Dr Patricia Moriarty, Head of School of Business & Humanities at DkIT was recently joined by two colleagues Dr Annaleigh Margey, Head of Humanities Department and Dr Conor Brady, Programme Director on a faculty exchange visit to Marshall University and BridgeValley Community & Technical College in West Virginia.

Representatives from BridgeValley and Marshall University visited DkIT in 2024 and have since collaborated with the institute to send their students on a Study Abroad Summer Programme at DkIT in May 2025.

The DkIT party were extremely impressed by the scale and sophistication of Marshall University and its integration into the town of Huntington. The DkIT representatives enjoyed meeting with management, faculty and students from the university and were very grateful to Dr Zelideth Rivas and Dr Brian Hoey who facilitated their visit, and introduced them to the collaboration with Bridge Valley Community College for Study Abroad opportunities.

During the visit to West Virginia, Dr Casey Sacks, President of BridgeValley Community & Technical College invited the DkIT group to join her on a live radio interview on the Dave Allen Show. During the interview Dave was keen to hear the group’s first impressions of West Virginia which included the beauty of the landscape and the visibly strong links between Ireland and Appalachia. Dr Sacks outlined the collaboration with DkIT and Dr Patricia Moriarity gave an overview of DkIT’s recent success with a PeacePlus funding award for upskilling in the border region.

A group of students from Marshall will travel to the DkIT campus in May to take the Certificate in Cultural Landscapes programme, which has been designed to be an enjoyable introduction to the history and heritage of Ireland. It will be an immersive 2-week experience with five on-campus seminars, each introducing a major time period and some of the related culture and literature of Ireland, followed by a field trip to see some of the sites and monuments from that period. Field trips will concentrate on the Boyne Valley, including visits to Newgrange, the Hill of Tara, Trim Castle and Bective Abbey. The visit will also include trips to Dublin and Belfast, where students will get to visit the Titanic Museum.

Dr Patricia Moriarty, Head of School of Business and Humanities at DkIT said:

“It was a privilege to visit Marshall University and BridgeValley Community & Technical College in West Virginia and collaborate with the wonderful staff and students there. The students showed a huge interest in learning about Ireland and we cannot wait until their visit to DkIT to take part in our Cultural Landscapes Programme, which is a great way for the students to get a really thorough introduction to and taste of Ireland. Dundalk Institute of Technology is keen to grow and develop its links to Marshall University and we look forward to further collaborations at faculty level for research projects and future shared learning experiences for our students.”

Hear DkIT on The Dave Allen Show