Six Hastings College students will examine a broad range of topics while spending a month in Ireland this fall. The students have the opportunity to study in Ireland thanks to the Hastings College Irish Fellowship program, a distinctive, competitive study abroad opportunity offered annually to full-time Hastings College students.
In partnership with Davy Spillane, Grammy Award-winning Irish musician, Hastings College sponsors the program, which blends on-campus coursework with a month of independent study in County Clare, a region in the west of Ireland offering outstanding educational and cultural opportunities.
“The Irish Fellows program is a wonderful opportunity for Hastings College students to spend a month living in Ireland while they conduct original research relevant to their major or field of study,” said Dr. Rob Babcock, a history professor and advisor of the program.
Recipients of fellowships for travel in the fall of 2017 include:
- Ryan Christenson, a recreation and sport management major from Tempe, Arizona, researching “Comparing the Management of Irish and American Sports Teams.”
- Mallory Gruben, a journalism major from Eckley, Colorado, researching and writing “The Hands of Lahinch.”
- Kylie Luth, a history major from Cairo, Nebraska, researching “Nationalism in Irish Archaeology.”
- John Rohweder, mathematics major from of Grand Island, Nebraska, researching “A Study of Musicianship Relating to Guitar in Ireland.”
- Kailen Soncksen, a health systems major from Burlington, Colorado, researching “Food Insecurity from an Irish Catholic Perspective.”
- Kate Taylor, an English major from Alamosa, Colorado, researching “A Walk in Her Shoes: Lady Augusta Gregory.”
Hastings College is a private, four-year institution located in Hastings, Nebraska, that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. With 64 majors and 15 pre-professional programs, Hastings College has been named among “Great Schools, Great Prices” by U.S. News & World Report and a “Best in the Midwest” by The Princeton Review. For more, go to hastings.edu.
