Overview

Program Type: (Faculty Led) Maymester Abroad Program
Dates: Spring semester (Travel from May 26-June 26, 2010)
Application Deadline: November 1
Language(s) of instruction: English
UT instructor: Professor Brad Love
Information Session Schedule

This skills-centered course represents a special opportunity for public relations education at The University of Texas at Austin. This course focuses on all the essential elements of a basic PR class — writing, campaign design, interview skills — but it does so in one of the world’s fastest changing environments. Ireland has witnessed dramatic changes in the last decade, as the social and cultural effects of the “Celtic Tiger” boom transformed the land from an agricultural to a technologically advanced industrial European power, now facing issues related globalization, economic integration and national identity.

Photo: Tourism Ireland

Students participating in this program will gather a better understanding of what it means to write effectively and how to work as a team to produce a public relations campaign. More significantly, students will also learn to use media as a tool for public improvements in an increasingly interconnected world. Participants will experience the essential roles that observation, inquiry, history and culture play in promoting social change.

The program will include several excursions that relate directly to the immediate writing assignments on hand (for example, to agencies and non-profit organizations), and others that illustrate how persuasive campaigns have played an immense role in the revolutionary history of Ireland.

Eligibility

The program is open to all undergraduate students of The University of Texas at Austin with upper-division standing. Applicants must be in good standing and meet the appropriate course prerequisites.

Courses and Credit

The Public Relations course taught in Dublin will be cross-listed as follows: PR 348: Public Relations Techniques; and PR378: Advanced Studies in Public Relations.

Students wishing to enroll in PR348 are required to have successfully completed PR317 and PR319 by the semester of participation. Students wishing to enroll in PR378 should have successfully completed at least one writing-component course by the time of application. Note: Public Relations students who enroll in PR 378 in Dublin will not be permitted to substitute that course for PR348.

Photo: Tourism Ireland

Maymester Abroad courses count as in-residence credit. Maymester Abroad courses are factored into the student’s GPA and are part of spring registration, although they begin after the spring exam period and conclude prior to the second summer session.

Photo: Tourism Ireland

Accommodations

During the first few days in Dublin, students may reside in guest house accommodations in the city center and participate in activities designed to familiarize them with their surroundings. For the remainder of the program, students will transfer to fully appointed dormitory-style accommodations on the campus of University College Dublin, convenient to a number of eateries, services and public transportation. The student residences offer single rooms with shared bathroom, kitchen and living room facilities.

Scholarships and Financial Aid

Students may use any federal, state, or institutional aid they would normally be awarded by the Office of Student Financial Services (OSFS), excluding work-study, to help pay for study abroad. Financial aid awards can also be recalculated to cover increased costs associated with study abroad. Additionally, most private scholarships are applicable to study abroad - however, students must confirm that with the donor. Learn more about funding for study abroad.

Student Expenses

Estimated student expenses for 2010 include:

Non-refundable application fee: $50
Maymester Abroad Program fee (includes $300 deposit): $3,900
Round trip airfare: $1,200
Meals: $1,300
Local transportation: $200
Books and supplies: $100
Passport & ISIC card: $130
Total estimated expenses: $6,880

Please note that flat rate tuition applies for undergraduate students.

The program fee includes accommodation, welcome and closing meals, use of a cell phone, Internet access and printing on campus, several cultural field trips, and international health insurance.