Call for Papers -- SIUC 2012

Here is the call for papers for the Irish Studies Forum conference:

"The Exile Adrift: Ireland in a Global Context
Saturday, April 7th, 2012
Southern Illinois University Carbondale – Student Center
Keynote – Dan Wiley

“I am Irish by race, but the English have condemned me to speak the language of Shakespeare.” –    Oscar Wilde

Being robbed of your own language, as Wilde mentions above, is just one of the many substantial alterations Irish life and national identity have been “condemned to.”  Ireland’s emigration rate has been shockingly high going back centuries, from the harsh Penal Laws enacted in 1704 intended to repress Irish Catholics, to the Great Famine from 1845-1875, and on into the late 1960s.  As a result, the Irish have had an incredible influence in literature, art, film, music, and history internationally.  This colloquium aims to examine in detail these influences and their effects, both at home and abroad.  Irish Studies Forum is asking for proposals on any area of Irish or Celtic studies that fits into a conversation about how the Irish have comparatively had a substantial global impact, and also the potential Irish identity formed by these various impacts.  What Irish identities are created, for example, by “speaking the language of Shakespeare”?  Graduate students are particularly encouraged to submit.  Please keep abstracts to 250 words, make sure to include requests for AV, and e-mail them to Karen Heinemann by March 1st.  See you then!

Marshall Johnson, President
Jason Kirker, Vice President
Brian Cook, Treasurer
Karen Heinemann, Secretary"