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Postgraduate Education | INTERVIEW
(...Continued from page 30) were killed in the genocide and that is evidenced when you are walking around the University by the fact all of the staff are really young. The University only reopened about eight years ago. The country is trying to move on without forgetting what happened but it is still very evident, and there are fears that the same kind of pressures that led to the genocide could emerge again.”
Is this why Rwanda was chosen as a partner in this programme? “Part of the reason we’re basing part of the programme there is because it has become quite a beacon for development practice in recent years,” he says. “The recovery since the horrendous events of 1994 has been remarkable. On the masters programme, we’ll be dealing with Rwanda as a case study, but we will be looking at development more generally.”
International Aid
Taylor and his colleague Pádraig Carmody also stress that countries like Rwanda are suffering terribly from the international drop in aid due to the recession. They note how Irish Aid and NGOs have been held in high regard internationally, and that Ireland’s reputation in this regard may have played a part in why their proposal attracted the MacArthur funding. “Yet, Ireland’s own aid budget has dropped significantly in the past year,” Taylor notes with disappointment. “I hope that doesn’t affect how we’re perceived.”
Meanwhile, Ireland’s own recessionary problems could possibly be tackled if more were to engage in post-graduate programmes of study. “When you compare us to the rest of the developed countries, Ireland’s been quite slow to embrace post-graduate programmes,” says Taylor. “Over the past two or three years, we’ve seen significant increases in the number of graduate students, courses and programmes, but we’ve still a way to go to reach the levels of take up in other parts of the world. I do think we’ve suffered from not having those programmes in the past, because a lot of the students who wish to do masters degrees and Ph.D.s went abroad and many stayed there. There was a kind of brain drain.”
So programmes like this are a step in the right direction? “Most definitely,” he says. “It will hopefully become a European centre for the future leaders in the field.”
An Adventure Into Africa
That said, the Masters in Development Practice is not for the faint of heart. “Some of the issues we’ll be dealing with can be very difficult emotionally,” he says. “I usually come back home from Africa feeling extremely fortunate. There are so many things we take for granted here that other people do not enjoy – things like security, having fresh water on tap, being able to flick a switch to turn on electricity. These are denied to the majority of people around the world and when you see it in the field it can be quite soul-destroying. It is one of the reasons I’m quite keen to get the MDP going and make sure it’s run properly, because I do think I owe something back to these people.”
He is looking forward to his time in Rwanda. “I will miss my family terribly, of course,” he says. “But it is a beautiful country and the people are so helpful, welcoming, and polite.”
They even like football, which is a plus for Taylor, although he’s not sure about the clubs they support. “Unfortunately, a lot of them are Manchester United fans, so that’s the other reason I’m going.” he laughs. “I need to spread the word about Burnley FC!”
For information on postgraduate courses at Trinity visit
www.tcd.ie/Graduate_Studies/
Thanks to Professor Pádraig Carmody B.A., M.Sc. (1990) Academic Co-Ordinator of the Programme, who also assisted with this article.
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