UMaine Web-Based Course on Northern Ireland Peace Process

Contact: Media contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571

ORONO — This fall, University of Maine students will have the opportunity to learn about the on-going peace process in Northern Ireland through a Web-based course taught by an instructor based in Ireland.

Gladys Ganiel, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Politics at University College Dublin (UCD) and a native of Harrington, Maine, will teach “Peacebuilding, Christianity and Social Change in Northern Ireland,” through UMaine’s Peace Studies Program and the Division of Lifelong Learning’s Continuing and Distance Education Program. There are still positions available for both traditional and non-traditional students who wish to register for the course. For more information or to register, visit http://learnonline.umaine.edu or call 581-3142.

Much of the course will focus on the grassroots activism of Christian churches, residential communities, and political action groups since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. It will explore the links between conflict and religion, analyzing how peace activists have been trying to break those links. It will also examine the views of those who currently oppose the Good Friday Agreement, and explain why the peace that has been achieved is not yet complete.

Students will have access to Ganiel’s on-going research among grassroots activists, which is funded by the Royal Irish Academy, a Dublin-based organization that promotes study in the sciences and humanities. Students will also be exposed to the most up-to-date research conducted by academics in UCD’s Institute for British-Irish Studies and the Institute for the Study of Social Change.

The course will also include a broad study of Northern Irish politics, history, religion, and the elite level negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement. This will allow for consideration of the many causes of the conflict, and serve as a framework for evaluating the significance of the current work of Christian peace activists. The study of the negotiations will allow for an exploration of the connections between politicians and grassroots activists. Students will also read Making Peace by former Maine senator George Mitchell, who chaired the talks that produced the Good Friday Agreement.

UMaine has established a number of links with Ireland and Northern Ireland in recent years. Last year, UMaine entered into official partnerships with Northern Ireland’s University of Ulster and the Queen’s University of Belfast for the exchange of students for research and study; the exchange of faculty and staff for research, teaching, and discussions; the exchange of information; and joint research activities.

UMaine students have also been recipients of the Mitchell Peace Scholarships. The Mitchell Peace Scholarships, established in 1998 to honor Mitchell’s contributions as chairman of the Northern Irish peace talks, facilitate exchanges each year between the Maine Technical College System and the University of Maine System and Ireland’s Department of Education and Science.

UMaine’s Peace Studies Program is planning a travel course to Ireland and Northern Ireland in 2005.

For more information, contact Peace Studies at 581-2609 or Ganiel at 483-4193.