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New England
ACIS Regional Conference, November 12-13, 2010,
Framingham
State University,
Framingham, Massachusetts
www.framingham.edu/2010-neacis
![[Lir+stamp+rough.jpg]](neacis_files/image002.jpg)
The Children of Lir, draft image for An Post, by permission of PJ Lynch
The
Country of the Young: Interpretations of Youth and Childhood in Irish Culture
“That
is no country for old men,” declared W. B. Yeats in “Sailing to Byzantium,”
describing his native land’s fascination with youth and legends of
rebirth. Some fifteen years later, Taoiseach Eamon de Valera summoned
an idyllic version of Irish childhood when he pledged his commitment to an
ideal Ireland
of happy maidens, sturdy children, and athletic youths. Such images
have been challenged by recent controversy over the experiences of children
within Church-sponsored schools, as well as by popular memoirs such as Angela’s
Ashes and Are You Somebody? – all
of which yield fertile ground for exploration and discussion in this
year’s New England ACIS regional conference. Papers are welcome
on such topics as historical depictions of childhood, contemporary youth
culture, schooling in Ireland,
children’s literature, definitions of Irish boyhood and girlhood,
memoirs of childhood and adolescence, and images of Ireland as an infant or ancient
nation. Our list of plenary speakers includes Dr. James Smith,
playwright Damian Gorman, and Maurice Fitzpatrick, writer and co-producer of The
Boys of St. Columb’s. Further information can be found on the
conference website, www.framingham.edu/2010-neacis.
Papers
in all Irish Studies disciplines are encouraged, as are all papers on Irish
subjects that do not specifically address the conference theme.
Graduate students are particularly encouraged to participate. Proposals
for panels are welcome.
Papers
should not exceed 20 minutes in length. Please send abstracts of no
more than 250 words to Kelly Matthews, Assistant Professor, Department of
English, Framingham
State University,
kmatthews@framingham.edu.
The deadline for submission is September 10, 2010.
We hope to publish a collection of essays on the
conference theme, and encourage each presenter interested in
publication to submit an expanded version of his or her conference paper for
editorial consideration. The
collection editors will be Dr. Kelly Matthews and Dr. John Countryman of Berry College, Georgia.
Essays to be
considered for publication should be 6000-8000 words in length,
double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font. Please include a brief
author’s biography which lists affiliations and previous publications.
Two hard copies and an electronic attachment of the
manuscript should be sent to Dr. Kelly Matthews, Department of
English, Framingham
State University,
100 State Street, Framingham, MA 01701, kmatthews@framingham.edu, by
Friday, November 12, 2010.
Framingham
State University
is located 20 miles west of Boston,
with convenient access to the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90). The
Sheraton Tara hotel in Framingham
will offer a reduced room rate of $109 per night for conference attendees,
and will provide complimentary shuttle service between the hotel and the
college. An airport shuttle service is available from Logan Airport
in Boston,
with reduced rates for those sharing transport.
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