There’s a lot you can learn about history from a class, but there are certain things you can only learn by doing a study abroad. While on the Representing Empire Study Abroad, I came face to face with bullet marks on statues and buildings in Dublin Ireland from the 1916 uprising, illustrating the lasting scars of the conflict on Ireland. After a walking tour of some of those locations in Dublin, our tour guide recommended me a book of different facts and details about the 1916 uprising, so a couple of days later I went looking for that book at a store where I had another interesting interaction. When I asked about that book and for others about the Irish War of Independence, the store employee told me that he actually had a relative who was killed in their own home during the Irish Civil War. This really helped me realize how the history of colonialism is not just an abstract list of events, but an intimate memory still alive today.
While looking through that book, I saw that the Fusilier’s Arch which I passed by at a park on my first day in Dublin had bullet marks of its own that I hadn’t seen. During some down time I went over there with one of my classmates to see for myself. When we were trying to find them on the side, an Irishman standing near by pointed them out to us and went on to share lore about the how the arch is also called the ‘Traitor’s Arch’ because it was built to commemorate Irish soldiers in the British, as well as other details about Dublin and his own history in the Irish Army. While unexpected, I was certainly glad that he was willing to talk to us and share his stories, though I suspect that may have been a hobby for him since my classmate and I saw him still standing after walking around the park.
Between these interactions is the value of doing a study abroad. I could learn all the 1916 Uprising or the Irish War of Independence in a class, but I couldn’t walk down the very streets where it happened and observe the lasting damage on buildings and people’s lives. So if you go on a study abroad, which I would highly recommend, make sure to explore as much as you can and talk to the local people there (while of course being polite). You’ll see and learn things you’ll never forget.
