Program Reviews

Uversity is all about YOU!
Come to Ireland with your aspirations and fears, and the Uversity team will help you achieve and overcome.
With Suzie and Grainne, you'll feel totally supported.
Dr. Helen Phelan will guide your learning and exploration.
Tap into your wildest dreams and make them a reality!

I treasure the time my group (2016) spends together; hearing about the discoveries and challenges of other artists, I've found no better way to gain confidence in my own ability. As a team, Uversity helps you accomplish; after a core module session, I always feel energised and inspired -- Thanks Uversity!

Uversity's program is unlike any other. They give us, the students, the power and freedom to choose the classes we want and the projects we are passionate about. Instead of trying to fit us all into one academic mold, they change the boundaries of what higher education means in order to fit different people with different personalities and strengths.
Aside from the wonderful academic aspects, I also feel like Uversity is great at bringing people together. From the bond between the students and staff, to our engagement with local culture - going to festivals, having members of the local artistic community come and talk to us, etc... - Uversity has helped me understand Ireland a little bit better and feel even more at home in this already very welcoming country.

Uversity is an interesting and experimental sort of academic program. You can choose what classes you want to take from a limited roster issued by most universities in Ireland. The roster can be a bit unclear, but if you ask a member of the staff they'll try to help you get into whatever class you want. They'll also help you pursue professional opportunities. They've helped me in that way, and I really appreciate it.

I was walking with a friend up North Great George's Street, north of the River Liffey in Dublin, at the end of which is a beautiful building named Belvedere College once attended by Joyce and immortalised in his memorable "Portrait of the Artist." Looking back I realised that on this same street you could find the James Joyce Centre, which contains a vast array of information and documents on Joyce's early literature and other memorabilia, as well as the home of a famous Joycean scholar. On the quays, or rather bridging them, we saw the marvellous Samuel Beckett bridge, a white harp connecting the north and the south docks of Dublin, whose gleam at night is a marvel and whose greatest fault is its distance from a more central and populated location. In Merrion Square, south of the Liffey, an emerald and pink stone Oscar Wilde lounges brazenly, his open legs and ironic leer startling the onlooker with the same comic and sharp wit to be found in his drama and prose. In Cork City, the Frank O'Connor house sits sleepily wedged like a short story snuggled in a collection. Ireland is the home of modern writing. From Edna O'Brien to Anne Enright, the tradition continues, as lively as ever, and with a flavour to be found nowhere else in the world. International film, drama, and poetry festivals are witness to a country whose love for (in my case literary) art is very much a part of its heritage.

The Uversity programme immerses its students in these environments and provides the media through which the student can be artistically inspired. The proximity of the programme to partner universities also allows the student to nourish their intellectual curiosity as well as to foster relationships with star faculty. And though the programme has its requirements, it is never rigid enough that it will prevent the student from enjoying the inevitable ups and downs of life that come from adventuring in a foreign country.

As an Audiovisual graduate, I tend to appreciate artistic expression in all of its forms. I’m thrilled to have studied the cinematographic language, but then I felt the urge to expand this knowledge and an eagerness to voice my inventive impulses in various ways. That’s why getting to know the Uversity’s programme changed my mindset completely. I see it as the perfect possibility of continuing to develop my own creative vision on different platforms, such as TV, cinema, the internet, written media and, of course, multiple ones that mix different platforms together, most of which I have deep interest in, despite very little practice.

Other than that, being surrounded by people with similar interests and dispositions as mine makes so much sense to me. The fact that during the programme, the student has the ability to explore different locations and cultures also attracts me a lot. It seems to me that being able to get involved in distinct places with particular habits can affect the aspects of one’s learning process and creative expression in an incredible way.

Aside from building knowledge, the courses are giving me unique perspective into how someone’s point of view influences their understanding of art, and that we are continually susceptible to go through mind-changing experiences. There are many ways to look at a work of art; we must always be open to interpretation and discussion. This variance fascinates me the most, and that’s why I find it in me a drive to keep investigating and learning new things constantly.

I like having the freedom to change my mind every so often if I feel like it’s necessary and being able to communicate that, and to have thoughtful conversations about it with everyone in the programme. It’s great to have access to wonderful cultural events, organisations and artists and to share these experiences with the other students. It can be scary, but it's also very empowering to make my own decisions and to take risks.

I am an illustrator - I do comics, children's books, and freelance illustration. I applied for Uversity a year after getting a BFA in Illustration. There were so many aspects of the program that I loved. Studying in another country was very mind opening, it helped me reflect on my home, the United States.

Another aspect of the program that I loved was the freedom. I felt free to follow whatever path I wanted with help from the mentors. It was very easy to sign up for a class, then take the class, decide it wasn't the right fit, and find a new class that suited my needs much better. I personally didn't feel that there were as many barriers as a regular program where there are degree requirements. The MA in Creative Process is more about following your own instincts and creating your own education. It is very self directed and I think it helps to have an open mind and an independent spirit.

I attended the Burren College of Art for most of my time in Ireland. It is located in the Burren, which is in the West of Ireland. The landscape was extremely beautiful and unique. I felt very inspired by the environment. However, I lived in a town of 300 people where the main arts scene was the college. I also studied for 3 months in Cork, the second largest city in Ireland. I enjoyed that very much as well, though the transition was more difficult. It was very hard for me to come into the city to find housing during the second semester because the students had already taken a lot of the housing during the first semester. This was the most difficult part of living in Ireland, this transitional period. It was hard to leave the beautiful countryside and find a home in the city but I am happy that I did because I got to see another side of Ireland. I don't regret the move because my classes were very fulfilling, and showed me sides of my artistic process that I hadn't considered or understood as deeply. I have faith that Uversity will continue to make the housing situation easier on their students, it is a new program and as such it will take time to meet these challenges.

You learn about yourself as an artist and a person. It is a challenging program. Moving to a new part of the country each semester is not easy, but it is possible. Ireland is very small, and unless you are in a remote location in the country, it is easy enough to get around by bus. You will be challenged throughout the year, especially because this is such a new program (only in it's 2nd year), but that's part of the adventure - you are helping to create a new vision for education. Each year of students will be different, and the program will grow organically according to student need.

I've been having an incredible time of growth and adventure in Ireland thanks to Uversity. If you haven't gathered already, you won't find any other program like it and your experience will be unique to anyone else's. So my story is just a fraction of the possibilities.

With Uversity, it feels like the whole island is at your fingertips. Since arriving in Dublin in September and moving to Cork a week later, I've also been to Limerick and Galway, seen the breathtaking cliffs of Moher, attended the first ever young adult writing conference in Ireland, and gotten a chance to speak to some of Ireland's leading artists and academics.
Even if you aren't thinking of Ireland as a destination for your studies (I wasn't), it turns out Ireland is an incredibly rich in culture and art --it's part of the fabric of the society. And I can't understate the level of access I've gotten here to arts communities and the cultural scene at large. For one, Ireland isn't a big place so it feels much easier to get in on the ground floor of things than it did in the states. But Uversity is a huge help as well. Suzie, the Director of Mentoring (one of the kindest people I have ever met) and my own Creative Mentor, Fiona (who I couldn't survive without) seem to be working around the clock making calls and sending emails for me to make sure I make the most out of my year here. And you can tell they'd be doing it even if it wasn't there job.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to your formal education life as well. I chose this program because I was tired of a dry, academic approach to art. I wanted to stop reading and writing essays about writing, music, and dance, and just go make things. The revamped curriculum this year really makes space for that to be possible: for you to have time in your studio or at the library or wherever, working on what is more important to you. And of course, the huge advantage of Uversity is that what you work on isn't limited to any one medium or practice. I can't think of anywhere else that would let me work on a fantasy mixed-media collaborative story/world building project and award me a degree for it. But Uversity really takes what's important to you and makes it important to them. The size and the nature of the program means that you always have an army of people on your side, rooting for you and supporting you.

Besides the Uversity core curriculum, you also take classes at various universities throughout Ireland, and this really is an unprecedented opportunity. This meant I was able to dip into the creative writing program at University College Cork and pick out the classes that would be relevant to my practice and my practice only. It meant that in addition to writing courses there, I can go across town to the Crawford School of Art and take a studio art course there as well. What I've ended up with is a beautifully personalized program and nearly unlimited access to the facilities of two institutions of higher education in Cork. I get to use the dance studios in the giant UCC gym AND play the Steinways in the CIT music building.

A personalized program doesn't mean I'm not being pushed and challenged, though. Far from it. The modules I chose were not what I expected, but exactly what I needed. I went into this year thinking that I knew how I worked as an artist and I just needed the space and resources to work (and I got that) but I've also learned so much about myself and I feel like I've really expanded the scope of what I'm capable of. I wasn't expecting to (or really wanting to) learn about how awareness of my body relates to writing, but I did and ended up being introduced to the world of dance in a way I hadn't expected. I wasn't expecting to learn how to use an digital audio suite, but I did and then wrote and produced my own radio documentary. I wasn't expecting to write a musical...but that just kind of happened --all on top of the projects I wanted to do in the first place and learning how to live independently in a new country (also hugely valuable experience). Looking back, it's amazing to see what I accomplished in just three and a half months and I still have eight and a half to go!

I couldn't finish this review without mentioning how many incredible people I've met here as well. The Uversity cohort is small and close-nit, with this cool dynamic where we live all around Ireland but meet up often and stay in touch. We all naturally become a sort of mini-expert on where we are living and when people in the cohort visit from place to place, they have friends to offer them a sofa and best pub recommendations, etc. It's also an incredible feeling to be in a community of such diverse artists. In our interactions we naturally feed off one another's energy and learn about different mediums. Collaborations form and you get opened up to whole new interests. I'm helping out a filmmaker from Brazil with some writing and a radio guy really convinced me that sound is magical.

And what's great is that, if you play your cards right, you won't just be a part of one cohort. You'll always have the Uversity cohort, but you also get plugged into one or two (or three) other programs and scenes. So I have a great international arts community in Uversity, but also have put roots down in a great writing community in Cork, and I'll soon be branching out into visual art, music, and dance. I won't lie, it's tricky business, but if you plan ahead and put yourself out there, you're looking at lots of new connections, friends, and potential collaborators.

As with anything, Uversity is what you make of it. My experience will probably look very different from yours. But the freedom and flexibility of Uversity and the unique (admittedly, sometimes messy) experiment that it is means that its an opportunity for you to create an unprecedented adventure for yourself --and get a world-class degree out of it. You'll grow, you'll have fun, you'll make art, you'll get to know Ireland better than a lot of Irish people even do, and well, basically you'll have the craic. Maybe even deadly craic.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or want to know more! My twitter, Instagram, and tumblr are all "somethingsareup." And my tumblr has some detailed blog posts on my adventures in Ireland. Just click "archive" to find them.

This program is wonderful for those of us in a creative mindset that have more than one interest base. I was able to take classes building upon both of my undergraduate majors. The combination of those classes and the core module have strengthened my skills in my respective fields of interest. It also allows for the exploration and immersion in the rich creative culture that is Ireland.

The flexibility of the program really allows for students to pursue what will be the most beneficial to them, even if they do not yet know what that is exactly. The mentors and the organizers of the program are wonderful at helping students figure out the best educational path for their course of study. Allowing for a very rich diversity in the student outcomes even if several are starting from similar backgrounds or artistic bases.

I spent one year in Ireland and I had a lot of fun. It was great visiting and getting to know this wonderful country but the only bad part was the weather. I remember one day when I went to class I was walking down the street and someone splashed the water on me while driving, I was so filthy and then it started raining-typical Ireland. I was so filthy, but I couldn't go back because I was already later for class. When I arrived to college I was sat on the ground to find some books and some people thought that I was a homeless person so they kept leaving money in my hands...haha...I still laugh when I remember this story..Ireland is great, but not the rain!

Generally, my experience with Uversity was positively life-changing. I went in with much patience and openness--as it was the first year of the program and we were like the test subjects--and I received so much from the experience because of my attitude. I gained significant professional connections as well as professional experience in my area (a/r/tography--artist-researcher-teacher), which was a fantastic bonus to the experience. I designed my own Masters, across departments of Art Therapy, Art and Design Education, and Arts and Process, which was made possible by the Uversity program. I also completed an additional higher education certificate (Global Development Education through Arts/Creativity and Change) simultaneous to the Uversity Masters, which was possible through the partner institution I was located at. I gained a degree and a specialty certificate in one year. I was the first student to study across 3 different departments at the Cork Institution of Technology-Crawford College of Art and Design, and had almost every door and opportunity available to me because of the nature of my program. I accomplished a dissertation of written word and arts-based education research, a multidisciplinary dissertation. The creative final project was so exciting for all of the Uversity students, as we got to actualize our passions and ideas and goals that we came with into the program. Through the partner institution I was at (for the whole year), I applied for a scholarship opportunity to volunteer abroad as an art therapist in Thailand, which I was granted. So through the partner institution, I gained additional critical work experience with a non-profit organization in Thailand--a place I've always wanted to live in--and had an enriching experience.

The experience of living in Ireland is a whole other important aspect. I was the only Uversity student in Cork for the first semester, so I spent a lot of time explaining and introducing the program to the people of Cork. This helped me to constantly reflect on my experience and my desired trajectory through the program. I gained a lot of local interest in the program, and within the first month of my experience, everyone at the college knew of me and Uversity. They asked me to give a talk on my work the third weekend I was there, which was incredible for me. The people in Cork are so creative and outgoing that they brought me here and there and everywhere, and I made more friends and more connections each month. Cork is a manageable place--as are most towns/cities in Ireland--where you can walk everywhere and find everything you need, so I was always running around and managing my work. Through the international students' society at the institution, I was able to visit and explore a lot of Ireland on the weekends, for very cheap fares. Some Irish people told me I had seen more of the country than they had seen. It was so thrilling to see different spots in the many counties of Ireland, as each one is unique to the next--with different accents, and all! I was so inspired by the multitude of rock types in Ireland, and I took a lot of influence from their textures by making rubbings and using them as bases for my multidisciplinary video, painting, and print work, in my creative practice. In my time in Ireland, I befriended mostly Irish folk but found other international friends through the international student society and through the music scene in Cork. All of my friends were Djs, so I got to be a part of the music scene and always have a gig to go to, and enjoy the entertainment of Cork.

The experience enriched my creative practice and lifestyle, thoroughly. I'm reaching my highest potential as an a/r/tographer-artist, researcher, teacher-and as an individual, through the Uversity program and through the Irish culture!