Details

This is a regular 3 credit course scheduled for Spring 2024. Students register for the course as part of their Spring course registration process in October. There is a pre-registration process that all students must go through in order to receive written permission to take the course. This step ensures that you have the required minimum GPA (2.5), are not currently under any form of academic or residence hall probation, and have completed or are currently completing the requisite pre-requisites (IS251, BH251, DS303, CS310 or CS312 or permission of the instructor).

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Many students will take this as a sixth course since the bulk of the work is concentrated during the week of spring break. There are four evening classes of 3.25 hours duration (one class per week) before we travel and one evening class of 3.25 hours two weeks after we return.

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The cost of the trip for Spring 2024 is estimated to be about $2,900 (this is slightly up from the $2860 we charged in 2023). The actual cost depends on the number of students on the trip (minimum needed to run the trip is 16 students). This price includes airfare, hotel bed and breakfast (double occupancy - same gender), airport coach transfers, coach hire in Dublin and Cork, tram pass, travel insurance, books and other course materials such as maps and speaker gifts, entrance to the EPIC museum in Dublin, entrance to the world famous Blarney Castle and other tourist venues in Cork/Kerry, daily lunches, and a dinner (last night in Dublin).

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Selection Criteria

This class has been heavily over-subscribed since it was first offered in 2016. Sixty-five people applied for 24 slots in 2020. The group is capped at 24 students since some of the sites we intend to visit cannot accommodate more than 24 visitors at a time. As such, admission to the course is highly selective. Ideally, there will be an even number of men and women on the course in order to better manage hotel room bookings. If this is not possible, we may need to have a room with three people rather than two. Seniors will be given priority over juniors; juniors will be given priority over sophomores. IS majors/minors, CS majors/minors, and DS majors/minors will be given priority over all other majors/minors, but the trip is open to everyone. I will also look at your GPA as a last recourse. You must have a GPA of 2.5 of above according to the rules adopted by the International Programs Office at Loyola. You are not permitted to participate on the tour if you are under any form of academic or residence hall suspension. If you have been subject to disciplinary procedures in the past, you may be denied admission to the study tour depending on the nature of your offence.

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I will maintain a wait list. In the event that you are not part of the first list of invitees, you could still be selected to enroll if a student in the first wave drops out for any reason. If this occurs, you may be asked to expedite your payment for the course. I typically take 3-4 people from the wait list each year.

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Payment for the study tour is typically done in two equal installments. You will be given details on how to make the first and second payment. You can pay by check or by credit card. There is no fee if you opt to pay with a credit card. Each payment is non-refundable. If you miss a payment or decline to make a payment, your place on the tour will be forfeited to the next person on the wait list. People will be selected from the wait list based on gender and class year. So if a female senior decides not to take up her invitation to join the tour, I will dip into my wait list to find a female senior to take her place.