What began as a spontaneous decision in Dr. Quentin Miller’s junior year of college has come to shape the foundation of Suffolk’s ENG-120 Ireland To America (And Back Again). This Irish and Irish American literature course includes a one-week trip to Ireland, where students explore Irish literature and how historical and cultural forces led to the emigration and development on both sides of the Atlantic.
“This was back in the day when there were bulletin boards with little flyers on them and you would tear off a little piece of paper, it said apply for this program and so I applied,” Miller said. “The deadline was the next day, and I had given it like zero forethought; I had never been out of the country, and I spent the whole year in Ireland.”
Miller founded the travel seminar, beginning in 2022, where he was joined by his co-chaperone, Dr. Bryan Trabold. Besides the 2024-2025 academic year where Dr. Nicolas Frangipane taught the class with co-chaperone Professor Jason Tucker, Miller and Trabold have taught and advised every section of the course. Miller is also retiring after the spring 2026 semester.
“I wanted this to be my last class, that this was because it was such a big deal for me, I think I’m where I am in the world right now as a professor because of the year I spent in Ireland. I really think it changed me that much, gave me direction and focus,” said Miller.
Over the course of three years, the trip evolved beyond just visiting the city of Dublin. Over the past few years, places like Glendalough and more of the Irish countryside have been added to the itinerary.
“When you study literature, because that’s the subject of this course, it can feel really distant and when you get into the place where it has been created, it just has a much deeper meaning,” said Miller.
This year’s group was the largest that the two had ever taken on a trip. Both professors commended the students’ willingness to venture out on their own and do things beyond basic requirements, academically and personally.
“I just love the age that college students are at, where they’re curious, they’re energetic, they’re funny; so, I really enjoy just spending that much time with college students,” said Miller.
The group visited the Abbey Theatre and saw “Fair Deal,” which had never been staged before. They also hiked around Glendalough, among other historical places and structures such as Newgrange.
“We were waiting outside, while the other group went into the Newgrange structure, a rainbow started to form in the sky, and it had been raining pretty much all day, but the students just started to get so happy and jumped up and down,” said Trabold.
This was a core memory for him, and despite all of the history and places they saw, the happiness and joy of the students seeing something so small as a rainbow touched him and stuck with him.
In a place like Ireland, which is built on so much history, culture and hardship, learning those stories, especially reflected from in-class readings to being there and experiencing it for themselves, was a valuable takeaway for students.
“Irish history is so rich and so multilayered that I was really hoping they could walk away with a better appreciation of the complexities and richness of Irish history and Irish culture,” said Trabold.
Beyond the history and pretty views, the culture of Ireland was also monumental for the student experience.
“It’s a friendly, safe city where people speak English in a slightly different way, with many layers of history that’s also cosmopolitan, so there’s just nothing not to love about the trip,” said Trabold.
As much as he loves the trip, Trabold would love to pass the baton and give other staff members the opportunity to embark on the trip and have those experiences.
Amongst the students who went on the trip, Sasha Kovalenko, a senior biology major and chem minor, adds it to her travel resume. Kovalenko, who had traveled to the Canary Islands in high school and Madrid during her time at Suffolk, added the trip to Ireland to her academic travel portfolio just before graduation.
“I have traveled to many countries, especially in Europe, and I’ve traveled around the U.S., and I have never met people quite like in Ireland,” said Kovalenko.
She was one of the many students who decided to explore further during their free time while there, visiting the Howth Cliffs and meeting locals who happily showed them around.
“I loved meeting new people and hearing their stories and just like, spending time with them, so I really enjoyed hearing their different perspectives,” said Kovalenko.
One of her favorite places they visited as a group was the Abbey Theatre, which came as a shock given her history with theater in general.
“I really enjoyed the Abbey Theater, the play we saw, that was actually the part I dreaded the most,” Kovalenko said. “I did not want to go, but then I was like, okay whatever, I’ll force my way through it, it’s fine, but I loved it from the very first scene, that’s it, I was captivated.”
And sometimes, it’s those very experiences, the ones you give a random chance to, that can be the ones to change your life.
“My advice for students, it would just be to kind of do the unusual thing, the thing that doesn’t necessarily seem like it’s going to be launching you into a career,” said Miller.
