Whenever I travel, I always visit local bookstores. Even if I don’t purchase a book, I do this because I want to see what books they have available and I also want to see what books I may add to my to be read pile. During our study travel trip to Belfast, I must have walked into around fifteen bookstores, ranging from new books … Read More Reading Jan Carson’s “The Fire Starters” While in Belfast
When preparing students for our trip to Belfast, I told them to pay close attention to the murals, graffiti, stickers, and the language that they would encounter during our walks through the cities. Specifically, I told them to pay particular attention to the ways that republicans present solidarity with global struggles around the world, specifically with the Palestinian struggle. So, before we even arrived … Read More Two Nations, One Struggle: Irish and Palestinian Solidarity
Throughout Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses, language plays an important role in the ways that it defines individuals and creates divisions even where similarities exist. During a session with Michel Agnew and his friends, Cushla teaches them Irish. One of Michael’s friends, Victor, goads Cushla into teaching him the Irish words that would denigrate her as a Catholic, Irish speaker. He tells her, “There are lots of … Read More Language and the Crafting of Anger and Fear
+ Belfast, gaza, hip hop, John Conroy, kneecap, Northern Ireland, Palestine, rap
As I prepared to teach my study travel course on identity in Belfast and before I arrived, I had a preconceived notion, of course, about the places I would visit and what I would encounter. Most of these impressions, apart from the things that my daughter told me about her time in Belfast, came from either academics, novelists, or popular culture, music being a big part … Read More The Ways that the Past Impacts the Present: Personas and Identity
Ever since I discovered punk during my formative years, I have gravitated towards its political and social commentary, specifically the ways that it succinctly yet thoughtfully engages with issues impacting countless individuals. Just as rap served as a political and cultural response to the ways that the government disenfranchised and oppressed Black and Brown and lower class individuals in the urban landscapes of New … Read More How Does Music Create A New Outlook? Punk in Northern Ireland During The Troubles
Interminable Rambling 