April 2004 Newsletter

Dublin Fulbright for Scholars of American Foreign Relations

By Elizabeth Cobbs-Hoffman

I knew I was beginning to fit in at University College Dublin (UCD) when I asked the History Department Chair if I should make a left turn at O'Shea's pub to enter the back of the University. "That's it!" he beamed." Now you've got it."

Driving directions in Ireland are not quite what they are in the United States. First, they invariably involve a pub: O'Shea's, or The Goat, or The Old Punch Bowl, or The Stoop Your Head. Second, they do not involve street names. Instead, one enters roundabouts, passes streets with "ramps" (speed bumps), looks for cobblestones or gravel, turns left or right at the church, or continues straight on past the castle walls. Indeed, most thoroughfares change names several times over a short distance, and may not even have the same name on both sides of the street. One begins to wonder if it is a way of sabotaging British imperialists or a practical joke on American tourists.

Two generations of scholars of American foreign relations have had the opportunity to observe these and other delightfully unique aspects of the Irish landscape while having their own cultural peculiarities thrown into relief by Ireland's similar yet very different national ethos. The Mary Ball Washington Chair is the best paid of the Fulbright Distinguished Chairs, and is located at University College Dublin. The chair has been filled by a number of well-known scholars in our field, including Stephen Ambrose, Harvard Sitkoff, Joan Hoff, Robert McMahon, Elaine Tyler May, Stephen Rabe, Ted Wilson, Terry Anderson, and Thomas McCormick. The holder teaches three courses during the year for the convivial UCD History Department and often has opportunities to give talks at other Irish and European universities through the Fulbright program. During my year here I have been invited to lecture in Warsaw, London, and Berlin and to comment on American politics for Irish radio and television. My formal assignment has been to teach two classes on U.S. foreign relations (one for graduates, one for undergraduates) and one course on the history of the sixties.

Teaching abroad compels Americans to rethink how they teach our history, particularly U.S. foreign relations. My own year in Dublin has coincided with the ongoing war in Iraq, so at times it has seemed as if nearly every word out of my mouth had an importance and weight that it would not normally have. It has been an engrossing, exhilarating, and at times uncomfortable experience, but one I am glad to have had. It may be that the students, who have been very receptive, would describe their experience similarly.

Although Trinity College (founded by Elizabeth I) traditionally scoops up many of the highest-scoring secondary school students, UCD is the largest university in the country and thus plays a critical role in the life of the nation, as its graduates do in Irish government. What students learn about America from classes taught by the Mary Ball Washington Professor can have long-term significance. Teaching at UCD is a chance, in other words, to make a real difference in international understanding.

The first stage in the application process is a letter of interest. Those who would like to explore the opportunity should contact Daria Teutonico at the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars (administrator for the Fulbright Program). The deadline is May 1, 2004, for the 2005-2006 academic year.

Elizabeth Cobbs-Hoffman is a Professor of History at San Diego State University