise this program to all students, though certainly students majoring in communication studies or religious studies may be particularly motivated by traveling with their faculty and earning major units. A variety of students may be attracted by the nature of the program and the countries visited, as well as the opportunity to earn GE credit. We hope to take about 16 students. We will use the following criteria (in addition to the selection criteria required by the Off-Campus Programs Office) to make our selections:
- Why does the student want to go, as evidenced by the application essay?
- Has the student demonstrated maturity, as well as the ability to work cooperatively in groups?
- Will the student represent Westmont well?
- Is the student willing to explore ecumenical and cross-cultural opportunities?
Given the intensive walking required on an off-campus program, we will also advertise that students must be able to complete the Mayterm physically as well as intellectually. The PE requirement of the GE may be fulfilled by this Mayterm, pending consideration by the GE committee.
Personnel
This proposal comes from Professors Deborah Dunn and Caryn Reeder. Both have successfully led off campus programs in the past, including Ireland, the UK, South Africa, the Middle East, and Germany. OCP has supported the ongoing existence of the conflict-focused program. Deborah Dunn will shoulder the bulk of the teaching and accompany the students the entire program; Caryn Reeder will teach on campus and join the group in Dublin.
Program Design
The program will begin with a meeting in December 2015, followed by 3-4 evening meetings over the course of Spring 2016. We will begin Mayterm with some intensive coursework and lectures on campus, and then continue the learning abroad via lectures, readings, quizzes, discussions, guest lectures, and site visits. In the final days of the journey, we will work to help students integrate all that has been learned and provide space and time for contemplation. For the final two days of the program, activities and discussions will focus on achieving some sense of closure and intentional entry back into everyday life. Finally, students will return home to finalize the journal and closing entries/essays (typically due about 3 weeks after the program ends). In terms of travel, we anticipate beginning in Belfast and ending in Santiago.
Safety Issues
Safety issues for any off campus program are important. We intend to have Troy Harris address our students re Westmont policies and procedures. Also, we have developed an extensive manual of policies and helpful hints, including safety precautions.
Northern Ireland, Ireland, and the Camino de Santiago in Spain are relatively safe places for tourists, despite the occasional dissident acts of violence in Northern Ireland (tourists are not targets of political violence). Nevertheless, we recognize that we will be traveling, and we will be taking our students into large, urban centers. According to the U.S. State Department, these places have impressively low violent crime rates, but both suffer from their share of petty crime, especially in the urban areas. Therefore, we will advise students to take basic precautions for their safety as they would in any large city. In recognition of some of these dangers, our students will not be permitted to venture out alone (even in “safe areas”). And, in recognition of the sporadic Republican violence in Northern Ireland, students are forbidden to wear team jerseys or hats, are instructed on where they cannot go (even with a “buddy”) and are required to abide by a curfew.
We will also provide advice on securing valuables, carrying cameras and purses, and the use of money belts, and we will provide students with a copy of the State Department’s publication: A Safe Trip Abroad ( Students will also be advised to avoid large, seemingly spontaneous gatherings of people in general, and especially in certain neighborhoods in Belfast and Derry (along the peace line, for example). We will require that students abide by our community life expectations. Finally, we will forbid students from acquiring permanent tattoos. While this is not covered by our community life expectations, we think it a reasonable precaution against hepatitis.
Budget
The itemized budget will be submitted as requested after the approval of the program. The estimated cost per student will be about $6,000 if the students provide their own airfare. This worked well for the 2010, 2012, and 2014 Mayterms in Northern Ireland (and the Middle East and Germany). Most students found less expensive airfare on their own or used frequent flier miles or other special deals. Most then arranged their own post-Mayterm travel plans and flights in/out of their own home airports.
Success of 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014 Mayterms:
From all indicators, the Mayterm programs previously led by Professors Dunn and Reeder were successful. Students report that they learned a great deal, that they felt changed as individuals, and that they had a good time. In all instances, we came in at or under budget.
Proposed Itinerary
Week One
MondayOn Campus (9-12; 1-3)
TuesdayOn Campus (9-12; 1-3; 6-8)
WednesdayOn Campus (9-12; 1-3)
ThursdayOn Campus (9-12; 1-3)
FridayOn Campus (9-12; Exam at 1:00)
SaturdayDay Off
Week Two
SundayDay Off
MondayTravel to Belfast, Northern Ireland
Tuesday Orientation to Belfast, Walking Tour, First Group Dinner
WednesdayBelfast – Coiste Visits with Former Combatants & Visits to E/W Belfast
ThursdayBelfast – Courses, Lectures, Site Visits, Interviews
FridayBelfast – Courses, Lectures, Site Visits, Interviews
SaturdayBelfast – Courses, Lectures, Site Visits, Interviews
Week Three
SundayBelfast – Worship in Morning; Afternoon Off
MondayBelfast – Visit to Stormont
TuesdayBelfast – Day Trip to Celtic Spiritual Sites
WednesdayBelfast – Exam in AM; PM off
ThursdayCorrymeela Reconciliation Center, Ballycastle
FridayCorrymeela Reconciliation Center, Ballycastle
SaturdayDerry/Londonderry via Causeway Coast - Ancient Ulster History
Week Four
SundayWorship in AM; Afternoon Off
MondayDerry/Londonderry City Walls; Bloody Sunday; Bogside Artists
TuesdayDerry/Londonderry, Univ. of Ulster & Magee College/INCORE
WednesdayRostrevor via Border Areas
ThursdayRostrevor & Benedictines
FridayRostrevor & Oral Exam
SaturdayRostrevor & Ceili
Week Five
SundayEarly Worship in AM; Travel to Dublin via Newgrange; Reeder Arrives
MondayDublin – Viking / English / Irish History (also libraries and manuscripts)
TuesdayDublin – Kilmainham Gaol & Republican Landmarks
WednesdayTravel to Seville, Spain
ThursdaySeville, Spain (Alhambra?)
FridayTravel to Sarria to begin The Camino
SaturdayThe Camino - Portomarin
Week Six
SundayThe Camino– Palas de Rei
MondayThe Camino - Arzua
TuesdayThe Camino - Melide
WednesdayThe Camino - Amenal
ThursdayThe Camino - Santiago
FridaySantiago de Compostela
SaturdayTravel Home
Units Earned During Mayterm:
We propose that students earn 8 units for two courses. Students will meet to learn about the countries they will visit about 3 times before Mayterm begins (roughly 6 hours of instruction). They will meet on campus, during the first week, before leaving the country (roughly 30 hours of instruction). Students will meet nearly every day while abroad, sometimes in traditional lectures, sometimes in discussion, sometimes in contemplation, sometimes in interaction with places, works of art, and spaces. Students will hear from their professors, speakers, and visitors. Students will engage in close reading and discussion.
Syllabus - Mayterm 2016
Belfast to Santiago: Conflict, Dialogue, & Reconciliation
"Reconciliation is a journey, an encounter, and a place. God calls us to set out on this journey.
It is a journey through conflict, marked by places where we see the face of God, the face of the enemy,
and the face of our own self." – John Paul Lederach
Conflict & Reconciliation (Com 134) &
Reconciling Memory & Practice (Com 195; RS Topics) – Thinking Historically (GE)
Professors:Deborah Dunn,
Caryn Reeder,
Introduction:
The purpose of this program is twofold: 1) to broaden and deepen your understanding of how we create, perpetuate, reconcile, and remember conflict in human symbolic activity; and 2) to explore avenues toward peace and reconciliation via interfaith dialogue and ecumenical practices.
Key to thinking broadly and deeply on these themes, students will explore and live into particular case studies (most notably in post-Good Friday Agreement Northern Ireland) as well as engage with historical and contemporary approaches to interfaith dialogue and shared practices (especially at reconciliation centers, a Benedictine Monastery, and along the Camino de Santiago).
The course is about conflict, reconciliation, dialogue, and memory, but to begin to understand these on a national, group, or even an interpersonal level you must also see the connections among context, history, institutions, and human symbolic activity. We will help you make these connections via readings, lectures, discussions, site visits, testimonies, and reflection. Further, you will see how sites of public memory are visible manifestations of changing beliefs, fears, desires, and ideologies. Ultimately, understanding conflict entails exploring both how conflicts define cultures and how cultures symbolically construct and represent conflicts.
As you visit, study, engage in close readings of, and learn to appreciate the various artistic expressions of conflict, peace, and memory over the centuries and across cultures, here are some questions you might keep in mind: How do people memorialize war? Peace? Violence? Sacrifice? How are scapegoats portrayed artistically and narratively? How do scapegoats both create recipes for genocide and possibilities for peace? How do we “remember rightly” as Miroslav Volf asks? When we create memorials or stories of our pasts, what are we remembering, and what are we forgetting? Who decides, ultimately, which stories are truthful, and which accounts will be publicly enshrined? From families to nations, we weave our sense of ourselves into stories and images and spaces that tell us who we are and what has happened to us as well as who we are not and who caused us pain.
In years past, pilgrimage was a penance that might be imposed upon one who causes pain. Throughout our exploration (as we travel to places of memorial) and especially in the final days, as we ourselves take up the pilgrimage on the Camino, we will experience pilgrimage as an act of repentance, of memory, of prayer. Some places we visit memorialize terrible tragedies and loss of life, while others are fought over both in terms of defining and projecting meanings as well as in literal battles over ownership and authority. Your feet will get dusty and sore on the paths of pilgrimage. You will experience bodily a space, a memorial, a performance and the resulting uncertainties, anxieties, excitements, and triumphs that accompany the journey to, in, and through new places, peoples, and cultures. Finally, by traveling together in community, with all of its challenges and joys, you will develop skills and appreciation required for living and traveling intensively with others.
“The past is not dead and gone; it isn’t even past.” – William Faulkner
Course Objectives:
Students will understand and articulate principles & theories of conflict, dialogue, and reconciliation.
Students will appreciate the challenges and rewards of analyzing conflicts from a symbolic approach, including language, history, culture, constructed identities, artistic expression, architecture, and territory.
Students will ponder how memory, history, and identities are both shaped by and continue to shape national and personal responses to war, conflict, peace, and reconciliation.
Students will gain practice in living and traveling with diverse others in close quarters