Boston College, Trinity College Dublin celebrate partnership

Series of events in Ireland marks new, formal relationship

Boston College and Trinity College Dublin celebrated their recently established partnership with four days of events in Dublin that included lectures and discussions with representatives from both institutions and a diversity of disciplines ranging from theology to law to political science to nursing.

While there have long been small-scale collaborations between the two institutions, BC and Trinity pursued a formal, more expansive relationship over the past few years and last summer signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will provide “a basic platform for multiple engagements,” said Vice Provost for Global Engagement James Keenan, S.J.

James Keenan, S.J.

Vice Provost for Global Engagement James Keenan, S.J.

Fr. Keenan was among a number of BC administrators, faculty members, and students taking part in the celebration, held at Boston College Ireland—BC’s Dublin property—as well as Trinity venues.

Also present was School of Theology and Ministry Associate Professor Andrew Davis; Sullivan Professor of Irish Studies Guy Beiner, director of the BC Center for Irish Programs; Associate Professor of English Marjorie Howes; Political Science Professor Jonathan Laurence, director of the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy; McIntyre Endowed Professor of Mathematics Solomon Friedberg; Mathematics Professor Martin Bridgeman; Ferris Professor of Physics Michael Naughton; Libby Professor of Law and Theology Cathleen Kaveny; BC Law Professor and Provost’s Distinguished Fellow Aziz Rana, the incoming Monan University Professor of Law and Government; Boston College Ireland Academic Director Michael Cronin; and Professor of the Practice in English Joseph Nugent, along with Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences juniors Cyrus Rosen and Samuel Peterson.

Presentations included “Addressing ‘Democracy, Governance, and Education’ Today,” “Yeats, the Nobel Prize, and the Labour of Writing,” “Pathways to Holiness: Ethics and Early Christianity,” “Sensing Emigration: A Creative Colloquium,” “A Transatlantic Dialogue on Constitutional Law”—moderated via Zoom by BC Law School Associate Dean for Faculty and Global Programs Katharine Young—as well as a joint BC-Trinity Maths Colloquium Series and a “research blitz” hosted by Connell School of Nursing Barry Family/Goldman Sachs Endowed Chair Christopher Lee that featured talks by Connell School and Trinity nursing and midwifery doctoral students.

“This celebration was about our cultures, not just our universities. The events that took place, and the general feeling of camaraderie present, showed the strength of a relationship that has formed over the years.”
Vice Provost James Keenan, S.J.

Founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, Trinity is Ireland’s oldest university, divided into three faculties comprising 23 schools, offering degree and diploma courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Among its distinguished alumni are Nobel Laureates Samuel Beckett and Mairead Maguire; former presidents of Ireland Éamon de Valera and Mary McAleese; literary figures Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift, and Bram Stoker; philosopher Edmund Burke; and renowned politicians Robert Emmet and Wolfe Tone. The Trinity campus has been featured in such popular films as “Michael Collins,” “Circle of Friends” (starring Chris O’Donnell ’92), and “Educating Rita.”  

Fr. Keenan noted that many of the BC faculty in attendance—such as Bridgeman, Naughton, and Beiner—have long-established ties with their peers in Trinity, underscoring the institutions’ common ground.

“This celebration was about our cultures, not just our universities,” he said. “The events that took place, and the general feeling of camaraderie present, showed the strength of a relationship that has formed over the years.”

Fr. Keenan pointed out a larger context to the BC-Trinity partnership, which he said enables the University to “expand its footprint” in Dublin while strengthening its presence in that region of the world, which includes existing links with prominent institutions like University College Dublin and Queens College Belfast.

Meanwhile, through its membership in the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Research Universities, BC has built partnerships with almost a dozen Jesuit and Catholic universities in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe, leading to the formation of working groups of faculty doing research in areas such as climate change, health care, and migration.

“One of BC’s longstanding goals is to be a flagship in international education, and especially in Jesuit education,” said Fr. Keenan. “That means recognizing and developing opportunities for collaboration in a multitude of disciplines and fields. A partnership with Trinity College Dublin is right in line with this objective.”  

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