Is your passion to study Ireland and the Irish people? You can do just that in the heart of New York City’s Greenwich Village. Glucksman Ireland House, a landmark townhouse on Fifth Avenue, is home to New York University’s Center for Irish and Irish American Studies.  Here you'll have an exceptional opportunity to learn what makes the Irish such a distinctive people and, under the direction of its distinguished faculty, make connections with a vibrant community of students, scholars, and intellectuals.
 
The MA Program in Irish and Irish-American Studies at the prestigious Graduate School of Arts and Science at NYU is based at Glucksman Ireland House, a gracious nineteenth century building steps from Washington Square Park.  It attracts both recent graduates, as well as professionals and retirees returning to school to deepen a lifelong interest in Irish history, politics, literature, culture, language, and society.  Full or part-time enrollment and financial aid are available. 
 
Teaching is at the heart of any graduate program. The Ireland House faculty is led by Joe Lee, Glucksman Professor of Irish Studies and Professor of History, former member of the Irish Senate, and prolific author and commentator on Irish public affairs.  With fellow historians Thomas Truxes, Marion Casey, Linda Dowling Almeida, Miriam Nyhan and Nicholas Wolf, the graduate program at Glucksman Ireland House covers nearly six centuries on both sides of the Atlantic, with particular attention to colonialism, emigration, and enduring links between New York City and Ireland.  Irish literature scholars John Waters, Greg Londe, and Abby Bender bring insight and inspiration to the teaching of one of the world’s great literary traditions, from Jonathan Swift to Seamus Heaney and beyond.  Courses in Irish culture studies are taught by Global Distinguished Professor of Music Mick Moloney; by the faculty’s latest recruit, world-renowned dancer and choreographer Jean Butler; and by award-winning Irish-language teacher and native Irish speaker Padraig O’Cearuill.
 
No understanding of Ireland's history or its people is complete without fully recognizing the contributions the Irish have made outside of Ireland, in the Irish diaspora. New York has extraordinary and diverse research collections for Irish studies including that of the New York Public Library and the Archives of Irish America at NYU's Bobst Library, where we preserve a host of rich collections, including NYU Professor Mick Moloney’s unique collection of Irish music and popular culture, and our Archives of Irish America Oral History collection.
 
New York is as familiar a home for Irish writers as Dublin itself. Glucksman Ireland House hosts an impressive cast of Irish authors in public readings. Seamus Heaney, Edna O’Brien, Joseph O’Connor, and Colm Toibin have all met with Irish Studies students. President Michael D. Higgins recently delivered a major address on Irish migration here, in recognition of the example Ireland House faculty had set in producing a truly interdisciplinary approach to the Irish experience. Ireland House is where Liam Clancy gave his last New York concert, and where Irish New Yorkers including Pete Hamill, Alice McDermott, Colum McCann and Peter Quinn come home to launch their books.
 
You can visit Ireland House to attend a sample class.  Also, two upcoming events will highlight scholarships created by philanthropic Irish Americans. Join us on Friday, January 25th, from 5:30 until 7pm for an open house where faculty will answer your questions before the first Blarney Star traditional Irish music concert of the Spring semester. Or visit us on Saturday morning, February 8th, from 10:00 until 11:30 am for a faculty lecture on recent research in Irish historical and literary studies, as part of The Ambassadorship of Literature: On Poetry and Diplomacy, a conference forum on poet-diplomats, of which Ireland has had an outsized share.
 
Take the next step in your Irish journey of discovery from the heart of New York City.  Join recent graduates from a wide range of universities, Vice Presidents of major publishing houses, sales managers of large corporations, actors, bankers, and media executives who have joined the MA in Irish and Irish-American Studies. One exemplary graduate is an empty-nest mother of two whose return to university after 30 years sparked a passion inspiring a brilliant thesis, winning her a fully funded PhD fellowship. NYU’s Irish Studies Program is part of a dynamic school in the most dynamic city in the most dynamic country in the world. So there's no surprise that opportunity follows the Irish trail in New York City, as it has for so long, as it will in the future.

PHOTOS - Top ten tourist attractions in Belfast City - from the Titanic Quarter to Belfast City Hall - slideshow

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced their shortlist of nominees for the 2013 Oscars on Thursday, and two natives of Ireland are up for awards.

The US Marine Corps are seeking nearly 600 new armored personnel carriers, and have selected an Irish-developed armored vehicle for testing, according to the Independent.

According to the ‘Better Life Index,' Ireland reportedly performs very well as it ranks as one of the top ten countries in several of their topics. Here are some facts and figures from the ‘Better Life Index.'

Cork native James Whelton and Bill Liao visited the EU Parliament in Brussels last week along with 36 kids to discuss the increasing importance of software education and the need for students to learn to code early. The kids were volunteer students in Whelton’s CoderDojo program, which teaches young kids how to code. Twenty-six of the kids were from Ireland.

Stem Cell therapies offer a source of hope for many patients who otherwise have run out of options. However, lured by the promise of hope, many patients around the world have fallen victim to scam clinics.

Dr. Maureen A. O’Leary of Stony Brook University on Long Island was a leader in a research project that published results in the journal Science this week that claims to identify the creature that was all mammals’ common ancestor.

Scientists at UC Riverside in California have discovered the genetic trigger for the Great Potato Famine in phytophthora, a genus of molds that infest potatoes, soybeans, tomatoes and avocados. It was known that phytopthora caused the potato rot but not how it took hold.

Twitter Irish has gone inter-galactic – thanks to a Canadian astronaut.

A daughter of Irish immigrants, Professor Maureen O’Leary at Stony Brook University in Long Island, recently led a team of researchers whose findings may be deserving of science’s top prize. Her discovery made the front page of The New York Times.

The genetic mother of twins born through a surrogate pregnancy has won her court battle to be declared the legal mother on the children’s birth certificates.

Five months into her surrogate pregnancy, Crystal Kelley got bad news - ultrasound scans had revealed a series of disabilities. Tragically she and the parents came to different conclusions about what should happen next.

An Irish scientist is a leading figure behind a revolutionary new kind of rice that could improve the lives of the poor around the world.

An online campaign to curb excessive inebriation and drink driving around St. Patrick’s Day invites revelers to log on and receive a personalized Drinking Report, allowing those consuming alcohol to calculate exactly how the booze affects their system.

Doctor Daniele Volpe is not an ordinary Italian neurologist. In addition to heading up the Parkinson's Rehabilitation unit at the St. John of God hospital in Venice, he is a musician who loves trad and who visits Ireland frequently to play in a band.

HEKA Elektronik and the City University of New York (CUNY) have announced that they have entered into a license agreement for the commercialization of the Broderick Probe, a biosensor that enables direct, electrochemical monitoring of the release of dopamine, serotonin and a number of other neuro-active substances.

More commonly used for its anti-wrinkle properties, botox injections have recently been used to help three-year-old Irish American cerebral palsy sufferer, Aiden Farrell, to walk.

James Watson (85) one half of the legendary Watson and Crick pairing who discovered the structure of DNA, made the front pages this week, but not for a new discovery, instead he caused uproar when he savaged Irish intellects.

An 18-month human drug trial, which may be groundbreaking for sufferers of Alzheimer’s disease, will begin this May, 2013.

A new Irish company claims that it has developed an online training programme which can raise a person’s IQ in a significant way, providing them with cognitive skills which increase intelligence levels. The SMART (Strengthening Mental Abilities with Relational Training) programme has already proven its effectiveness on the students of one Irish school.

New research shows that a kilt can increase men’s sperm count while also making men feel more masculine and proud, enjoying positive attention from sexual admirers.

The Irish coastguard could lead search and rescue operations for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in the North Atlantic Ocean, in 2016, when manned vehicle missions to the Moon and the International Space Station have recommenced.

Eight of Ireland’s higher education institutions were featured in the 2012/3 annual QS World University Rankings by Subject report.

What would you do if you found yourself constantly tired with little or no energy? This is what happened to Ballinasloe, Galway, woman Maureen Cahalan over a long period of time, leaving her drained and exhausted.

Commander Chris Hadfield, a social media savvy Canadian astronaut on the International Space Station, bid goodbye to his 790,000+ Twitter followers and 268,000+ Facebook friends with an acoustic cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.”