By Brittany Wells |
Contributor
Hubert van Tuyll has been a history professor at Augusta University since 1991 and has been working with Study Abroad for 10 years. Once again this summer he will do yet another Study Abroad excursion, this time to Ireland.
Professor van Tuyll, his wife Debbie van Tuyll (a communication professor at AU) and their daughter Laura van Tuyll van Serooskerken (who is in Nursing Anesthesia at AU) are all dedicated members of the university community, but Van Tuyll had an interesting road to the Garden City. Van Tuyll’s life has been filled with experiences of travel. He was born in the Netherlands and learned Dutch as his first language. His family then immigrated to Canada and later to Alabama.
While in Alabama, he attended the University of Montevallo and majored in economics. That's where he met his wife Debbie. After graduating from Montevallo, he attended Duke University for law and then went to Texas A&M and earned a doctorate in history, with his specialty being military history.
Upon graduating, he taught at a small college in the Appalachians for five years and then found his way to Augusta University and has been a part of the faculty ever since.
Now that the van Tuylls have settled in Augusta, they have become involved in helping students experience life abroad, and have been doing so for a decade.
Professors Debbie and Hubert van Tuyll have been taking students to Ireland with the European Council for the University System of Georgia for three of those 10 years. The trip is different from many of the other Study Abroad opportunities at AU because it is a European Council trip, which is run by USG, is open to all students in the system and lasts longer than other Study Abroad trips.
Ireland is the chosen destination for the van Tuylls partly due to family ties. Hubert van Tuyll’s sister has lived there most of her life, so he has been visiting Ireland since the 1970s, but there are other reasons to visit Ireland, including its rich history and its close ties to the United States. (For example, many Irish settled in Augusta.)
The van Tuylls will be accompanying students on an five-week EC trip to Waterford, Ireland, this summer. According to van Tuyll, Ireland is the ideal place to do Study Abroad.
“[There are several] advantages to studying abroad in Ireland, especially for students who haven’t traveled much," van Tuyll said. "In Ireland, first of all, it’s an English-speaking country, and secondly, maybe more importantly, the people really love Americans. One of the biggest reasons to take this trip is you find out so much about yourself. It’s just a tremendous growth experience and that’s what the students who have gone on previous trips have said. Simply to have a chance to function in this totally different culture allows you to learn about the culture of course, but you learn a lot about yourself too.”
Van Tuyll explained that study abroad gives students a nice balance of freedom and guidance. The faculty on these trips are not meant to be chaperones, but they do try to give practical advice, so that students can safely and comfortably enjoy their journey abroad.
“On the one hand, you have the staff that take you places and tells you what to do and not to do, but on the other hand you have a lot of freedom to go and explore on your own,” van Tuyll said.
Waterford is where students will be based during this trip, but it is not the only destination that students are able to experience. Students have long weekends where they are free to explore other places within Europe if they wish. Travel inside of Europe is cheaper than the United States, so students are encouraged to use their long weekends as an opportunity of exploration.
Professor van Tuyll says the sign-up deadline is March 15 (first payment is due that day as well), so students can still enroll if they are interested. His advice is to not wait too long, however, because even though there are still plenty of spaces, the individual courses within the program can fill up.
There are many different types and levels of classes offered, and multiple credits can be earned.
“Plan to do this at least once while you are in college," he said. "If you plan early, there are scholarships and there are fundraisers.”
If students wish to travel to Ireland through the European Council, they should strongly consider acting now. This summer will mark the end of van Tuyll’s three-year contract, and he has not yet decided whether or not he will renew the EC contract.
For more information, you can reach Professor Hubert Van Tuyll at hvantuyl@augusta.edu. Here is the website for the European Council trip to Ireland:
Contact Brittany Wells at briwells@augusta.edu