Students Embark on Extraordinary Trip to Northern Ireland
Each year, two students from Lagan College, one Catholic and one Protestant, spend a year at Doane Stuart to study in an interfaith School, as they never could at home. This year, once again, D.S. students will, in their turn, have the opportunity of visiting Belfast as part of the program. Doane Stuart Instructors, Seamus and Patricia Hodgkinson, along with students Eva Wixon ’12, Grant Horner ’12, Kylie Higgins ’12, Amy Floess ’12, Dan Hodgkinson ’12, and Andrew McSparron ’12 will represent Doane Stuart in Northern Ireland from February 17 through February 26. Emily Lagan ’11, who participated in the exchange in 2009, will accompany the group on her second visit to Belfast to assist Mr. and Mrs. Hodgkinson. In addition to attending seminar classes in Irish Language, and Irish History and Politics at Lagan College; this year’s trip will again include visits to The Giants Causeway, Stranmillis and St. Mary’s University Colleges, and The Saint Patrick’s Centre for Peace and Reconciliation.
Mr. Hodgkinson, who inspired the Irish/American Exchange program, recently said of the trip: “I really want our visiting students to experience a society that is in the process of healing itself; to appreciate that such healing is a long and demanding process; and to return home inspired to share their understanding of how Northern Ireland offers hope in a world where it is too easy to be cynical about, or feel defeated by, the enormity of the problems.”
All of the programs at Doane Stuart advance peace, reconciliation, and interfaith understanding.
For more informaiton about the Irish/ American Exchange program, visit: http://doanestuart.org/academics/irish-exchange-program.cfm