API students participate in several excursions per session designed to help familiarize them with areas of their host city, country, and surrounding region. The following is a listing of all excursions for API Galway programs. All excursions are subject to change.

What You’ll Study

TOTAL CREDITS - 12-15 credits per semester

Students who choose to study abroad with API at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI, Galway) choose from a range of undergraduate courses as offered in the Faculties of Arts (humanities), Commerce (business), Engineering, and Science. Courses are arranged in the seminar and lecture styles, and grades are based predominantly on one final exam.

SERVICE LEARNING/VOLUNTEER OPTION

NUI, Galway has introduced a Service Learning module designed specifically for study abroad students. This semester-long, credit-bearing course, ‘Literacy and Learning in the Community’, teaches students about literacy, reading awareness and reading strategies and involves working on a one-to-one basis with elementary and high school students in homework clubs based in Galway.

Visiting Students who do not get the opportunity to participate in this course can volunteer their services through the University’s ALIVE program (A Learning Initiative and the Volunteering Experience). Contact API for more information on these opportunities.

TRANSCRIPTS

API students receive their transcript from the National University of Ireland, Galway upon completion of their program.

COURSE OFFERINGS

Courses are taught in the seminar and lecture styles, and grades are often based on one final exam. In order to determine the level of a particular class, students should pay attention to the number in the course title. Courses that begin with 1 are 1st-year courses; courses that begin with 2 are 2nd-year courses; courses that begin with 3 and/or 4 are 3rd and 4th-year courses, respectively.

Not all courses are offered every semester or every year. The course selection may vary, and no course is guaranteed. Some courses may have prerequisites, and some courses may require additional fees for labs, equipment, etc.

There are additional fees for semester/year students who enroll in nursing/science and/or engineering classes. These fees affect the final program price. Generally, the extra fees apply to students who enroll in more than 10 ECTS of science/ engineering/ or nursing modules. Students are encouraged to contact the API office for further details.

Registration takes place upon arrival; however, we recommend that after consulting the course listings, students have 10 courses approved by their home university prior to departure, in order to allow for scheduling conflicts and the possible unavailability of certain classes. There is a 2-week add/drop period at the beginning of the semester in Galway. Voluntary, non-credit Irish language courses (Gaelic) are also available.

Course times, course descriptions and the semester in which a course is offered are subject to change and no course is guaranteed.

SPECIAL COURSES

Service-Learning: Literacy and Learning in the Community (2.5 credits)

This semester-long course is specially designed to facilitate a service-learning component for U.S. study abroad students at NUI Galway. The class consists of 24 hours of academic lectures, 12 hours of reflective seminars (1 hour per week), and 20+ hours of service in local community homework clubs (10 weeks).

Students gain an improved understanding of important theories and perspectives relating to literacy acquisition and how Irish society responds to the challenges associated with this important education and social issue. Students also benefit from experiential learning of how local homework clubs in the Galway area provide support and structure for children to develop their learning and literacy skills.

Exploring the Indigenous Arts (2.5 credits)

This course offers students an exciting, practice-based, opportunity to learn about indigenous Irish music, song, and dance. The course is delivered via a two-hour class each week at the main NUI Galway campus and two field trips to the Irish-speaking Connemara region, where students take part in master workshops guided by leading artists from the west of Ireland. Special features of the class include:

• Practice-based learning via workshops and performances from leading Irish traditional musicians, including Sean Nós (old-style) singers and dancers.
• Unique access to rare archives of traditional Irish art forms through collaboration with TG4, the Irish language television network based in Ballinahown, Connemara.
• Series of lunchtime concerts on the main NUI Galway campus as part of the University’s Arts in Action program.

CREDIT INFORMATION

The National University of Ireland, Galway awards credit based on the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). Semester courses at the university are usually awarded 5, 6 or 10 ECTS credits. Universities in the U.S. typically award .5 credit hour for every 1 ECTS credit. For example, a course worth 5 ECTS would transfer to the U.S. as 2.5 semester credit hours. It is very important that students planning on studying in Galway discuss the transfer of credits with an advisor at their home university – some universities have different standards for transferring ECTS credits. Based on the ECTS credits awarded per course, students usually take 5-6 classes in order to receive 12- 15 credit hours per semester. Students are responsible for ensuring that they are enrolled in the required amount of semester credits to meet requirements of the home university. In all faculties, entrance to specific courses is subject to the approval of NUI, Galway and the completion of certain prerequisites. Courses offered on a year-long basis can only be taken by students visiting for the full academic year.

Highlights

• Service-learning opportunities for credit
• Experiential education and philosophy program
• Only Marine Sciences program in Ireland!
• International excursion