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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Guest Blogger: BUB's Joris Lacroix - A Visit to BUB Dublin and N. Ireland

This semester’s visit to the BU Dublin program was a little different for me. Usually I simply give a presentation to the BU students that are studying abroad at BU in Dublin, which is located on the lovely Dublin City University campus (DCU).

This time around my visit coincided with a trip to Northern Ireland that is planned every year for the BU Dublin students. I was invited to go along on this trip, which was a great opportunity not only on a personal level, as I had never been, and knew very little about Northern Ireland, but also for recruitment purposes as it allowed me to know the 54 students on the trip on a more personal level.

Along with Dr. Gordon Kennedy, a history teacher for BU Dublin I was a ‘chaperone’ during this trip. It was a great experience, as I learned a lot about Northern Ireland, and how still to this day there is a great divide, and hostility between the Catholics and the Protestants. I was shocked, and amazed to find out that there were ‘peace walls’ separating the two communities in Belfast, as well as the fact that at 11pm, every night the gate that separates the Catholic side from the Protestant side is closed.

Most of the students on the trip were in their junior year of university, and for the most part loved studying in Europe. With a tasteful mix of Irish history, and Guinness, a diet that is sure to please just about anyone with interest in Ireland, the BU Dublin program provides a great framework for making American students want to come back and continue their studies in Europe.

That is where BUB comes into play, as Brussels is the capital of Europe, and the European institutions looking to be more and more involved with Ireland and Northern Ireland, these students can look to Boston University Brussels as a great way to receive a degree from BU whilst finishing their European studies.
Overall the experience was a positive one, and I can safely say that we will be looking to do this again, and hopefully open the opportunity to go on this trip to our own students.

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