Stephen F. Austin State University

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - Theoretically one could effectively teach an Irish theatre course by requiring students to read a number of Irish plays and biographies of some of the leading Irish playwrights, delivering informative historical lectures and assigning an analytical paper on some course-related topic. But that's not the approach Associate Professor Rick Jones uses at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Instead, every other summer he conducts two weeks worth of traditional classes on Irish theatre, drama and culture on the SFA campus, and then he and the students fly to Ireland to watch Irish plays acted out by Irish actors, to see the actual sites where historical events took place, to interact with current members of the Irish theatre world and to experience first-hand modern Irish culture.

This year, 14 students accompanied Jones and his wife, Sue, to Dublin for two weeks, taking in four plays, five tours, three seminars and visits to numerous museums and centers. The group then flew to London for three days to watch more two more Irish dramas and tour the Globe Theatre and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The students earned six hours of credit, three for Irish Theatre and Drama and three for Irish Theatre and Culture. As one of the final requirements, students turned in their travel journals.

These serve as a means for students to contemplate what they’ve seen, done and experienced, to get past just a superficial response, Jones explained. They also reveal that the students see the value in taking the course overseas, enabling them to do things they can’t do in Nacogdoches and have access to resources they don’t have at home, he added.

Lauren Glass, League City senior, particularly appreciated touring the Abbey Theatre. "(It) was such a great feeling to walk around a theatre that developed from the ideas of (W.B.) Yeats, Lady Gregory, (Edward) Martyn and (George) Moore," she wrote. "Even though it is not the same building from their time, it still holds great significance."

Austin senior Nate Reid took advantage of being in Ireland to conduct research on the one-act play he’ll be directing in the fall, “The Rising of the Moon” by Irish playwright Lady Augusta Gregory. After visiting Galway, where the play is set, Reid recorded in hi journal that he photographed an old dock so that he could show the pictures to his set designer, and he also took notice of the local dialect as he dined in the area.

Jones is already making plans for the 2010 excursion. “I consider this year’s program a success, and I believe it met the students’ expectations.”

As San Angelo senior Brenda Truett wrote in her final journal entry, “This course has been a magnificent experience! I have seen and done more than I could ever have hoped.”