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Before traveling to Ireland this summer, Alexi Jones ’25 had one goal in mind: document Irish life and culture, specifically how people have moved on in the 26 years since the violent, 30-year conflict called the Troubles ended. 

“I think we talk a lot about the conflict. I don't necessarily think we always look enough at how they've moved on since then, and what the present looks like there,” she said.

Jones, an international studies major and Honors student, was this year’s recipient of the Timothy M. Smith Inspiration Through Exploration Award. She received $2,500 to travel abroad and document an area of interest.

“It’s such a fantastic opportunity for students to get to travel abroad, especially students who might not be able to otherwise,” she said.

“The only thing they ask back of the students is to submit a project, and it's pretty much as open as that. So you get to be super creative with that. And I love that.”

Going into the 10-day trip, Jones knew she wanted to combine writing and photography to produce a coffee table book. She would spend time in Galway, Derry-Londonderry and Dublin. The rest, she left largely up to chance and what she would stumble upon. 

She didn’t have a strict itinerary. She told herself, “You’re going to go to the local spots. You’re going to go to the museums, and you just need to be super open to any interactions that happen.”

From the 1960s to the 1990s, there was a period of deadly sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, known as “the Troubles,” seeded by centuries of conflict between largely Catholic Ireland and protestant England.

“My understanding of the peacemaking process there, and what that involved, grew once I was there and had the chance to talk to the people that were actually living that out and experiencing that firsthand,” Jones said.

One of these instances led her to an international film festival in Galway.

“That ended up being amazing because some of those films centered around the Troubles and post-Troubles period, and what it means to be Irish now, and how people feel about the relationship with Britain now, and all that type of stuff,” she said. “But I didn't see that coming. I just went to some of the movie screenings, and I talked to the person next to me, and I talked to the person behind me, and that's my favorite way to travel.”

Openness and curiosity were big themes during Jones’ travels. 

“Just noticing things around me,” she said. “Like, ‘What’s that street named?’ ‘Why is it named that?’ and ‘What’s the history behind that?’ So I think a lot of it was just being very present and curious about what was around.”

She went on walking tours with local guides and attended museums but didn’t book any reservations until she was in that place. 

The highlight, she said, was the local insight and the stories the people shared with her.