Reports 2015

-Ireland

-North America

-Canada

-Europe

-IASIL Japan

-Other Countries

 

Ireland – submitted by Claire Connolly

The report indicates some of the wealth of research events and public lectures that took place in Irish universities during the last year. Last year saw notable developments in the living tradition of Irish writing with developments and appointments in creative writing in many campuses. A listing of taught masters programmes and related research opportunities at Irish universities may be found on the IASIL website.

Queens University Belfast

  • Prof Moyra Haslett hosted the Irish Song Symposium, 18-19 September, 2014, organized in association with the AHRC-funded research project on Irish song, which aims to develop an historical typology of Irish Song, from the earliest examples through to c.1800.

NUI Galway

  • IRC Postdoctoral Fellow Dr David Clare co-organised the 12th Annual Irish Theatrical Diaspora Conference on the theme of Dublin’s Gate Theatre took place on 30 April and 1 May 2015 at the Gate Theatre In Dublin.

NUI Maynooth

  • Oona Frawley was an organizer of the “Ireland’s Others: the 21st Australasian Irish Studies Conference” at Maynooth University, June 2015.
  • Oona Frawley’s debut novel, Flight (Tramp Press, 2014), set in Ireland in 2004, has been a Book On One choice on RTÉ radio and was shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards for Newcomer of the Year.

Trinity College Dublin

  • A conference on ‘Between Places and Spaces: Landscapes and Liminality’, organised by Bernice Murphy, was held on 5-6 June at which Chris Morash gave the opening address.
  • Ian Campbell Ross was the co-editor of a special issue of Eire-Ireland (Spring-Summer 2014) on ‘Irish Crime Since 1921’
  • The ‘Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu Bicentenary Conference’ was held on 15-16 October, organised by Jarlath Killeen and Valeria Cavalli.
  • Paula Meehan, the Ireland Professor of Poetry, who is in residence in Trinity this year, gave her public lecture on ‘The Solace of Artemis’ on 27 November. This, like all the other major public lectures in the School for 2014-15, is available on podcast: http://www.tcd.ie/English/literary-arts/Podcasts.php
  • Paul Muldoon gave a reading on 4 December, the evening before he was awarded an Honorary LittD by Trinity.
  • There was a celebration of the achievement of Derek Mahon on 10 April, fifty years after his first publication, with readings of the poems by Stephen Rea and a lecture by Hugh Haughton.
  • Colm Tóibín gave a public lecture on ‘The Embrace of Love: Being Gay in Ireland Today’ ahead of a panel discussion on ‘Same-sex Relationships in Literature’ organised by Pádraic White and Brendan O’Connell of the School of English in association with the Long Room Hub on 14 May: the other panellists were Danielle Clarke, Heather Ingman and Paul Delaney.

St Patrick’s College

  • Marina Carr joined the English Department in 2014 as Creative Director of the MA in Theatre Studies.
  • Kevin Power is Creative Writing Fellow 2014-2016
  • In April 2014, the English Department hosted a two-day conference, ‘Ireland and America: The Writer and the Nation’, organised by Dr Louise Callinan,

University College Cork

  • The School of English hosted the Annual Conference of the Eighteenth-Century Ireland Society, organized by Dr Clíona Ó Gallchoir, 12-14 June 2015.
  • UCC got its literary journal back in April 2015 month when the new-look Quarryman was re-issued, edited by the inaugural MA in Creative Writing class.
  • The School of English in collaboration with UCC Library hosted a series of public readings, including Kevin Barry, Colin Barrett and Vona Groarke.
  • In January 2015, Mary Morrissy was appointed as Lecturer in Creative Writing at UCC. Leanne O’Sullivan continued as Writer in Residence last year while Carmel Winters was appointed as UCC’s inaugural Film Artist in Residence. During the year Carmel Winters hosted a public discussion during Film Festival and also took place in a Q&A about her award-winning film Snap in UCC.
  • Two Masters programmes in the School of English have been granted dedicated Fulbright awards for the 2016/17 academic year.  One US student on the MA in Creative Writing and the MA in Irish Writing and Film will qualify for a tuition fee waiver plus a stipend of up to €15,000.  The Fulbright Commission of Ireland annually awards grants to Irish and EU postgraduate students, scholars, and professional to study, research and lecture in the US and for Americans to do the same in Ireland. The closing date to apply for these awards is October 3, 2015. See http://us.fulbrightonline.org/countries/selected country/ireland

University College Dublin

  • In the past year, Irish literary activities at University College Dublin have included the ‘Methodologies of Memory’ lecture series and ‘Ways of Representing the Past: Documentary Theatre in Ireland and Brazil’, and subsequent podcasts, all from the Irish Memory Studies Network, under the direction of Dr Emilie Pine. For information and access to podcasts, see http://www.ucd.ie/humanities/research/irishmemorystudiesnetwork/
  • Recent UCD Scholarcast series (http://www.ucd.ie/scholarcast/) include ‘Modalities of Revival’  and ‘Dublin, One City, One Book 2015- The Barrytown Trilogy’.
  • Conferences from UCD colleagues in the past year have included the symposium ‘The Irish Sea: History, Culture, Environment’ (organized by Professor John Brannigan) and ‘Melancholia’ (Dr Anne Mulhall; podcasts of both events are available from the UCD Humanities Institute website.
  • In the past year, a number of international student bursaries were launched for the MA in Anglo-Irish Literature including the Maria Helena Kopschitz MA bursary (Ireland-Brazil) at UCD and the Gus Martin Memorial Scholarship (Ireland-North America). The inaugural Maria Helena Kopschitz Lecture was given by Dr Beatriz Kopschitz Bastos in November 2014 and can be accessed at http://www.ucdfoundation.ie/c/story/memorial-gifts/name,234442,en.html
  • UCD has launched a substantial programme of activities under its Decade of Centenaries commemoration programme (http://centenaries.ucd.ie/); recent literary events include the Yeats in Print symposium, organized by Dr Lucy Collins, and Yeats’s Statements: A Writers’ Colloquium (including Colm Toibin, Eavan Boland, John McAuliffe and Lavinia Greenlaw) organized by Professor Margaret Kelleher (video recording available). June 2015 saw the Thomas MacDonagh conference organized by the Irish Revival Network.

University of Limerick

  • As part of Limerick City of Culture 2014, UL played host to a programme of visiting writers including Colin Barrett, Christine Dwyer Hickey and Claire Keegan. Other writers who gave public readings at UL and in the city were Kevin Barry, Paul Lynch, and Paula Meehan.
  • IMPAC award-winning novelist Colum McCann took part in a Public Interview with Professor Joseph O’Connor in UL in November 2014.
  • Donal Ryan, UL Arts Council Writer in Residence, was announced as winner of the European Union Prize for Literature for his debut novel, The Spinning Heart.
  • Joseph O’Connor’s inaugural lecture as Frank McCourt Professor of Creative Writing also took place in April 2015. The lecture is entitled: “Ghost Light: John Synge and Molly Allgood, a lecture through fiction, letters and music” and Professor O’Connor was joined onstage by the musician, Martin Hayes.
  • UL’s Centre for Irish-German Studies held a colloquium on the reception of refugees at the Royal Irish Academy with support of the Irish Research Council on 19 November 2014.
  • Dr Michael Griffin was joint winner of the 2015 Archibald Elias ASECS (American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies) Irish-American Research Fellowship.
  • The Irish and Japanese departments celebrated publication of the first Japanese translation of Brian Merriman’s earthy 18th century poem, Cúirt an Mheán Oíche /The Midnight Court in March. The project leader of the translation, Professor Kuninao Nashimoto, lectured in Japanese in UL for 11 years in the 1990s and, along with his wife, Kishiko, laid the foundations of Japanese as a subject in
  • March also saw the establishment of a W. B. Yeats Scholarship with the University of São Paulo in Brazil (USP), launched by Professor Meg Harper during her visit to USP. The scholarship will support students from USP to study at UL.
  • In May 2015 UL hosted a three-day international conference on “Women and Ageing: New Cultural and Critical Perspectives”, organised by faculty in English and German, Dr Cathy McGlynn, Dr Maggie O’Neill and Dr Michaela Schrage-Früh.

North America: submitted by José Lanters, Vice Chair

Irish Studies in North America, 2014.

Many Irish Studies-related events happen in North America every year, on a local, regional, and national level. This is only a selection.

Conferences and Association Events

The joint annual international meeting of the American Conference for Irish Studies (ACIS) and the Canadian Association for Irish Studies (CAIS) was held June 11-14, 2014, at University College Dublin. Plenary speakers were Declan Kiberd, Kevin Kenny, Eugenio Biagini, Seamus Smyth, and Paige Reynolds. There were readings by Joseph O’Connor, Frank McGuinness, Liam O Muirthile and Biddy Jenkinson, and Paula Meehan.

Annual regional ACIS conferences were also held in 2014 in Fairfax, VA  (Oct. 10-11, Mid-Atlantic), Rochester, MI  (Nov. 7-8, Midwest), Norton, MA (Nov. 21-22, New England), Santa Fe, NM (Oct. 24-26, Western), and Rome, GA (Feb. 20-21, Southern).

ACIS awarded five book prizes and a dissertation prize. For all information about past and future ACIS events, see http://www.acisweb.org. For all information about past and future CAIS events, see http://www.irishstudies.ca.

The annual meeting of the Celtic Studies Association of North America was hosted by Virginia Tech at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center, Roanoke, Virginia on March 6-8, 2014.

At the 2014 MLA convention in Chicago, IL (January 9-12), sessions were sponsored by ACIS (“Ireland after the Celtic Tiger”), the Anglo-Irish Literature Discussion Group (“Transatlantic Ireland”), the International James Joyce Foundation (“Legal Joyce”), and the Celtic Languages and Literatures Discussion Group (“Explorations in Celtic Languages and Literatures”).

Film Festivals

Irish/Celtic Film Festivals were held in many places in 2014, including Chicago, IL, Madison, WI, Boston, Mass., New Orleans, LA, San Francisco, CA, and Toronto, Canada.

Journals

The main Irish Studies journals published in North America are Breac (breac.nd.edu), the Canadian Journal of Irish Studies, Eire-Ireland, the James Joyce Quarterly, the Field Day Review (annual), and New Hibernia Review.

Canada: Submitted by Susan Cahill, North American Representative

Conferences

CAIS/ACIS Dublin 2014: “Latitudes: Irish Studies in an international context.”

Joint meeting of the American Conference for Irish Studies and the Canadian Association of Irish Studies took place from June 11 to June 14 in University College Dublin. Plenary speakers included Declan Kiberd, Eugenio Biagini, and Kevin Kenny

Reviews of the conference can be found here: http://breac.nd.edu/articles/49094-acis-cais-2014-continuing-the-conversation/

Speakers series

The speaker program of the School of Canadian Irish Studies, Concordia University, Montreal included talks by Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire, Alvin Jackson, Derek Gladwin, Malcolm Sen, Theresa Reidy, Hiram Morgan, and Ruth Canning. The O’Brien Visiting Scholar was Theresa Reidy of University College Cork.

The 4th annual Marianna O’Gallagher Lecture was given by geographer William J. Smyth

St Mary’s University, Halifax hosted talks by Mark McGowan and writer Emma Donoghue

Both Concordia University, Montreal and St Mary’s, Halifax hosted talks by Miss Panti Bliss.

Journal issues

A new issue of Canadian Journal of Irish Studies (Volume 38, nos. 1&2, 2014) has been published.   More information and the table of contents can be found:

http://www.irishstudies.ca/canadian-journal-of-irish-studies/current-issue/

Film Festivals

Toronto Irish Film Festival March 2014. For more information: http://torontoirishfilmfestival.com/about/

Ciné Gael Montreal Irish Film Series 2014: http://www.cinegaelmontreal.com/season2014.htm

Irish Film Festival Ottawa: http://pamurray73.wix.com/irishfilmfestivalott

Irish Film Series (Irish Studies, St. Mary’s, Centre for European Studies at Dalhousie University and the Canada Research Chair in Contemporary Film and Media Studies at Nova Scotia Centre of Art and Design University.) showed 12 Days in July, Sisters of the Lodge, and Waveriders

Other events:

Bloomsday was celebrated in Montreal with a five-day festival. Marilyn Reizbaum gave a keynote lecture on “Joyce, Ulysses, and the Jews”. http://bloomsdaymontreal.com/2013/12/29/bloomsday-2014-is-up-and-running/

Bloomsday was also celebrated in Toronto and Ottawa and for the first time in Vancouver. 

Europe: submitted by Ondřej Pilný, Vice-Chair

  • 2014/2015 has been another busy period in Irish literary studies in Europe. The year was marked by several important anniversaries, including 150 years from the birth of W.B. Yeats. Events dedicated to the poet have been held across Europe and a number of publications focused on Yeats’s work are forthcoming. Furthermore, EFACIS has triggered a major European project entitled “Yeats Reborn”, as part of which a selection of the poems, plays and essays have been translated into 20 languages. Of the total of over 200 translations, 120 will be published in a book which is to be launched at a Yeats conference in Leuven in December. The entire corpus of translations with commentaries will appear on the website of the project later this year.
  • The French Irish studies association SOFEIR has held its 2015 conference in Paris in three universities (Paris 13, Paris Sorbonne, Sorbonne-Nouvelle – Paris 3) with more than 65 papers. The association has voted in a new, energetic board chaired by Professor Anne Goarzin. The local Irish studies centres in Rennes, Lille, Caen and Paris have been particularly active with conferences and publications. Moreover, the continued presence of the Famine as a required topic for the French Agrégation (the highest national competitive exam for future teachers) has meant that Irish history and culture has maintained a high profile over the last year in France.
  • Despite the ongoing effects of the financial cutbacks, Spain has still seen a number of activities focused on Irish culture being undertaken. The Spanish Association for Irish Studies AEDEI held their annual conference in Granada in May 2015, where a new board of the association was elected (chaired by Dr Asier Altuna). The Spanish James Joyce Society held their conference in Palma de Mallorca, and The “Amergin” Research Institute in Galicia has been working on projects with the Rennes Irish Studies Centre and collaborating with minority-language associations in Ireland, Wales and Scotland. The AEDEI e-journal continues to appear each year in March (http://www.estudiosirlandeses.org/) with Rosa González (University of Barcelona) as general editor. The Yeats Reborn project saw translations of the poet’s work into all four official languages of the Spanish state, Catalan, Basque, Galician and Castilian.
  • The Nordic Irish Studies Network reports a healthy situation of Irish studies in Scandinavia and the rest of Northern Europe, with strong centres in Dalarna, Sweden and Aarhus in Denmark, and many activities being carried out in Norway and Finland. The next conference of NISN will be held at the University of Oulu, Finland in connection with the local Irish Festival in October 2016.
  • In Hungary, the very active Hungarian Yeats Society (founded in 2014 and based in Budapest, Debrecen and Pécs) has been involved in a number of events, including a “W.B. Yeats Today” conference held at the Petőfi Museum of Literature in Budapest in April 2015. The Yeats Reborn project was very warmly received in Hungary, with a number of high-quality translations undertaken by diverse writers and scholars. The highlight in terms of important publications initiated from Hungary was the volume of essays edited by Prof. Donald E. Morse in tribute of the former IASIL President, Prof. Christpher Murray (Irish Theatre in Transition, Palgrave 2015).
  • Apart from being the hub of the Yeats Reborn project, the Leuven Centre for Irish Studies in Belgium will be hosting a major Yeats conference in December, and has planned a Trollope conference and a lecture series for next year. Its excellent biannual PhD seminar in Irish Studies took place in September 2014, with another round to take place in late August 2016. Members of the Centre have published important collections of essays on the Irish short story and on the Famine.
  • The study of Irish literatures has continued to thrive in Austria, with the University of Vienna catering in particular for the current interest in the works of Flann O’Brien, being the residence of the International Flann O’Brien Society and publishing the admirable online journal, The Parish Review. The IASIL conference is projected to be held in the Austrian capital in 2017.
  • Conferences hosted by the Centre for Irish Studies in Prague, Czech Republic have included “Irish Theatre and Central Europe”: The 11th Annual Irish Theatrical Diaspora Conference (September 2014), which brought together practitioners and scholars from 8 European countries; a volume of essays will be forthcoming as a thematic issue of the Litteraria Pragensia journal in January 2016. The third International Flann O’Brien conference, focused on the theme of “Metamorphoses”, will take place at Charles University in September 2015. The period saw the publication of the first edited volume dedicated to Czech-Irish relations, and a book dedicated to the so far largely neglected story of the Irish Franciscans in Bohemia. The new translations of Yeats’s poetry by graduates and students of the Centre which were solicited for the Yeats Reborn project will be read at an evening dedicated to the work of W.B. Yeats hosted by the Embassy of Ireland in Prague in November, featuring a talk by Roy Foster.
  • An admirable resurgence of Irish literary and cultural studies has been taking place in Italy. Apart from the well-established James Joyce summer school in Trieste, numerous events and conferences were held at universities in Florence, Milan, Rome (Roma Tre), Palermo, Sassari, and Turin. A multidisciplinary Working Group was established at the European University Institute in Florence and the University of Perugia. Particular highlights in terms of conferences were the “Brendan Behan: Rescuing the Writer from the Myth” conference hosted by the Roma Tre University together with the University of Notre Dame in September 2014, and the biannual conference of EFACIS held at the university of Palermo in June 2015 (featuring over 100 papers).
  • A group of young scholars across Germany has been involved in restoring the traditionally strong interest in Irish writing, language and culture. Prof. Katharina Rennhak has been particularly active in this respect, having organized a workshop for German PhD students at the University of Wuppertal in January 2015 and a popular series of “movie lectures”. Upcoming events in Wuppertal include a conference on “Narratives of Romanticism” with a strong Irish focus (October 2015) and a Walter Macken Centenary Symposium (December 2015).
  • Irish writers, artists and musicians have continued to tour several circuits in Europe as part of the EFACIS Irish Itinerary, co-funded by Culture Ireland and individual host institutions. Details of the vibrant events hosted within the Itinerary may be found on the EFACIS website (http://www.efacis.org/irish-itinerary/index.php).
  • Irish literary and cultural studies in continental Europe have long been characterised by the presence of vigorous peer-reviewed journals, particularly Études irlandaises and Nordic Irish Studies. These have been complemented by the online periodicals Estudios Irlandeses (in its tenth year now) and Studi irlandesi (in its fifth year). The editors of all these periodicals deserve particular credit for maintaining their publishing platforms in a climate where it is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain academic journals.
  • The role of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and the Irish diplomatic corps in supporting Irish literary and cultural events in Europe has been essential. The funding, relentless assistance and good will have helped the study of Irish literature to thrive. Moreover, the enhanced support scheme for Irish language teaching abroad provided by the Department of Arts, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht has facilitated the teaching of the language in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, France, Sweden, and the U.K., the U.S. and Canada.

IASIL Japan: Submitted by Yoko Sato, President

IASIL JAPAN annually holds a conference and publishes an academic journal, the Journal of Irish Studies (JIS). We held our 31st conference on 11-12 October 2014 at Waseda University, under the theme: ‘Ireland: Altered Images.’ As our special guest speaker, we invited the renowned journalist, Fintan O’Toole, with the support of the Cultural Section, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ireland and the Embassy of Ireland, Tokyo. The other special guest at the conference this year was the prominent Irish scholar, Prof. Anne Fogarty.

Fintan O’Toole gave a special lecture entitled, ‘What is Irish about Irish Culture.’ His inspiring lecture on a wide range of the topic impressed the audience very much. Mr O’Toole also participated as a commentator for the symposium, ‘Images of Irish Culture.’ Professor Fogarty gave a lecture entitled ‘“It was like a baby crying”: Representations of Childhood in Contemporary Irish Fiction,’ and gave insightful comments on the symposium ‘James Joyce and World Literature.’ Prof. Eukyung Chun, a former President of the James Joyce Society of Korea, joined this symposium as a special panelist. A number of papers on Irish studies were read by our members, including researchers from Taiwan and Korea.

The annual 2015 conference will be held at the Prefectural University of Hiroshima on 3-4 October, with guest speakers, poet Moya Cannon and Prof. Patrick Crotty from University of Aberdeen.

Regarding JIS, in its 29th issue, published in October 2014, there were tributes to Seamus Heaney, a number of refereed articles, reviews, and a poem by Gerard Fanning, our special guest at the 2013 IASIL Japan conference.

Another important activity in Japan which must be mentioned is the series of events connected to ‘Yeats Day in Japan’. In 2014, there were lectures held throughout the year in Tokyo and Osaka in cooperation with IASIL Japan members. In June 2015, a special event to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of W.B. Yeats was organized, with contributions from IASIL Japan members.

We are very happy to report that the study of Irish literature and the promotion of public awareness of Irish culture continue to be pursued with enthusiasm in a number of ways in Japan.

Other Countries:

Brazil – Submitted by Laura Izarra

This report describes the various activities of Irish Studies in Brazil divided in sections according to the various Institutions that organized and hosted them.

  • The Brazilian Association of Irish Studies (ABEI), founded in 1989, promotes a symposium and a Seminar yearly, since 2006:
  • IX Symposium of Irish Studies in South America at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (25-27 August 2014): “Transnational Irelands” with the participation of Nicholas Grene and Ciaran O’Neill from TCD, and playwright and novelist Declan Hughes. Co-organizer & host: Dr. Elisa Abrantes (UFRRJ).
  • Acknowledgement to Bernardo O’Higgins: his presence in South America. Rio de Janeiro. February 2015. Co-organizer: Patricia de Aquino Prudente (PhD/USP)
  • IV Jornada de Estudos Irlandeses (Seminar) at UNIANDRADE, Curitiba, 17-18 June, 2015: “Literaturas em contato: temas, tendências e transações” / “Literatures in contact: themes, trends and transactions”. This event is organized by the postgraduate students of the University of São Paulo developing research on Irish Studies who are members of the Association and are preparing themselves to act as professionals in the field. Co-organizers: Mail Marques de Azevedo (UNIANDRADE), Camila Batista (MA/USP), Mariana Bolfarine (PhD/USP), Thiago Moyano (MA/USP) and Patricia de Aquino Prudente (PhD/USP).
  • Publication: ABEI Journal 16 (November) 2014 focusing in its first section the centenary of James Joyce’s Dubliners from the perspective of its various translations in Brazil and abroad.
  • Scholarship: Launch of ABEI/Haddad Fellowship for Brazilian students: Trinity College Dublin, 16th June 2015.

 

  • The University of São Paulo:
  • WB Yeats Chair of Irish Studies:
    • 17 March 2015: 150 Years of WBYeats. The Minister for Education and Skills of Ireland, Jan O’Sullivan, officially opened the 2015 activities. Professor Ann Saddlemyer (University of Toronto, Canada) lectured on “W.B. Yeats as a collaborative poet” and Prof. Margaret Mills Harper (University of Limerick and Chair of the International Yeats Society) spoke about “The Rhythm of A Vision”. Two Brazilian specialists, Prof. Luiz Fernando Ramos (USP) and Prof. Christine Greiner (PUC), gave lectures on Yeats and Craig and the Noh theatre.
  • Undergraduate course by Laura Izarra onthe Irish novel on the Great Wars (August-Dec. 2014)
  • Postgraduate course by Munira Mutran and Luiz Fernando Ramos “A parceria entre WB Yeats e Gordon Craig” (“The partnership between WB Yeats and G. Craig”). March-April 2015.
  • SPeCTReSS – Social Performances of Cultural Trauma and the Rebuilding of solid Sovereignties is an international and interdisciplinary project funded by Marie Curie Research Foundation and congregates nine universities led by Trinity College Dublin (the Hub). The mobility for research involves experienced researchers and beginners. USP received scholars Ciaran O’Neill (TCD, 2014), Tihomir Cipek (Zagreb University, 2015) and other specialists are coming from Poland, Bochum, Estonia. There are 12 participants from USP (Coord. Laura P.Z. Izarra and gathers 5 professors and 7 postgraduates from different USP’s colleges).
  • Bloomsday at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro: Translation and Adaptation, organized by Vitor Alevato (Chair’s researcher).
  • Colloquium with postgraduate students and guest speakers Ann Saddlemyer and Margaret Mills Harper. Orgs. Mariana Bolfarine and Caroline Moreira Eufrausino (PhD/USP).
  • Postgraduate Course on the Irish short story given by Laura Izarra at University of La Pampa, Argentina. March 2015. Org. Maria Graciela Eliggi (UNLPam).

 

  • Ireland Day at USP- 24 April 2015. Org. Sarah O’Sullivan (Education Ireland), USP’s International Relations Office.
  • Language Education at USP is also an international exchange programme focusing undergraduate and postgraduate proficiency as students need it to be admitted by universities abroad. Dr. Colin Flynn from the School of Communications of Trinity College Dublin was two months at USP (April-June) and drew parallels between the teaching of Irish language and English as a foreign language.
  • Irish Universities agreements with USP: This is an important way to consolidate Irish Studies in Brazil looking forward to establishing new knowledge networks for the immediate future.
  • National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
  • Queen’s University Belfast
  • Yeats Society/Yeats Summer School, Sligo. It offers a yearly scholarship to the Chair of Irish Studies.
  • University of Limerick. It offers a WB Yeats scholarship for an MA in Critical Irish Studies.
  • University College Cork. It offers a scholarship for the Summer School of Irish Studies.
  • Uversity gave an MA scholarship in Arts (2014-2015).

 

  • UNESP São José do Rio Preto: Course: “Contemporary Irish Theatre”, July-August 2014, with Dr. Domingos Nunez.

 

  • Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC):
    • Open Seminar: “Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s Film Work in Context: The early films, The Woman Who Married Clark Gable (1985) and Stella Days (2011)”. October, 2014, with Dr. Beatriz Kopschitz Bastos.
    •  Film festival and series of seminars – “Irish Lives: The Cinema of Alan Gilsenan”, parts I and II, 8th April and 29th June 2015.

 

  • Cia Ludens – continuing project: “Cia Ludens and the Irish Documentary Theatre”. Workshops: São Paulo, July 2014; UCD, November 2014; São Paulo, May 2015; Florianópolis, June 2015.

 

  • Scholarship
  • Launch of The Maria Helena Kopschitz Scholarship: UCD, November 2014.

 

  • Book Publications
  • Annunciação, Viviane Carvalho da. Exile, Home and City. São Paulo: Humanitas, 2015.
  • McCracken, Kathleen. Duplo autorretrato com espelho. Beatriz Kopschitz Bastos; trans. José Roberto O’Shea. São Paulo: Ex-Machina, 2014.   Launches: São Paulo, Florianópolis and Belfast.
  • Mutran, Munira H. A Batalha das Estéticas. Série Da Irlanda para o Brasil. Laura Izarra. São Paulo: Humanitas, 2015.
  • Mutran, Munira H. & Laura Izarra. Lectures 2013. São Paulo: Humanitas, 2014.

 

  • BLOOMSDAY 2015

As in previous years, Bloomsday is celebrated in different cities in Brazil. In São Paulo it is organized by Marcelo Tapia at Finnegans Pub. It was celebrated in Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro, Natal, Belo Horizonte, Santa Maria.

  • Participation in international and national events:
    • Beatriz Kopschitz Bastos: IASIL 2014; “Ways of Representing the Past: Documentary Theatre in Ireland and Brazil”, UCD, November 2014; IV Jornada de Estudos Irlandeses, June 2015.
  • Various members of ABEI, staff and students from the Postgraduate Programme of Irish Studies at USP: two conferences at Radboud University Nijmegen on Irish memory and famine, migration and diaspora, AEDEI 2015, ABRAPUI 2014, IX Symposium of Irish Studies in South America 2014, IV Jornada de Estudos Irlandeses (2015), courses (2015) and many other events.