Author: Eoin Ryan, Maynooth University Postgraduate Listen to the blog and poem here As I write this, it’s been twenty weeks since day one: orientation day. Since then, It has been disorientating and confusing; frustrating and challenging; exhausting and defeating. Usually punctual, organised and social – but this year I’ve struggled; at times, I have … More Covid, College and Coping: You are not alone
Author: Dr Eilish Dillon, MU Dept. of International Development. I Thought Feminism Was for Radicals I had a lecturer in Cork in the early 1990s who seemed, to my disinterested ears, to go on and on about women and gender. Like a broken record she was, or so I thought. She talked about discrimination against women … More Reflections on Feminism for International Women’s Day 2021
Author: Niamh Rooney, MU Dept. of International Development. What will future generations read of solidarity in the time of COVID in the history books? Will the rich and powerful countries of the west journey confidently along the insular and individualistic road without shame or guilt? Will they navigate the back roads in an attempt to … More A global moral crossroad…
Author: Dr Eilish Dillon, MU Department of International Development As we come to the end of this incredibly challenging year, I find myself thinking about what I have learned through these COVID months. I do so, because, like many others, I feel compelled to try to make sense of things, especially those that shake our … More Some reflections on learning at the end of this COVID Year
Author: Kevin O’Connell, Maynooth University alumnus My name is Kevin O’Connell and I recently completed the full-time Master’s Degree in International Development. Minutes before writing this, I received an email with my results of this degree! I am delighted with these results however this piece will be a short description of how and why I … More Reflections of a Masters in International Development graduate…
Author: Ruth Powell, Comhlámh Usually, at this time of year, Paddy Reilly asks me to speak to the students on his course, about ethical international volunteering. This year of course, everything is different, so I thought I would write to all the students of the Department of International Development instead! This means the MA and … More To the students of the Department of International Development
Author: Tom Campbell, MU Dept. of International Development Although the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis is dominating the headlines, the global climate emergency has not gone away. The uncertainties brought about by climate change are nowhere more keenly felt that in the drylands of the Horn of Africa, where rising temperatures are leading to more frequent and … More Learning from pastoralism in a time of uncertainty
Author: Paddy Reilly, MU Dept. of International Development At the moment of writing, here in Ireland we have only two news items to consider- Global and Local. The global concerns how we as a society are coping with the current ‘lockdown’ as part of our national response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The local concerns the … More Conversations and Covid-19: Learning to Listen?
Author: Dr Eilish Dillon, MU Dept. of International Development. Over the past few weeks of COVID-19 lockdown, I’ve seen more international development NGO (IDNGO) fundraising ads on TV with sick or vulnerable children in them than I have in many years. Maybe it’s just that I’ve been watching more television or maybe IDNGO communication standards … More Re-thinking International Development Communications
Author: Stephen McCloskey, Director, Centre for Global Education, Belfast. October ‘revolution’ in Lebanon Last October, a wave of anti-austerity protests erupted across Lebanon following tax hikes imposed by an unpopular government on an angry population at the end of its tether. The final straw was a proposed levy on Whatsapp, a popular and free form … More The Tricky Challenge of Translating Education and Activism into Social Change
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