LIMERICK 2000
The 38th Annual Meeting of ACIS will be held at the University of Limerick, June 26-July 1, 2000. Papers and presentations in all disciplines relevant to Irish studies are welcome. Though no theme has been selected, inevitably the year 2000 will give rise to a backward look, appraisal of current activity and some predictions. Individual and panel proposals should be sent to Nancy Curtin, Dept. of History, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458. E-mail:curtin@fordham.edu. Phone: (718) 817-3931. Fax: (718) 817-4680. Individual proposals should include a one-page abstract (up to 250 words) highlighting the paper's argument and methodology. Panel proposals should include a cover letter explaining the theme of the session and the role of each panelist in elucidating the theme, along with the one-page abstracts. In the case of roundtable proposals, abstracts from each participant are not required. Submit abstracts by September 30, 1999, including mailing and e-mail addresses, phone and fax numbers. All participants must be current ACIS members. Registration fees will be IRpunt 135 (IRpunt 100 for graduate students), with an additional IRpunt 25 for the banquet.
For inquiries regarding the site and accomodations, contact the conference organizer: Liam Ó Dochartaigh, ACIS 2000, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland. Phone: 353-61-202322. E-mail: liam.odochartaigh@ul.ie Fax: 353-61-202556. Further information, including names of plenary speakers, will be included in the Winter Newsletter.
Limerick and the Shannon Region
Limerick is a vibrant city of considerable historic and literary interest. Founded by the Vikings in the 10th century, it is Ireland's oldest chartered city. An ambitious program of restoration and urban renewal has been implemented in recent years restoring historical structures and successfully blending new buildings with old. Limerick lies at the heart of the Shannon Region in Ireland's mid-west, a region which offers spectacular landscape, heritage attractions, leisure activities and cultural pursuits.
University of Limerick
Established in 1972, the University of Limerick on the Plassey estate just 2 miles from the City, quickly gained a reputation among Irish universities for innovation in the design and delivery of its courses, excellence in academic standards and relevance to the needs of the developing Irish economy, particularly in the area of advanced technology and in the context of Ireland's membership in the European Union.
The University has become a focus for a wide range of artistic activity and is home to some fine collections of Irish Art, the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Irish World Music Centre.
Travelling to Limerick
There are direct flights (scheduled and charter) into Shannon Airport (30 minutes drive from UL) from Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York JFK, Sanford (Florida) and Toronto. There are also frequent daily flights to Shannon from London (1 hour 10 minutes). The Conference organizers will arrange coach transfers between Shannon and UL on the first and last days of ACIS 2000. Travel time by train to and from Dublin is 2 hours 10 minutes with some 12 trains per day each way on weekdays.
Accommodations for ACIS 2000
Comfortable accommodations at reasonable rates (IRpunt 25.00 per night
for bed and breakfast) during the ACIS meeting at UL will be in Kilmurry
Village, an attractive residential village on campus. This complex comprises
6/8 bedroom terraced houses with large kitchen/living room and two bathroom
facilities in each house. Continental breakfast will be delivered to the
houses and a daily cleaning service is provided. Kilmurry Village borders
the River Shannon and is adjacent to the main sport facilities on campus,
including tennis courts, a running track and an indoor swimming pool.
Irish Studies at UL
University of Limerick offers a full undergraduate degree programme in Irish Studies which combines courses in Irish language and literature and other courses in Irish Studies (Irish literature in English, modern Irish history, Irish folklore and Irish traditional music) with the study of a continental European language (French or German or Spanish). Faculty and postgraduate research in all of these areas is being facilitated and encouraged by the University particularly through the Humanities Graduate Research Centre and the Irish World Music Centre.
REGIONAL MEETINGS
New England
The 1999 regional will be held as a joint project of Elms College and Westfield State College on October 1-2. Keynote speakers are John Hume, M.P., and Margaret MacCurtain. Contact Conor Johnston at vcjohnston@aol.com for further information.
Midwest
The regional meeting will be at St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa, October 8-9, 1999. The theme is "Symbiosis in Irish Studies." For further information contact Charles Fanning, English Department, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901. Fax: 618-453-6889. E-mail: celtic42@siu.edu.
Nominations for the position of Midwest Representative of ACIS may be sent to Larry McCaffrey, Chair of Nominations Committee, at 1227 Maple Avenue, Evanston, IL 60202, or by e-mail to Larry: ljpmcc@email.msn.com.
Western
The regional will be at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA, October 22-24. The theme is AThe Second Coming: Ireland at the Millennium.@ This year Robert Tracy is being honored for his committment to Irish studies with a special session devoted to his new book, The Unappeasable Host. For further information contact Audrey S. Eyler, English Department, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA 98447. E-mail: eyleras@plu.edu
Mid-Atlantic
The Mid-Atlantic Regional meeting will take place on October 29-30 at
the University of Del., Newark, DE. The theme will be "Authenticating the
self and the nation: Irish culture and society, 1800-2000," focusing on
the Irish search, since the Act of Union, for the legitimate or the authentic
in literature, the arts, social and political relations, which has often
resulted in "delegitimizing" other forces. The meeting will feature a keynote
speech by Prof. J.J. Lee of University College Cork, spending the 1999-2000
academic year at New York University. For futher information contact Robert
Mahony at mahony@cua.edu.
Southern
The 2000 regional meeting will be a conference cruise on board the Carnival Ecstasy sailing from Miami to Nassau (and back) February 4-7. Entitled "The Irish in the Atlantic World," it will focus particularly on the Irish Diaspora. Contact Richard Bizot, English Dept., Univ. of North Florida (Rbizot@gw.unf.edu) or conference organizer Jim Doan (doan@polaris.nova.edu) for further information.
ELECTION RESULTS
The following were elected as new officers of ACIS:
President Nancy Curtin
Vice-President Michael Patrick Gillespie
Arts Representative Stephen Watt
Celtic Studies Representative Lisa M. Bitel
History Representative Timothy J. Meagher
Irish Language Representative Cóilín Owens
Literature Representative Guinn Batten
Social Science Representative David W. Miller
Congratulations to all those elected.
JOB ANNOUNCEMENT
Boston College Irish Studies Program
The English Department and the Irish Studies Program seek a tenure-track assistant professor to join an established interdisciplinary program. We welcome applicants with expertise in Irish literature of any period (e.g. Irish-American and other literatures of the Irish diaspora, folklore and popular culture, post-colonial studies, or Irish-language literature). Experience in some areas of English or American literature is desirable. Teaching will include a range of undergraduate and graduate courses. Applications should include letter, cv, writing sample, and dossier, postmarked by November 5, 1999, and addressed to Paul Lewis, Chair, Department of English, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467. Please include self-addressed postcard for acknowledgement. Boston College is an AA/EOE employer
REPORT FROM THE NATIONAL ACIS MEETING, ROANOKE, VA (MAY 12-15, 1999)
Summary of Business Meeting Minutes
President's Report. Pres. Lucy McDiarmid described the work of several ad-hoc committees. The Ad-hoc Committee on Book Prizes, consisting of all the judges of this year's book awards, met in cyberspace and developed guidelines for their work: books may be considered for one prize only; and each separate prize committee will determine its criteria of eligibility. The Ad-hoc Committee on the Research Report Form was chaired by Dick Bizot (other members were Cheryl Herr and Gary Owens): although the old paper form is still in use this year, now members may use the ACIS Web site to put their research on record. In addition, three new categories have been added: Cinema, Cultural Studies, and Irish Language. The Ad-hoc Committee on the Future of the Annual was chaired by John Harrington (other members were Tony Bradley, Charles Fanning, Liz Mitchell, and Maureen Waters). The Committee's report recommended renewing the contract with the University of Massachusetts Press. A minority report was opposed to renewal. The Executive Committee voted to refer the matter of the Annual to the new Executive.
Pres. McDiarmid reported on our communications with ACLS: Jim MacKillop had been told that a scholarly publication was required for membership; Pres. McDiarmid, calling after the publication of Vol. I of the Annual, was told that a second volume was required, so that the publication could be confirmed as stable and continuing. The Pres. reported that the ACIS continues its affiliations with the MLA and the AHA. Cheryl Herr hopes to create an affiliation for us with the Society for Cinema Studies, and we hope to renew our former affiliation with the American Anthropological Association.
Sr. Marie Hubert Kealy and Ann Owens Weekes worked together on an Ad-hoc Committee on Regional Elections. They recommended that regional elections, when contested, be by mail ballot; and that regional representatives be limited to two terms. The Executive Committee voted that each regional representative should bring these recommendations to its membership. A report by an ad-hoc committee of former ACIS Presidents was submitted by Maureen Murphy and will be published in the Fall Newsletter. Pres. McDiarmid wrote a memo on the procedures followed by recent Nominations Committees, in the hope that such procedures could be stabilized. The Executive Committee voted to refer this matter to the new Executive. Two other ad-hoc committees, one on Program Procedures and one on the Newsletter, submitted reports which were agenda items for this meeting. Pres. McDiarmid offered thanks to the members of her Executive, noting that they were a "watershed Executive Committee" in three respects: they were the first to meet in cyberspace, and so were in continual session for almost two years; because of the changed context and form of their meeting, they were more interactive, more consultative, and more democratic; and, finally, they were more procedurally conscious than previous Executive Committees. Pres. McDiarmid quoted Henry Robert on parliamentary law: "Tradition and custom have the force of a rule until someone calls attention to the fact that they are not rules." McDiarmid said that this Executive Committee had discovered precisely to what extent the ACIS operated by "tradition and custom."
The Secretary (your new ACIS Newsletter editor) announced that currently there are over 1300 members of the organization. The Electronic Guide to Irish Studies in the United States has 63 listings for 28 states plus the District of Columbia. It was voted at the Executive meeting to have the ACIS Secretary continue maintenance of The Guide on the ACIS Web page.
The Treasurer, John Harrington, presented the Treasurer's Report. He pointed out the variation in terms of membership numbers within the year, generally falling between 1200 and 1450. At the beginning of the 1997-98 fiscal year, there were 1,247 members, with 1,434 at the end of that year. Currently, there are 1,338 members. Regarding income and expenditures, we consistently spend less and take in more.
ACIS Book Prizes
The following were the recipients of the 1998 ACIS Book Prizes (for books published in 1997): for the Donald Murphy award for a distinguished first book, Timothy Guinnane, The Vanishing Irish: Households, Migration, and the Rural Economy in Ireland, 1850-1914 (Princeton U.P. 1997); for the James S. Donnelly, Sr., prize in history or social sciences, F.H.A. Aalen, Kevin Whelan and Matthew Stout, Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape (Cork U.P., 1997); for the Michael J. Durkan prize for a book in literary criticism and related fields, John Harrington, The Irish Play on the New York Stage, 1874-1966 (U. P. of KY, 1997).
Roger McHugh Prize
Rand Brandes (Lenoir-Rhyne College) is the 1999 recipient of the Roger McHugh Prize bestowed by New Hibernia Review for his article, "'Letter by Strange Letter': Yeats, Heaney, and the Aura of the Book," which appeared in the Summer 1998 issue of NHR. The prize is named for the late Roger McHugh, first professor of Anglo-Irish Literature at UCD.
Reports of Ad-hoc Committees. Program Procedures: introduced by Nancy Curtin, Chair (other members were Liz Cullingford and Gary Owens; consultants were Jim Doan, Jim MacKillop, Lucy McDiarmid, and Johann Norstedt). These are intended to be a flexible set of procedures about the relation between the ACIS and the host institution. A motion to accept the report moved and seconded. An amendment was suggested that the host institution "may determine the plenary speakers in consultation with the program committee." The amendment carried by overwhelming majority. Another amendment was suggested adding a new clause, that "host institutions be encouraged to provide a session for the circulation and discussion of papers not otherwise presented at the conference." The question was called and carried by an overwhelming majority, 36 in favor with 42 opposed: amendment failed. The acceptance of the report was approved with 81 in favor, 0 opposed.
The Newsletter report was introduced by Andrew Wilson. A motion to accept Part One, "Contents of Newsletter," was moved and seconded. Discussion ensued. There was a motion to suspend #3 of the Standing Rules for the ACIS Annual General Meeting. Vote of 29 in favor and 30 against:, with rule maintained. The question was called and carried by an overwhelming majority. A motion to accept Part One was rejected by a vote of 6 in favor, 62 opposed. A motion was approved to withdraw "Part Two, Role of Editor."
New Business. A motion to add ACIS to list of organizations endorsing "1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, with 1970 Interpretive Comments" of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) was approved unanimously.
A motion that the Executive establish an ad-hoc subcommittee of itself to review and revise the organization's by-laws passed by overwhelming majority. Pres. McDiarmid thanked Johann Norstedt for his work on the Roanoke conference.
New Executive Committee Meeting, May 15, 1999
Kay McKeogh of Dublin City University addressed the Committee on her institution's initiative to begin making online distance education courses at DCU available to students in the United States. These programs are already in existence and accredited at DCU. She called for a working group to discuss the issues that might arise-funding, accreditation at US schools, etc. She hoped such courses would raise the profile of Irish studies in the US and make certain aspects of Irish studies available to institutions in the US with limited resources/faculty in Irish studies. The Committee discussed the proposal's benefits, details, and pitfalls. Pres. Curtin suggested that the plan and a call for members interested in the project should be published in the ACIS Newsletter.
Limerick 2000 report: Pres. Curtin nominated the following Program Committee for the national conference: Nancy Curtin, Michael Gillespie, David Miller, Lisa Bitel, and Stephen Watt. The committee was approved unanimously.
Pres. Curtin nominated the following committees, which were approved unanimously:
1) Finance Committee: Monica Brennan, Timothy Meagher, and Cóilín Owens. The following motion was proposed: That the Finance Committee consider spending on new initiatives. The motion was passed unanimously.
2) Publications Committee, whose responsibilities will include reviewing the previous Publications Committee's report, submitted by past Treasurer John Harrington, and discussing the future of ACIS publications, including the ACIS Annual: Michael Gillespie, Guinn Batten, and Charles Fanning.
3) Election Procedures Committee, whose responsibilities will include the review of the past reports, practices and traditions of the ACIS and proposal of procedures for the future: Michael Gillespie, Lucy McDiarmid, and Robert Mahony.
Pursuant to a resolution of the general business meeting, Pres. Curtin proposed a committee to review the bylaws and, if necessary, propose revisions. She recommended that Regional Representatives coordinate a review of the bylaws at regional meetings, through e-mail, etc., and to collate the responses for the Bylaw Review Committee. The Secretary will make the bylaws available to the Executive Committee in a mailing this summer. The Bylaw Review Committee will also publicize a call for review of the bylaws in the Newsletter and on the ACIS web page. The Committee will then report to the Executive Committee at the annual meeting in Limerick, at which point the Executive will discuss and revise the report to be presented eventually to the general membership for discussion and voting. She nominated the following Bylaw Review Committee: Michael Gillespie, Nancy Curtin, and Stephen Watt. The committee was approved unanimously.
Pres. Curtin proposed that the following committee revise the membership form to better reflect the profile of the ACIS membership: Kathryn Conrad, Monica Brennan, and David Miller. The committee was approved unanimously.
Pres. Curtin nominated the following Cyber-Protocol and Procedures Committee, whose responsibilities will include reporting to the Executive Committee by August 1, 1999, on suggestions for the conduct of Executive Committee business on the Internet: Conor Johnston, Richard Bizot and Kathryn Conrad. The committee was approved unanimously.
Pres. Curtin introduced the possibility of ACIS purchasing a Web site, which the Secretary will maintain. Purchasing a Website would mean that ACIS would have one dedicated site and address that would not need to move or be dependent on the good will of a host university. The Executive Committee authorized the exploration of this possibility. Discussion of what might be included on this Website ensued. Further suggestions should be directed to the Secretary.
ACIS WEB PAGE
The new ACIS Web page is http://www.acisweb.com. Announcements for the page should be sent to the ACIS Secretary, Kathryn Conrad (kconrad@ukans.edu).
ACIS AT AHA
ACIS will jointly sponsor a panel together with the American Catholic Historical Association at the AHA meeting in Chicago next January. Entitled "Popular Devotion: The Irish Experience," it will be chaired by Emmet Larkin (University of Chicago), and panelists will be Raymond Gillespie (NUI, Maynooth), "The Meaning of Religion in Seventeenth-Century Ireland."; James S. Donnelly (University of Wisconsin at Madison), "The Revival of Knock Shrine"; and Ellen Skerrett (Independent Scholar, Chicago), "The Irish Experience in Chicago's Hull House Neighborhood." Proposals for papers and/or a panel for the 2001 meeting should be sent to the ACIS History Representative: Timothy Meagher, History Department, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. 20064
ACIS AT MLA
ACIS will host two panels at the MLA in Chicago (Dec. 27-30). The first, "Literature and the Other Arts in Ireland," will be chaired by Sandra Seigel, Cornell University, and will include Mary Helen Thuente, Indiana University-Purdue University, "The Visual Politics of Irish National Identity"; James F. Knapp, University of Pittsburgh, "Historical Representation and the Cuala Press Broadsides"; Rand Brandes, Lenoir-Rhyne College,"Seamus Heaney's Political Palette"; and Margaret Mills Harper, Georgia State University, "Carson's Fun: Making Words Making Music." The second, entitled "Politics and Culture in Ireland," will be chaired by Edward Madden, University of South Carolina, and will feature Susan Cannon Harris, University of Notre Dame, "Double Reproduction: The Rotunda Hospital and the Production of Anglo-Ireland"; Gregory Castle, Arizona State University, "The Battle of the Books: Yeats, Duffy and the Cultural Politics of Revivalism"; Francis Charles McGrath, University of Southern Maine, "The Irish Subaltern Settler: The Marching Season and Postcolonial Theory"; and James M. Smith, Boston College, "The Politics of Decolonization: Ireland's Architecture of Containment and Patrick McCabe's The Butcher Boy." For further information contact the ACIS Literature Representative: Guinn Batten, English Department, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130. E-mail: mgbatten@artsci.wustl.edu
The MLA has renewed the Allied Organization Status of the ACIS for the next seven years. This is the status that permits us automatically to hold two sessions every year at the December meeting of the MLA, without having to submit proposals for prior approval. A letter notifying Past Pres. McDiarmid of our renewed allied status was sent in late May by Maribeth Kraus, Director of Convention Programs for the MLA.
CALLS FOR PAPERS
Graduate Irish Studies Conference
The Twelfth Graduate Irish Studies Conference will convene March 24-26, 2000, at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. This conference will consider "The Irish City" from a variety of disciplinary approaches. Consult the call for papers at www.cgu.edu/FTH.htm. Forward enquiries and abstracts to Maureen O'Connor, Claremont Graduate University, Blaisdell House, 143 East Tenth Street, Claremont, CA 91711-6163, e-mail: maureen.oconnor@cgu.edu, fax: 909-607-7938.
Thirteenth Ulster-American Heritage Symposium
On the theme, "The Challenge of Being 2nd, 3rd, 4th... Generation Immigrants," the symposium will be held June 21-24, 2000, at the Centre for Migration Studies, Ulster American Folk Park, Mellon Road, Castletown, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the symposium will deal with the process of transatlantic emigration and links between England, Scotland, Ireland and North America. For further information, contact Brian Lambkin. Phone: 44-1662-256315. Fax: 44-1662-242241. E-mail: uafp@iol.ie
The Sociology of the Irish Diaspora
The Irish Journal of Sociology, the journal of The Sociological Association of Ireland/Cumann Socheolaíochta na hÉireann, is publishing a special edition of the journal in late 2000 focusing on the major social aspects of Irish emigration, the Irish diaspora and the lifestyles, politics and cultures of the Irish abroad. Anyone interested in contributing should send an abstract of about 500 words, or a completed paper for peer review, by September 24, 1999, to: Dr. James W. McAuley, Guest Editor, Irish Journal of Sociology, School of Human and Health Sciences, The Univ. of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England HD1 3DH. Tel: +44(0)1484-472691. E-mail: j.w.mcauley@hud.ac.ukor Dr. Denis O'Hearn, Irish Journal of Sociology, Dept. of Sociology and Social Policy, Queen's Univ., Belfast BT7 1NN, N. Ireland. E-mail: D.Ohearn@qub.ac.uk. Further details on the Irish Journal of Sociology can be found at http://www.qub.ac.uk/ss/ssp/ijsoc.htm and details of the Association at http://www.qub.ac.uk/ss/ssp/sai.htm.
THIRD ACIS ANNUAL
Anyone wishing to submit proposals for the third ACIS annual should contact Gary Owens, Huron College, University of Western Ontario, 1349 Western Road, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 1H3; e-mail: gowens@odyssey.on.ca
IACI AWARDS
The Irish American Cultural Institute (IACI) is accepting applications for research on the Irish experience in America. This past year $26,000 in funds was awarded and the recipients included: Lauren Onkey (Ball State University); Janet Nolan (Loyola University - Chicago); Eileen Moore Quinn (Brandeis University); Gary Minda (Brooklyn Law School); R. Douglas Hurt (Iowa State University); Kevin Kenny (University of Texas); Henry McKiven (University of South Alabama); and Daniel E. Tobin (Carthage College).
Original research and assistance for travel and publication costs are typically funded up to $5,000. The IACI has three funds given by Philadelphia's Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the Irish Institute of New York, and the O'Shaughnessy Charitable Fund. The application deadline is October 1, 1999. Contact Concepta Savage at IACI, One Lackawanna Place, Morristown, NJ 07960, or call (973) 605-1991.
FELLOWSHIP IN GALWAY
Applications are now being accepted for the IACI/NUI-Galway year 2000 Fellowship. The Fellowship is tenable at NUI-Galway to scholars, normally residents in the United States, who wish to spend a semester (not less than four months) at the university, and whose work relates to any aspect of Irish studies. The Fellowship includes a stipend of $13,000, transatlantic transportation, office accomodations and other visiting faculty member status. The deadline is December 31, 1999. Contact Katie Finn at (973) 605-1991; fax (973) 605-8875, or e-mail: Irishwaynj@aol.com
GEORGE J. MITCHELL SCHOLARSHIPS
The US-Ireland Alliance has established the George J. Mitchell Scholarships to educate future American leaders about the island of Ireland - North and South - and to provide them with an understanding about, an interest in, and an affinity with, the island from which 44 million Americans claim descent. The Scholarships are tenable at any of the seven universities in the Republic of Ireland or the two universities in Northern Ireland. The deadline is October 15, 1999. For futher information, contact the US-Ireland Alliance, 1747 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., 12th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20006.
NEW G. B. SHAW SERIES
The University Press of Florida has inaugurated The Florida Bernard Shaw Series, publishing studies of the work of GBS, joining its well established and rapidly growing Florida James Joyce Series. The Shaw series is edited by Richard F. Dietrich, the Joyce series by Zack Bowen. Inquiries may go directly to them or to Susan Fernandez, Acquisitions Editor, University Press of Florida, 15 NW 15th St., Gainesville, FL 32611-2079 (SF@upf.com) or consult the UPF website (http://www.upf.com).
CLARIFICATION
In the report of the ACIS Committee on Mission and Procedures (the "CAMP" report), which was published in the Fall '98 Newsletter, reference was made to the 1998 New England Regional Elections. We, the members of the CAMP Committee, want to make it clear that this reference in no way implied that there was any impropriety in the election process which resulted in the re-election of Conor Johnston as President and Regional Representative of the New England Region of ACIS.
Monica Brennan
Kathryn Conrad
Adele Dalsimer
Susan Harris
Mary Helen Thuente
PAST PRESIDENTS' REPORT
To: The ACIS Executive Committee
From: ACIS Past Presidents
Re: Past Presidents' Report
An Ad-hoc committee of three: Jim MacKillop, Maureen Murphy and Robert Rhodes met in Cortland on June 5th and July 7th and in Syracuse on August 12th to discuss a report from ACIS Past Presidents to review the history of Irish Studies in the United States at the end of the twentieth century and the role that the ACIS has played in its growth. We also considered a number of suggestions we might make about our organization based on our collective experience on the Executive Committee over nearly forty years.
The MacKillop, Murphy, Rhodes draft of this report was circulated to ACIS Past Presidents for their comments. Tom Hachey, Emmet Larkin, Larry McCaffrey, Hal Orel and Mary Helen Thuente responded by letter or phone. In addition, Robert Rhodes has discussed a number of matters that appear in this report with Lucy McDiarmid.
First, some history. We were founded in 1960 to provide an opportunity for scholars working on Irish topics to come together and to support the study of things Irish in the United States. The impetus for ACIS came from historians who found that meetings of the American Historical Association did not offer appropriate opportunities for the discussion of Irish history. They contacted people working in other disciplines (literature, Celtic Studies) and the organization was formed. Its original name, the American Committee for Irish Studies, did not refer to its small membership but to the nature of the organization: intimate, interactive, collaborative, collegial.
From the beginning, ACIS was an organization whose purpose was to encourage research and writing in Irish Studies and to promote Irish Studies as a distinct course of study in American colleges and universities. To that end, over the years the organization has done a number of things to support our purpose:
1. Recruited members from various disciplines, from different geographic regions in the US, and from wider constituencies than college and university faculty: graduate students, secondary school teachers, interested members of the community. Our welcome to members not actively working in Irish Studies is one of the things that distinguishes our organization.
2. Held annual meetings to share research in progress. From the start, with rare exceptions, our meetings have been on college and university campuses. This has been an opportunity for ACIS to celebrate and to support the Irish Studies programs on those campuses. Over the years the number of participants and the scale of the conferences has grown. The growth presents new challenges to the organizations to provide program opportunities for diverse constituencies and research areas.
The success of the annual national meeting has encouraged the formation of five regions: New England, Mid-Atlantic, Southern, Mid-West and Western which meet annually in the fall or winter for shorter weekend conferences.
3. Created ACIS-sponsored communications: the ACIS Newsletter (originally, news, book reviews, research reports), the ACIS Reprint Series (valuable in the days before classics in Irish Studies were reprinted or otherwise more easily available), the Guide to Irish Studies in the United States (useful in demonstrating the wide interest in Irish Studies and in establishing the potential readerships), the ACIS membership brochure, the ACIS Web Page and the first volume of an annual ACIS collection of essays, Gender and Sexuality in Modern Ireland (1997), edited by Anthony Bradley and Maryann Gialanella Valiulis. (Under the current arrangement, two more volumes will be published by the University of Massachusetts.) While the Irish Literary Supplement is not an official ACIS publication, it is affiliated with ACIS through our dues subsidy which provides an ILS subscription to every member. The ILS has provided a venue for members' books to be reviewed and the opportunity for members to be reviewers.
4. Established relationships with Irish state and semi-state bodies and with Irish research facilities. From the beginning, ACIS officers worked with local consular representatives of the Republic of Ireland who provided support and hospitality for our gatherings. At first, the support was personal and informal. Through the consular offices, ACIS developed a working arrangement with the Cultural Relations Committee of the Department of Foreign Affairs which has included funding for invited Irish scholars to attend ACIS conferences. The Department of Foreign Affairs has provided subsidies for printing editions of A Guide to Irish Studies in the United States. The Irish Tourist Board has been a generous patron of ACIS over the years. Traditionally, they host a reception at our annual meeting. They also sponsored a second printing of the Guide.
ACIS has developed a similar relationship with Northern Ireland through the Northern Ireland Arts Council and through the Northern Ireland Office of the British Embassy in Washington. They have sponsored Northern Irish scholars, writers and artists who have participated in ACIS national conferences; they provided a handsome subsidy and hospitality to those who joined the 1987 post-conference tour to the North; they contributed generously to the Belfast meeting including grants to American participants, and they have been supportive about including ACIS members' institutions as venues for their travelling programs and exhibitions.
ACIS has especially close ties with two major Irish research institutions: the National Library of Ireland and the Linenhall Library. Beginning with ACIS's oldest and dearest friend in Ireland, Alf McLochlainn, the National Library has welcomed ACIS members. For many years, we have annually shown our appreciation with a gift of $500. We have established a similar annual gift to the Belfast Linenhall Library where John Gray and his staff have extended research assistance to members working in Belfast.
5. Supported scholarly projects. One of the most significant contributions the ACIS has made to the development of Irish Studies in the United States is its support of scholarly projects and of young scholars. Senior scholars have mentored younger scholars and supported their careers in Irish Studies with advice, with letters of recommendation for research proposals and grants and for promotion and tenure. ACIS has provided a network of support for Irish Studies specialists. These efforts on behalf of younger scholars helped to create the first generation of Irish Studies professionals in the United States.
6. Shared resources. ACIS members, particularly those in the same region, shared resources like the Louis Marcus film collection in the days before video technology provided films of Irish interest inexpensively. ACIS members working together have shared visits of Irish scholars and writers by providing venues in a particular area that make it possible to bring visitors to local campuses. While there are more individual arrangements now with Irish visitors, in the early years these cooperative arrangements often were the only way to arrange such individual reading/speaking tours.
7. Established the ACIS Archives. The ACIS Archives have been established at Boston College. The Archives are housed in the Burns Library.
8. Solicited support for ACIS Book Prizes. The anually awarded ACIS Book Prizes honor Irish Studies publications in Humanities and in Social Sciences. There is a first book prize. The prizes are funded with donors' gifts. An ACIS Book Prize has proven to have had value for a book's promotion and an author's professional career.
Beyond this list of initiatives and activities, ACIS has, in less tangible ways, has been the mid-wife to Irish Studies in the United States. We have been rewarded with the growth of Irish Studies progams and course offerings around the country. We no longer have to make the case for Irish Studies courses to be listed separately from British history or literature offerings. We no longer have to argue that Irish Studies is mainstream.
ACIS itself has grown to a stable membership of some 1200 (numbers from Mary Helen Thuente); members involved with Irish Studies around the world have joined us and have attended our national conference. We have a comfortable surplus in our treasury.
What now? What are the challenges and opportunities we face regarding the future of Irish Studies in the United States? While the last decade has witnessed the growth of high profile centers of excellence in Irish Studies, we are concerned with the broader picture of Irish Studies in American colleges and universities. The most important challenge is the institutionalization of Irish Studies. The most critical issue facing Irish Studies is creating Irish Studies faculty lines so that Irish Studies specialists are replaced with other Irish Studies scholars when they retire. We have had only limited success with providing continuity for Irish Studies courses and programs. When Robert Rhodes retired from Cortland, he negotiated an Irish Studies line and Alex Gonzales joined the faculty. Larry McCaffrey saw to it that his replacement (Janet Nolan) was an Irish specialist. Maurice O'Connell recruited ACIS colleagues to write to the Fordham administration to ensure that his replacement would be able to offer courses in Irish history. Fordham hired Nancy Curtin. Is there more that we can do to encourage these scenarios? Last time Maureen Murphy revised the Guide, she heard a number of disappointing stories about Irish courses ending with individual retirements.
Another area where some numbers shifted in the last Guide was the frequency of course offerings in Irish topics. What can we do to encourage departments and institutions to upgrade Irish listings from occasional or special topics listings to regular course offerings? While Irish Studies is recognized as a legitimate discipline, Irish specialists often have to compete with other specialties for a place in the department course offerings.
Finally, what are we doing for graduates of American Irish Studies programs? If Irish Studies in the United States is to flourish, we must offer some hope to our graduates that their degrees from our programs are viable in the current Irish Studies job market here and abroad.
What are our opportunities? First, as Hal Orel reminds us, there are the thousands and thousands of American undergraduate students that we have introduced to Irish Studies, that we have brought to Ireland for short tours or for semester-length programs. Very few of them continued their formal studies of things Irish; however, as they become settled in their careers, this might be the time for them to reconnect with their Irish interests. BC's Friends of Irish Studies is a model for such an outreach to an institution's Irish Studies graduates.
Hal also drew our attention to the relatively low listing of courses dealing with Irish immigration to the United States and to the Irish diaspora; yet, the high interest in immigration and in family history suggests this would be an area to develop. The Irish Diaspora Symposium organized by Charlie Fanning for Southern Illinois University's Irish Studies Program and the University's Division of Continuing Education in 1998 demonstrated the interest that attends the Irish immigration experience. Charlie's work with Continung Education reminds us of college and university adult education programs and the opportunities they offer us to reach out to the interested layman.
Moving from the larger concerns to the details of ACIS organization and policies, MacKillop, Murphy and Rhodes asked ACIS Past Presidents to share specific suggestions about the practical matters of running a large organization without a central office and paid staff. Their suggestions include:
Institutional records: While Boston College is the repository of the ACIS Archives, we suggest that there be current files for all officers that include: minutes of the Executive Committee meetings and the AGMs, job descriptions, by-laws, and conference programs. Regional representatives should have appropriate documentation including regional resources: consular contacts and other funding sources. The ACIS should have a two-year calendar that lists the deadlines for various activities. There should be a conference director's handbook to pass along and to update.
We strongly suggest that there be a Executive Committee workshop for new members scheduled before the annual conference (or at another more convenient time).
Organizational information to members: We suggest that the Fall Newsletter include a President's Message, the minutes of the AGM and a calendar of the year's events with appropriate deadlines and information. The Winter Newsletter should include information about the national Conference with a message from the Conference Director.
ACIS and the AGM: This report is, in part, the result of the spirited exchange at the Ft. Lauderdale AGM. Such debates require an adequate forum. We recommend that careful thought be given to the timing of the AGM so as to encourage maximum participation and sufficient time for our deliberations. Jim MacKillop, noting that Friday noon is the time of maximum attendance, suggests that the AGM run from 11:00-12:30 following the 9-10:30 plenary session. Mary Helen suggests we reserve the right to exercise the mail ballot option on important issues.
Annual Conference: We recommend using a broad theme that guides but that does not restrict sessions and paper offerings. This has been our usual practice, and all report it has been satisfactory. We suggest that the Conference Committee include the Vice-President, the discipline representatives, the host and two or three members of the local organizing committee. We affirm that membership is a requirement for participation; however, we allow for the designation of honorary memberships. We have used two protocols for paper selection. In one protocol, members submit proposals/abstracts/papers to the conference director by the deadline; the conference director duplicates papers for the Conference Committee, and Conference Committee votes to accept or to reject proposals. In the other (preferred) protocol, the proposals/abstracts/papers go to the discipline representatives after the deadline, and the discipline reps present the submissions at a conference planning meeting usually held at one of the regional meetings. The consensus of the planners determines the program. Our experience has been that these planning meetings have been extremely successful.
Interdisciplinary Sessions: We reaffirm the inter-disciplinary committment of ACIS and recommend that conference directors and their program committees make a concerted effort to feature interdisciplinary papers and sessions. For example, the Call for Papers should make a special point to encourage interdisciplinary offerings and they should have special consideration in the scheduling.
Diversity in Program Format: We have talked about and tried different kinds of program formats to break away from the plenary
lectures and three papers/commentator sessions. For example, the living books reviews at the Albany conference were an effective innovation. We suggest looking at ways to create other venues for participation: round table discussions, SIGs (special interest groups), poster sessions.
Irish Participants: We have had an historical relationship with the Republic of Ireland and with the Northern Ireland Arts Council who have supported scholars, usually senior scholars, whom we have invited to attend and to address national conferences. The number of scholars has remained constant for many years. It has been the custom for the Conference Director to name the invited speakers usually with the approval of the Conference Committee.
The growth of Irish Studies has meant that senior scholars have a number of different opportunities to lecture in the United States, so ACIS is not providing scholars at that level with the unique experience that it has been in the past; therefore, we recommend that at least one of the invited scholars be a promising junior scholar who gets some American exposure by giving a paper in an appropriate session.
We also believe that the invited Irish scholar arrangement offers us an opportunity to hear from experts in disciplines other that history and literature. Aighleann O'Shaughnessy's talk about Cormac's Chapel (Carbondale, 1996) was a chance for us to learn something about public policy and the preservation of national monuments.
American Plenary: We recomend that we honor the work of at least one American Scholar in a plenary session at our national meeting. Some of us believe that the number of plenary speakers should be balanced between American and Irish scholars.
Graduate Students and ACIS: How do we encourage graduate students to participate in our organization? Should we have special dues? reduced conference registration fees, special provison for graduate papers in the program? Can we make better use of the regional conference to reach out to graduate students, to mentor them and to provide opportunities for graduate students to present work in progress? Our regionals are well-planned conferences offered in attractive venues; however, the turnout is rather small. Are we missing an opportunity to do something to help graduate students?
Term of Office: Some Past Presidents have suggested that officers serve three not two years. The additional year would allow for greater continuity.
Annual: The additional ten dollars in our dues is not out of line for a publication like the annual. Our concern is the long range plans for the annual. For this three-year arrangement with the University of Massachusetts, the annuals are special numbers with guest editors. We believe that were we to make a long-term commitment to a journal, we would need to move to a more permanent arrangement with institutional support, a journal editor(s) and a standing editorial board.
By-Laws: In the last year it has become apparent that the By-Laws need to be reconsidered. Among the issues that need attention is the matter of representation on the Executive Committee. Should disciplines with large constituencies like literature have more than one representative? Should Celtic Studies and Irish Language be combined? Should the Executive Committee meet well ahead of the the annual conference so that minutes and proposed motions be in members' hands well before the AGM?
Past Presidents: Do we see a formal role for past presidents? Should Past Presidents continue to serve on the Executive Committee? As we have discussed this matter over the past months, it appears that while all Past Presidents have continued to be involved with ACIS in various ways and have served, when asked, special roles like committee chairs, the consensus is that our part as Past Presidents is personal and not collective. It is possible for a Past-President to serve again on the Executive Committee as a regional or disciplinary rep; Past Presidents have been very helpful in providing regional leadership and encouragement, and Past Presidents have chaired and served on special committees. While Past Presidents have been polled about and have collaborated in framing ACIS policies, there does not appear to be any particular need for something formal like a Council of Past Presidents.
Irish Feis at Millikin University
During the month of March, Irish Studies was introduced to Millikin University through a series of lectures, discussions, concerts, and finally a Theater Festival. During the week of 22 March, Dr. Andrew Wilson, visited campus to speak about his work on present American involvement with Northern Irish Peace Agreement and on previous U.S. support of the Republican movement in the North. Dr. James Liddy gave a series of lectures on "Beatnik Dublin" and was joined by Dr. Eamonn Wall for a poetry reading and concert. Dr. Wall also read from his recent essay, "The Black Hills, The Gorey Road," published in New Hibernia Review. The week's events concluded with a free outdoor concert by The Drovers. The Feis concluded on the weekend of April 17 with an Irish Theater Festival, featuring the recent work of Antoine Ó Flatharta and Thomas McLaughlin, as well as one acts by Samuel Beckett. For more information on this and future events, please contact Dr. David Gardiner, Department of English, Millikin University, Decatur, IL 62522. Photo credits: 1) Left to right: Eamonn Wall (Creighton University), Dr. Thomas Flynn, President (Millikin University), and Michael J. Graham, S.J., Vice President for University Relations (Xavier University).
Design and Teach Your Own Course
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ACIS Proceedings as an Internet Publication?
Dr Roy Johnston, IMS/IPS, Ireland
I attended the Roanoke conference as an observer from outside the Irish Studies community, but being from Ireland and based in Ireland I am anxious to be supportive of what you are doing. I attended as many of the sessions as I was able, and found several papers of interest, making useful contacts. This is what conferences are all about. But would I buy a printed proceedings? I did the sums; it would probably amount to a heavy volume, 500K words or more. No way, when only 10% at most is relevant to my areas of interest. Anyway, they don't exist.
As regards the authors of interest, I have their e-mail addresses and can get their texts. This presumably is the norm. But the authors I missed? The ones I did not even recognise, and should have contacted? This led me to evaluate the feasibility of setting up the ACIS conference proceedings as a Web site, with this as the primary mode of publication. I personally would be glad to pay personally a reasonable sum for access to such a site, with the right selectively to download.
Let me specify what I mean:
1. There would be a "top level" consisting of the President's overview and the keynote plenary papers; this is of a quality meriting printed publication, if there is a demand, and its Web editing should bear this in mind.
2. There could be a next level down consisting of review papers written by the session convenors, covering the topics of their sessions in overview. If these were subject to quality control by a peer-review procedure, they could also be candidates for the printed proceedings, if it is decided to go also for printed mode. In the hypertext version, they could be hotlinked into appropriate link-points in the overview and keynote papers.
3. The real meat of the conference is the contributed papers themselves. These are often "works in progress" (WIP) but they are sometimes complete and published or publishable elsewhere. In the latter case there may be copyright problems. So, what we would then do is give only an abstract and a reference. Where a paper is WIP there is no copyright problem: the author would be motivated to make it available in full to get peer feedback, with a view to eventual publication elsewhere, enhanced by the first- round exposure, and with feedback acknowledged. These papers and abstracts would be hot-linked from the session convenors' overviews and would be accessible via the general indexing system.
To my mind, an ACIS proceedings, published on the Web in the above mode, and accessible for a modest supplement on the conference fee, of the order of $20-30 or so, would be well worth paying for. What do people think? I should say, for your $20-30 you get the right to register a password, and this would entitle you to a limited number of downloads. We might envisage also a higher-priced institutional registration, with unlimited downloading rights.
To test out this concept between now and ACIS 2000 in Limerick, I would be interested in receiving expressions of intent from session convenors to do overview papers of their 1999 sessions, and from contributors who have e-mailable copies available. To complete the pilot ACIS 1999 we would need at least one plenary paper, and the President's Report. If it looks as though there is a creditable amount of 1999 material available, we will go ahead and produce a pilot Web site publication, on spec, for the consideration of the Publications Committee.
Please don't start sending stuff until we see the extent of the interest. If I get a reasonable number of declarations of intent, I will say, go ahead, send me the stuff, or write it and send it (saved as .RTF of course!).
If the ACIS Council sees the pilot partial 1999 Proceedings and likes the idea, then we will go ahead and do it in full for ACIS2000, provided the feedback from this initial enquiry is good. ACIS may decide it wants to be its own publisher and put in some money up front. This would undoubtedly help to make it happen. If, however, this is not possible, it is up to IPS (Internet Publishing Services, for which I am acting) to decide if it wants to risk putting in the resources for an uncertain future return. Some up-front money from ACIS, or a suitable sponsor identified by ACIS, would certainly help to make this decision easier and less risky. I look forward to hearing from you all, especially the many whose company I enjoyed at Roanoke. Please send feedback to rjohnston@imsgrp.com and copy it to rjtechne@iol.ie
FROM THE EDITOR
Beginning with this issue, the Newsletter will be published at Nova Southeastern University. I would like to encourage members to send newsworthy items regarding Irish studies events, new positions, journals, and Web sites, calls for papers, etc., to me on line (doan@polaris.nova.edu). As with Roy Johnston's enquiry regarding publication of ACIS conference papers, I would like to see the Newsletter become a forum for discussion of issues that affect Irish studies inside, and outside, the academy. The deadlines for items to be considered for the Newsletter are: Nov. 11 (Winter issue); Feb. 14 (Spring issue); and Aug. 1 (Fall issue). I cannot guarantee placement of articles received after those dates.