Highlights of the 2018-2019 Global Focus: Year of Ireland

 Global Focus Year of Ireland highlights the Opening Picnic with a great Irish menu on August 28; discounted tickets and free transportation to Pittsburgh Irish Music Festival; a screening of the Emmy-award winning documentary “Ireland’s Great Hunger & The Irish Diaspora;” a music recital by John O'Conor, an internationally acclaimed Irish pianist; and “A Reflection on Women’s Reproductive Rights, Considering Faith-Based Perspectives and Recent Ireland Historic Changes.” Plan to attend!We are excited about our campus activities celebrating the Global Focus Year of Ireland, as well as our study-abroad trip planned for May 2019.  Opening convocation and picnic on August 26^th kicks off with a “Six-Piece Flock of Riveting Celtic Music” from the popular local Irish group, the Wild Geese Band.To align our taste buds to the Emerald Island, a great Irish menu will be served at the opening picnic, to include baked salmon, corned beef and cabbage, traditional Irish coddle, and vegan Guinness stew, along with traditional Irish sides and desserts.  All good!Chatham students will be able to receive discounted tickets and free bus transportation to the famous Pittsburgh Irish Music Festival at a nearby venue.  This event attracts over 20,000 visitors over a three-day weekend and celebrates Irish music, culture, language, and other neat things, such as an Irish dog show.  Plan to attend!To highlight just a few of the events planned during the fall for the Year of Ireland, on October 25^th, we will present a documentary of “Ireland’s Great Hunger & The Irish Diaspora,” an Emmy award-winning documentary (48 minutes) and discussion by documentary Chief Historian, Dr. Christine Kinealy, Professor of History and Director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University.We will also have John O’Conor, an internationally acclaimed Irish pianist and former director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music, present a recital on campus, at 11:30 am, Tuesday, November 6^th.One other key event will be “A Reflection on Women’s Reproductive Rights, Considering Faith-Based Perspectives and Recent Ireland Historic Changes.”  This will be an important co-sponsored event by Global Focus, the Interfaith Council, and Chatham’s Women’s Institute.  In 1983, The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, which strictly limited abortion, was adopted by a referendum vote of Irish citizens by a 2 to 1 majority. Fast forward to 2018, where the repeal of the 8^th Amendment was adopted by a referendum vote of a 2 to 1 majority of Irish citizens.However, in the United States, efforts to further limit women’s reproductive rights are in full display in 2018 as seen in political campaigns, legislative and judicial activity, and as an issue in the supreme court nomination process.  Thus, the issues of women’s reproductive rights are ripe for reflection, in context of faith-based perspectives, and in comparing and contrasting global perspectives between Ireland and the United States.Stay tuned for more exciting updates on Global Focus activities during the Year of Ireland!