Reflection on STEP Signature Project: Study Abroad in Trim, Ireland

1) For my STEP Signature Project, I studied abroad in Trim, Ireland to explore the cultural impact of archaeology and religious history on the community of Trim. The main components of my program included working daily at the Blackfriary Historic Archaeology site in Trim, studying medieval monasticism and its impact on Ireland, and discovering how the local community of Trim connected with the Blackfriary site and other medieval ruins in the area.

2) My study abroad changed many aspects of my opinion on both the world and myself. I entered this program with little knowledge of Irish religious identity other than that it is perceived as a very Catholic country. I learned that contrary to what a lot of Americans believe, Ireland is shaping into a very progressive country. Even in the small town that I was staying in, most of the residents I spoke to voted for the legalization of abortion earlier this summer and were extremely proud to have been the first country to legalize gay marriage. My idea of archaeology has also changed a lot. I knew that archaeology wasn’t actually going to be like Indiana Jones, but I wasn’t sure what else to expect. I had no idea how important relationships with local residents was to archaeology sites or that community archaeology (including the local community in an archaeological dig through educational programs and volunteer work) was becoming more of a necessity in the archeological field.

I fell in love with the idea of community archaeology and the research that goes along with it and as a result have changed my plan for the direction the I see my academics and career going. Aside from learning more about my career prospects, I also learned more about myself. I became much more confident after my time in Ireland. A lot of this confidence stemmed from the fact that I had a much clearer path in mind of what I wanted to do whereas I had been relatively lost before my trip. I also gained a lot of confidence in my own abilities as I find myself excelling at the work I was conducting at the Blackfriary. Connecting with locals was something else was worried about before leaving because I tend to be shy in social situations, but I found most Irish people much easier to navigate and enjoyed approaching and talking to strangers at pubs or at the store (something that I would never have done in America).

Giants Causeway

3) For the class I took while in Ireland, we had to conduct a project on how local identity affects the community archaeology project at the Blackfriary site. My group and I decided that the best way to explore this topic was to conduct interviews with locals that focused on their ideas about Irish identity, historic identity, and religious identity. After the interviews were conducted, we each did an analysis of our interview using the person’s ideas about their different identities to reflect on how this could be used to improve the community archaeology project. It was in these interviews with locals that I came to realize how different Irish culture was from what I thought. Most of the people we interviewed were not religious and took much more liberal political stances that I had expected from a small Irish town. I also realized that the community had a much stronger connection with the Blackfriary and other historic sites in the town than I had thought. My conclusion from these interviews were that the community was indeed interested in community archaeology, but that the current programs offered at the Blackfriary needed to include more outreach to gain local interest.

The strongest relationships that I formed with people outside of my student were with the archaeologist who worked at the Blackfriary site. My direct supervisor’s name was Laura, and she really inspired me by taking a personal interest in showing me what is required to be an archaeologist. In particular, Laura always placed emphasis on the more frustrating, boring, and tedious aspects of her work in order to ensure that I wasn’t following the false “Indiana Jones” dream that many young aspiring archaeologists start out with. I’m happy to say that I even enjoyed the more tedious parts of the job and Laura was extremely helpful in teaching me so much about working at a dig site.

Traveling is another activity that helped to change me over the course of my trip. Each weekend, I traveled to a different part of Ireland with a few other OSU students. Traveling this way on my own really helped me form a greater sense of independence and a higher amount of confidence in my ability to spend long amounts of time abroad alone. Seeing so many different cities and towns in all different regions of Ireland also made me realize how many different cultures there are in Ireland despite it being such a small country.

4)

Monastic Ruins in Trim, Ireland

The changes I experienced through this program are important to me because they have greatly effected my future plans. I am now confidently pursuing a career in archaeology and plan to return to the Blackfriary site next summer as an intern. I have also noticed a significant change in my social confidence since my study abroad. I am much more confident in my ability to interact with people mainly because of how outgoing and encouraging I found most of the Irish people I interacted with. Since being back in the US, I am happy to observe that my confidence in this aspect hasn’t diminished despite the different type of social atmosphere. I am a pretty experienced traveller and have been to Europe and South America many times before both with my family and on my own, however, I have found my study abroad trip to Ireland to be the most influential experience in my life.