Learning about Manx history 'amazing' for students
A field trip to explore Manx history was an "amazing" and "life changing" experience for a group of Canadian students.
The group of 22, who are studying history at Brock University in Ontario, came to the Isle of Man during the summer.
During the nine-day stay, they visited several sites including the Manx stone crosses kept at Braddan, Jurby and Maughold, and a Viking boat burial at Balladoole.
History professor Andrew McDonald said the students had shown "significant personal development in areas of global awareness, self-awareness and reliance, and confidence" as a result.
Prof McDonald, who has written several books about the island's Viking era, organised the trip as part of a two-pronged area of study.
Firstly, the students, many of whom are preparing to become teachers, were tasked with researching particular stone crosses using 3D scans made available online.
The group then travelled to the island to see and hear about them in person.
He said the trip was "a chance to get up close and personal with unique early sculptures from five parish churches", as well as visiting medieval castles, cathedrals and abbeys, early Christian and Viking age settlement sites and burials, and Tynwald Hill.
"Along the way, we also learned about the growth of Douglas and Castletown, the island's unique constitutional position, the story of internment in World War Two, Victorian tourism, railways and waterwheels," he said.
Erin Miller, who took part in the trip, said the classroom experience was "really cool" because the students "got to learn about different rulers in medieval Manx history, different crosses and runic inscriptions on them", which had made her "all the more excited" to visit.
She said: "It's an experience that I hope to bring back to my students and tell them that you have to go on a field trip across the sea to learn about things that you are passionate about, because it is something that will be with you for the rest of your life."
Fellow student Jack Evans said he "fell in love with the maritime culture of the 18th and 19th Century" after arriving on the island.
"I found it very interesting and very intriguing to learn about the folklore that was present on the Isle of Man through the fishing and how important the fishing industry was to the people on the island up until the middle of the 20th Century, where it died off," he said.
"It was very compelling to see the development that an island can offer people through maritime travel."
After returning home, the students gave presentations on their experiences to others at the university.
Prof McDonald said those involved had "voiced unanimous agreement about the importance of studying history in its environment and their enthusiasm for discovering a, for them, hitherto largely unknown part of the British Isles in the Isle of Man".
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