Arcadia Ireland

Life of the Mind

Each year The College of Global Studies selects an intellectual theme to connect all of our programs around the world, the Life of the Mind theme. Considering current power struggles throughout the world; such as the Arab Spring, Occupy Movement and Baltimore Uprising, shaping students political consciousness, Arcadia has selected Protest! as this year’s theme.

1916 Centenary COMMEMORATIONS

In Ireland, 2016 is also the 100 year anniversary of the 1916 Rising, an extremely historically significant uprising but also a much contested one. Throughout 2016, the National Centenary programme will be putting on commemorative events, funding national education projects and exhibitions, not to mention restoring important historical sites, and pumping huge investment into the arts, supporting TV shows, documentaries and theatre productions all centred on the rebellion.

2016 will be a year of commemoration, but the question remains, should it be a celebration? The 1916 Rising was a bloody rebellion, not supported by the majority of people and it eventually failed. This year many Irish people are questioning should we be commending and ultimately promoting a violent uprising in a time of global political conflict? Those in favour of the Commemorations will tell you that the 1916 Rising was the spark that ignited the Irish people into revolution prompting independence. That the governments Centenary Programme is a fantastic opportunity to acknowledge the people of the 1916 Rising and for the arts as well as historical sites like the GPO and Kilmainham Gaol get some much needed funding.

We invite our students to consider these questions in light of the Protest! theme. The National Centenary programme is running events in every programme location, we encourage students to attend as much as possible and to analyse their experience of it.

Dublin Weekend: Centenary of a Nation Rising

This week as part of the Protest! theme we are hosting a very special weekend in Dublin, bringing together students studying throughout the Island of Ireland, Scotland and England. This weekend will involve a whole host of events dedicated to exploring the 1916 Rising, including; 1916 Walking Tours, visits to national exhibitions, a play specially commissioned for the Centenary and a lecture on the role of women in the 1916 Rising. This semester, we invite you to critically consider the idea of Protest! To you open your mind, challenge the romantic notions of war and peace, to consider other options, other forms of protest. A hundred years have passed since Irish men and women took up arms to fight for independence and equality. How has protest changed in these hundred years? Have we found less barbaric ways of fighting injustice? Are there new means of protest? Peaceful means? How has the internet, globalisation and social media affected the traditional idea of protest? How can you as students of the 21st centenary contribute to these changes?