Ballyvaughan: Writing Place & Distance - Art & Environment in the West of Ireland
Program Dates
July 12 - Aug 9, 2025*
*Students should arrange to arrive to Ireland (Shannon Airport) on the morning of the program start date.
Program Overview
Writing Place and Distance: Art and Environment in The West of Ireland will provide students with an intensive and immersive experience in creative writing in one of the most artistically vital, ecologically stunning, and environmentally sustainable locales in all of Europe. Through workshops, seminar discussions, and dedicated writing time, students will write responsively to the art and landscape of the Burren, a spectacularly vibrant geological formation in the far west coast of County Clare, Ireland. The program will take place at the Burren College of Art, an intimate, world-class art school founded by artists for artists, and uniquely connected to its surroundings with thirty years of experience teaching art, writing, sustainability and the creative life to students from around the world.
Program Eligibility & Admission
- Open to rising sophomores, juniors, seniors and graduate students.
- Recommended for Writing, Literature & Publishing students and Environmental Studies minors.
- Limited to 16,students.
Course Information
Total of 4 credits. Students will be required to be enrolled by Emerson College in the following course:
- Undergraduate Students: WR 325 - Writing Place & Distance in the West of Ireland (4 credits)
- Graduate Students: WR 620 - Art & Environment in the West of Ireland (4 credits)
Academic Highlights
- Let your writing be inspired by your surroundings while staying at the Burren College of Art in the charming village of Ballyvaughan.
- Experience and learn about the Burren’s unique ecology and history, read Irish literature and literature about the local environment, and respond creatively to the work of local artists,painters, sculptors, photographers and fellow writers.
- Explore the works of Irish writers, among them W.B. Yeats, Eavan Boland, Seamus Heaney, Moya Cannon, Geraldine Mills, Frank Golden, Mary Madec, Tim Robinson, J.M Synge, and Claire Keegan.
- Study and workshop your writing with local Irish writers
- Students will produce a creative project—stories, nonfiction pieces, and/or poems. Students have also produced plays, screenplays, television pilots, and documentary films.
Cultural Highlights
- Enjoy a two-day excursion to Inis Mor and Inis Oirr, two of the Aran Islands.
- Take field trips to Corcomroe Abbey and Kilmacduagh Monastery, among other sacred locales, including holy wells that go back to pre-Christian times.
- Embark on a two-day excursion to nearby, vibrant Galway City and Connemara, including the Galway Arts Festival.
- Take a field trip to Coole Park and Thor Ballylee, the homes of Lady Gregory and W.B. Yeats.
- Join faculty and classmates on hikes and enjoy beautiful landscape views and walks through the ancient and historical landscape of the Burren and surrounds.
- Take tours with local farmers and learn about environmentally friendly and sustainable food production.
- Visit the famous Cliffs of Moher, Poulnabrone Dolmen, and other sites of geological, historical, and neolithic significance.
- Walk sections of the Burren Way.
- Enjoy nights of traditional Irish music with local musicians.
Cost & Inclusions
Program Fee:
- Undergraduate: $7,750
- Graduate: $10,000
Included in Program Fee
- Tuition (4 credits)
- Registration Fee
- Shared, furnished accommodations
- Burren College of Art fees
- Excursions
Not Included in Program Fee
- Round-trip airfare to/from Shannon Airport (Est. $1,200)
- Local transportation
- Meals and incidental or personal expenses
- Passports (or visas, if required)
- International Health Insurance*
*May be waived by those with alternate comparable insurance.
*Health Insurance Coverage: Participants must have an insurance plan that provides coverage while abroad. If you feel your current insurance is not adequate, please research a plan that is.
For information on Supplemental Health Plans, please visit our Health Insurance Requirements page.