BA Connect

In a country that has a tradition of active citizenship and has recognised the importance of engaging in one’s society, NUI Galway has begun exploring how to educate its students to appreciate their society and engage in activities that make them a part of their community. Implementing courses and activities that teach students at a young age the importance of being active citizens, NUI Galway is working towards producing well-rounded students with a foundation in community.

A new degree that will reflect this goal at NUI Galway is the BA in Humanities and Society. This new degree will add a fourth year to the traditional three year Arts year, giving students an opportunity to gain skills with community organisations, Arts organisations and to work with schools in the community. Piloting 30 students in September 2006, this degree will focus on a placement, giving students skills to increase employability, civically engaging students in society, and a myriad of music, drama and film events.

"This extra year will be a blend of various things a fully rounded Arts graduate should have and may not have the opportunity to get during a typical three year degree," Declan Ashe, Arts Faculty Administrator at NUI Galway said. "Three years gives a degree but not a career option. We are targeting increased employability in this degree."

This new degree will also give students the ability to study film, music and drama more in depth. Rod Stoneman, Director of the Huston School of Film & Digital Media will be in charge of film, Jane O’Leary, Director of Music for Galway will be in charge of music, and Dr. Adrian Frazier of the English department will be teaching Drama.

"It is important to have a broad knowledge of the arts in our society as creativity is a major part of life. It helps us to reflect on our own lives and relate to others," Jane O'Leary, who will be directing the music part of the course, said.

The BA in Humanities and Societies will send students on an eight week placement that combines lecture, placement and post-placement reflection. Students will take up their placements in areas that appeal to them such as community organisations, teaching in schools or working with arts organisations such as Macnas. Students will have the opportunity to attend music, drama and film events, and are then asked to reflect, review and critique what they’ve seen. Additionally, students gain civic engagement skills by working in their community with leaders of various sectors.

According to Ashe, this degree will produce well-rounded students that are better able to work in today’s economy and will open up their experience in society so that they are better able to learn while engaged in practice.

"We are in an age where life long learning is more relevant to embrace," Ashe said. "For this degree, the theme of applied learning theory coming alive is a big part of it."

The BA in Humanities and Society initially began with work placements in mind, but evolved to include more community based learning. A Service Learning module is an option for students to put theoretical knowledge into practical use.

"The Service Learning modules taps into a wider constituency of students in Arts who want to give something back to the community," Ashe said.

According to Ashe, taking this extra year will help students through what he terms the ‘quarter life’ crisis,’ where students graduate from college and come out with a degree but are then hit when the real life world isn’t the ‘oyster’ that they thought it would be.

"Students feel they are armed with theoretical knowledge and find out very quickly that’s not the perspective of employers," Ashe said. "I think the Service Learning element of this module gets rid of a lot of that feeling. Students will get a lot of real life skills. What’s important here is what the students learn about themselves and about society in a broad sense."

One student who is looking forward to this extra year in the BA in Humanities and Society is Michelle Smith. Michelle is currently a second year English and Psychology major who has applied for the BA in Humanities and Society. She hopes to add on this extra year to her degree in order to afford her more work experience and a better degree when she graduates.

"This degree sounds brilliant because it might be a really goo