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Week of 17 September 1999 Vol. III, No. 6 Feature Article Seamus Heaney, from a family of farmers, says he emulated such farmer-poets as Hesiod and Virgil. Photo by Colm Mahady Reading by Nobel Laureate Heaney kicks off Dublin Internship Program By Brian Fitzgerald In the Dublin Writers Museum during the recent launch of Boston University's Dublin Internship Program, Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney read several of his old poems, along with a new one: a millennium piece entitled "The Bann Valley Eclogue," based on Virgil's famous "Fourth Eclogue." The event, held September 1, was attended by approximately 75 people, including 25 students in the Dublin Internship Program, and Mike Sullivan, the U.S. ambassador to Ireland. The reading "made us feel welcome," says Patrick Nolan (CAS'01). "And it was especially interesting to hear the poetry read by the poet. This gave his work a whole new dimension." At present, students in the program are taking two core courses: Introduction to Irish Culture, and Society and Modern Ireland and the European Union. For the final eight-week period, beginning October 18, they will participate in the city's work life through assigned internships. Working full-time, four days a week, they will also be enrolled in an elective course on modern Irish economics, literature, media, or social policy. The Dublin Internship Program was years in the making. "Many students are fascinated with what is taking place in Ireland," says Assistant Provost Urbain DeWinter. "It's experiencing a renaissance, both economically and culturally." Indeed, the country, nicknamed the Celtic Tiger, has the fastest economic growth rate in Western Europe. At the Dublin Writers Museum, where BU's Dublin Internship Program is based, Poet Seamus Heaney talks with (from left) Maureen Myers (SAR'00), Brian McDonald (CAS'99), Megan Glenn (CAS'99), and Stanford University student Antonia Whalen. Photo by Colm Mahady Boston University offers one of the most extensive study abroad experiences in the nation -- there are more than 30 BU programs on six continents. But an appealing aspect of this newest International Programs internship program "is the fact that students can study in English," says DeWinter. "It's easy for students to have an international experience there." However, the International Programs Dublin Handbook explains that the Irish speak "a uniquely modified" English, and lists several translations: "yer man," means "he" or "him." The female equivalent is "yer one." Want to buy an eggplant? It's known as "aubergine" in Ireland. Zucchini is "courgette." And although the Celtic Tiger is on the prowl on this once-poor island, students are advised that many people there, including the program's host families, are probably not sitting on pots of gold. "Bring some pants or trousers that are not jeans," reads the handbook. "While jeans are popular in Dublin, many Irish households do not have clothes dryers, so it could take a couple of days for your jeans to dry." "We tell students not to take hour-long showers in their host families' bathrooms," laughs Elizabeth Shannon, director of BU's International Visitors Program. "Although Ireland is becoming more prosperous, many people still live fairly modestly." But students are also prepared to see many of their stereotypes shattered. "Many Americans see the Irish as an extremely pious people who go to church every Sunday," says Shannon. "But many of them don't." And the traditional one-way formal delivery of academic lectures by Irish professors isn't necessarily the norm. Indeed, the faculty, from Dublin-area universities, "came right out and said that they looked forward to dialogues in class," says Nancy Downey, associate director of academic affairs for BU's Division of International Programs. "Class participation is lively -- especially in our Introduction to Irish Culture course," says Emily Bowen (CAS'01). "Yesterday we had a half-hour discussion on nationalism, cultural boundaries, and self-definition." Similarly, Heaney's interaction with the students at the program's launch was a two-way street. "The evening ended with a small party, which gave the students time to talk to Seamus Heaney individually," says Jerusha McCormick, the program's resident director. Heaney was "lighthearted and approachable," says Downey. Earlier that night, Heaney read aloud "Digging," a poem from 1964. One of his first published poems, it is about his father planting potatoes and his grandfather cutting peat. It concludes: The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge Though living roots awaken in my head. But I've not a spade to follow men like them. Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests. I'll dig with it. The pen/spade analogy was timely: Downey later presented Heaney with a Parker fountain pen on behalf of BU. "We'd be honored if you would like to dig with it," she quipped. In a question-and-answer session, Heaney, who lives in Dublin but teaches part of the year at Harvard, told the students that cosmopolitan life didn't move him to poetry. "He said that its wellspring was from his first 25 years, when he lived on his family's farm in the North," says McCormick. Heaney is from Derry in Northern Ireland. Still, the fast pace of Dublin can be ideal for students who wish to gain experience in advertising, public relations, the arts, business, economics, film, television, journalism, law, or politics. "Dublin is booming now," says Downey, who studied there in 1980 as a Stonehill College student. "There are more people and more cars, and construction is everywhere. But it's still a beautiful city."