Montana State University business students recently returned from a study abroad course in Ireland, where they gained practical experience in intercultural business communication. The course, BMGT 205: Professional Business Communication, is a requirement for MSU business majors and was taught abroad for the first time this summer.
Anne Watson and Marina Calabrese, both lecturers at the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship, led the program with support from the MSU Office of International Programs. According to Calabrese, Ireland was selected due to its strong reputation in international business, lack of language barriers, and rich cultural history that encouraged student engagement with locals.
“Jabs and MSU strive to educate a global citizen, with students recognizing the value of intercultural exchange to their personal and professional development,” said Brian Gillespie, dean of the business college. “Studying abroad provides a unique opportunity for students to learn from different cultures, and I am proud of our professors for delivering real-world applications of international business communication in Ireland.”
Nine students participated in the program. The course material was condensed into four weeks by professors Anne Gibson, Calabrese, and Watson. Students completed half the course online before traveling to Ireland for two weeks in June. Their base was the historic University of Galway.
During their stay, students visited several sites including Ireland’s Foreign Direct Investment Agency (IDA), where officials Grainne Sexton and Ricky Conneely discussed foreign investment strategies. In an exercise simulating international negotiations, students presented mock proposals as representatives from Germany or Japan and received feedback on their communication techniques.
The group also toured Thermo King’s manufacturing facility in Galway—a subsidiary of Trane Technologies—and learned about collaborative international business models. In Dublin, they visited the Guinness Storehouse for an assignment focused on marketing strategies. Anne Watson noted that Guinness exemplifies Irish heritage while appealing globally through its branding.
Other activities included visiting Gabriel Flaherty’s goat farm on the Aran Islands to observe local entrepreneurship firsthand.
Piper Davis, a junior majoring in marketing with a minor in international business, described her interactions with Irish locals as positive. “I am so grateful to our professors, Marina and Anne – they were the perfect team to make this trip such a success,” Davis said. “We met with insanely impressive companies and through our interactions I learned so much about international business.”
Ruby Waller, a junior studying business management, added: “Study abroad courses give students the opportunity to engage deeply with the world and apply their learnings in real-world situations.”
Nessa Cronin from University of Galway spoke to the class about Irish history as part of their curriculum. Watson commented that engaging with local culture helped deepen student understanding beyond classroom theory.
Calabrese and Watson found that teaching abroad fostered closer relationships among participants than traditional campus settings allowed. They plan to recommend offering BMGT 205 in Ireland again next year.
“Our visit just lined up so beautifully with the things we were teaching in class,” Watson said.
According to Montana State University data https://www.montana.edu/international/studyabroad/, 244 students took part in individual study abroad experiences during 2024-25 while 230 joined faculty- or staff-led programs spanning 21 countries except Antarctica.
