 Medbh McGuckian and Desmond Egan read from their recent poetry and there was a dramatic reading of two of Jennifer Johnston's monologues. This year's national ACIS meeting was held at the Fort Lauderdale Airport Hilton Hotel and on the Nova Southeastern University campus from April 15 to 18. Based on the theme "Revolutions and Evolutions," the plenary talks included Declan Kiberd on "Irish Criticism: A Short History"; Kevin Whelan on "1798: The Politics of Memory"; Art Hughes on "The Necessity of Gaelic-speaking Ireland and the Diaspora in the Third Millenium"; Bruce Stewart on "Irish Studies in Cyberspace"; James Flannery on "The Double Renaissance: Moore and Yeats"; John McGarry on "Nation-alism in Northern Ireland and the Politics of Recognition"; and Robert Welch on "Redefining the Irish Literary Canon."
1999 MEETING Next year's ACIS annual meeting will take place on May 12-15, 1999, at the Hotel Roanoke, Roanoke, Va. The Hotel Roanoke, a classic old railroad hotel, which has recently been elaborately refurbished, has a state-of-the-art conference center. The meeting is sponsored by Virginia Tech in nearby Blacksburg, site of the 1974 ACIS annual meeting. The call for papers will be handed out at the '98 meeting in Fort Lauderdale and will be mailed to the membership over the summer. Contact: Johann Norstedt, Department of English, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va., 24061-0112. Phone: (540) 231-8466; E-mail: jnorsted@vt.edu
RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE ON ITS WAY TO MEMBERS Watch your mailbox for a questionnaire asking for an update on your current research, publications and other professional activities. ACIS no longer publishes a paper version of its research findings; a full listing of your fellow members' projects is found on the ACIS Web site at: http://athena.english.vt.edu/ACIS/FRONTPAGE.HTML
CONFERENCES AROUND THE WORLD In Russia Voronezh State University will host what it believes to be the first conference on Irish Studies in Russia, "Ireland: Past and Present," May 28-30. The conference, in Russian and English, will consist of three sessions: History and Politics, Culture and Literature, and Economics and Management. The conclusions will be published. Contact Professor Alexander Miroshnikov, 15 Lenin Square, Flat 1. Voronezh, 394000, Russia, or VSU, History Faculty, 1 Universitetskaya Square, Voronezh 394693 Russia. Phone: 7-0732-741533. Fax: 7- 0732-552836. E-mail: root@mhist.vsu.ru In Australia The Centre for Celtic Studies' Third International Celtic Studies Conference will be held at the main campus of the University of Sydney, July 23-26, 1998. The theme will be "Literature and Politics in the Celtic World," from early history to the present day. Inquiries to Pamela James, Archaeology A14, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia 2006. E- mail: pamela.james@archaeology.usyd.edu.au Fax: Dr. Aedeen Cremin (61.2) 9351 3639 E- mail: Aedeen.cremin @history.su.edu.au In Ireland The 1998 conference of the Society for the Study of Nineteenth-Century Ireland will be held at the National University of Ireland, Cork, on June 26-28. The theme is "1798, 1848, 1898: Revolution, Revival, and Commemoration." The plenary speakers will be professors J. J. Lee and James S. Donnelly, Jr. This multidisciplinary conference marks the bicentenary and sesquicentenary of the 1798 and 1848 rebellions in Ireland, and will explore the nature, impact, and legacy of the Irish revolutionary tradition and the way in which insurgency is remembered and commemorated both in Ireland and overseas. It is intended to publish the proceedings of the conference. To participate, send a title and an abstract of not more than 100 words, before March 31, 1998, to Dr. Larry Geary, History Department, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland. Phone: (353) 21-903047. Fax: (353) 21-273369. Web site: http://www. qub.ac.uk/english/socs/ssnci.html The 12th Irish conference of medievalists at National University of Ireland will be held at Maynooth, July 2-4, 1998, with a special one-day conference on the important archaeological site of Teltown (County Meath) on Wednesday, July 1. Contact Dr. Colman Etchingham, Department of History, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Phone: (353) 1-628 5222 or (353)-1-708 3816. Fax: (353) 1- 628 9373. E-mail: cetchingham@may.ie The 1998 Synge Summer School will be held in Rathdrum, County Wicklow, July 5-11. The theme is "Theatre and History," featuring speakers Kevin Barry, John Devitt, Terry Eagleton, Nicholas Grene, Lucy McDiarmid, Frank McGuinness, Christopher Murray, Lynne Parker and Tom Paulin, with a poetry reading by Seamus Heaney. Some scholarships covering the cost of fees are available. For further information contact Irene Parsons, Whaley Lodge, Ballinaclash, Rathdrum, County Wicklow, Ireland. Phone: (353) 404 46131. Fax: (353) 404 46044; E-mail: ngrene@tcd.ie The 39th annual Yeats Summer School in Sligo will take place Aug. 1-14. For further information, please contact: Professor Jonathan Allison, English Dept. University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0027. Phone: (606) 257- 6961. Fax: (606) 323-1072. E- mail: eng016@ukcc.uky.edu "An Autumn Gathering" devoted to Lady Gregory of Coole Park will meet in Gort, County Galway, Sept. 25-27. Speakers will include Declan Kiberd, Edna Longley, Lucy McDiarmid and James Pethica. Contact: Sheila O'Donnelan, Kingston Road, Galway, Ireland. Phone: (353) 91 521 836; Fax: (353) 91 567 421. In the United States The 20th Celtic Studies conference and annual meeting of the Celtic Studies Association of North America (CSANA) meets at UCLA, May 21-24, 1998. Contact Dr. Joseph Nagy, Department of English, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1530. Fax: (310) 206-5093; E-mail: jfnagy@humnet.ucla.edu
ACIS REGIONALS TAKING SHAPE The Mid-Atlantic regional meeting will be hosted by Fordham University at the Lincoln Center Campus in New York City on Oct. 30-31, 1998. The theme of the conference is "Fin de Siecle Ireland." The organizers welcome proposals on anything to do with Ireland in the '90s: the Elizabethan Conquest, the Fairie Queene, the Battle of the Boyne, the United Irishmen and '98, the Literary Revival, contemporary Ireland, etc. Paper abstracts and panel proposals should be sent by July 15, 1998, to Nancy Curtin, Department of History, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458. Phone: (718)817-3931. Fax: (718)817-4680; E- mail: curtin@murray.fordham.edu The 1998 New England Regional will be held at Massasoit Community College, Brockton, Mass., Oct. 2-3. The conference theme will be "Who Fears to Speak?" The organizers invite papers not only related to the 1798 rebellion, but also to aspects of Irish life since then, including censorship, gay/lesbian issues, the celibate priesthood, etc. The contact person is Conor Johnston. Phone: (508) 588-9100, ext. 1884; Fax: (508) 427-1250; E-mail: nware@warren.med.harvard.edu The Midwest ACIS will be held Oct. 15-17 at the Minneapolis, Minn. campus of the University of St. Thomas. The theme will be "The Old World and the New." The organizers especially welcome paper proposals from disciplines rarely heard from in Irish Studies &endash; for instance, economics, art history or ethnomusicology. (Proposals are due July 15.) Contact The Center for Irish Studies, University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Ave, St. Paul, MN 55105. Phone: (612) 962-5662. E-mail: tdredshaw@stthomas.edu The 1998 Southern ACIS meeting on the theme "Irish Identities" took place at the University of South Carolina, Feb. 19-21. Ed Madden (English Department, University of South Carolina) was the organizer. The next Southern ACIS meeting will be hosted by Clemson University in Clemson, S.C. , in February 1999. For more information, contact Dr. Wayne Chapman, Department of English. Phone: (864) 656-5399. E-mail: wayne@clemson.edu. In the year 2000, the southern regional will take place on a cruise ship, Feb 4-7. For information on the conference voyage, contact Dr. Mary E. Donnelly, Department of English, University of Miami, P.O. Box 248145, Coral Gables, FL 33124. Phone: (305)-284-2182, by Feb. 1, 1999. The Western Regional ACIS will be held at University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Wash. 98416, Oct. 2-4, 1998. Theme: "Ireland and Europe: 1798/1998." Papers on this theme and on general Irish topics including literature, history, economics, art and psychology are welcome, especially papers on Irish film. Proposals and abstracts are due June 1, 1998, to Robert Garratt, ACIS-West, English Department, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA 98416. E- mail: garratt@ups.edu
CALLS FOR PAPERS Working Papers in Irish Studies Working Papers in Irish Studies invites submissions for the 1998 volume, which will focus on issues dealing with the Irish diaspora, Irish and postcolonial studies, and contemporary Irish literature. Typescripts should conform to the MLA Style Manual and should be sent in triplicate to the editor: James Doan, Dept. of Liberal Arts, Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314. Phone: (954) 262-8207; E-mail: doan@polaris.acast.nova.edu. Contributors will be asked to send accepted articles on a diskette. Subscriptions are $20 a year (four issues), for both domestic and international addresses. Central New York The 1998 Central New York Conference on Language and Literature, to be held in Cortland, N.Y., on Oct. 18-20, will have Paula Meehan as its keynote speaker. Sessions of Irish interest are seeking papers. Contact: Alexander Gonzales at (605) 753-2070; E-mail: Gonzales@snycorva.cortland.edu Maria Edgeworth To coincide with a forthcoming critical edition of Maria Edgeworth, the journal Women's Writing invites revisionary essays exploring Edge-worth's contribution from a variety of perspectives. Please submit abstracts, inquiries and essays to the guest editor of the Edgeworth special issue: Mitzi Myers, 2206 Bedford Drive, Fullerton, CA 92831-1504. Phone: (714) 993-4472. Irish and the American Civil War Scholars interested in presenting a paper on Ireland, the Irish, and the American Civil War at a two-day conference in October 1998, to be held at the University of Massachussetts &endash; Boston, should write to Arthur Mitchell, History Department, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208. British Studies The 1998 Meeting of the Northeast Conference for British Studies will be held Oct. 2-3 at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. Proposals are welcome in all fields. Contact Peter Weiler, History Department, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167.
YES, IN VIRGINIA, THERE IS AN ACIS WEB SITE And a wonderful Web site it is, diligently maintained by Johann Norstedt and Robert Brinlee at Virginia Tech. The site offers such useful ACIS information as conference information, the research report, and links to the e-mail of all the officers and representatives. In addition, the ACIS site provides nearly 80 hotlinks to other Irish cultural sites. The site is found at: http://athena.english.vt.edu/ACIS/ FRONTPAGE.HTML Please note that this is a case-sensitive address. Be sure to capitalize as given above. And after browsing, feel free to drop a note to professors Norstedt and Brinlee with your appreciation.
NEW INTERNET DRAMA JOURNAL Eamonn Jordan of the Drama Studies Centre at UCD calls our attention to an Internet journal that he edits, titled The Irish Theatre Forum. The third issue is due this April. The Web address is: http://www.ucd.ie/ ~irthfrm. Jordan, author of a recent book on the plays of Frank McGuinness, can be reached at ejordan@ollamh.ucd.ie
FROM THE NEWSLETTER EDITOR Thank you to the many colleagues in ACIS who have contacted the Center for Irish Studies at the University of St. Thomas to express gratitude for its role in preparing the ACIS Newsletter. Deadlines for items to be considered for the newsletter are Feb. 14, Nov. 11, and Aug. 1. Contributors should expect some copyediting. Sorry, but space no longer allows us to include such announcements as promotions, birth announcements, or publications that will be recorded in the Research Report. Changes of address should be sent to the ACIS treasurer. Jim Rogers, editor
ACIS ANNUAL MAILED ACIS members whose 1997-98 dues were received before Jan. 1, 1998, were sent copies of the first ACIS annual, Gender and Sexuality in Modern Ireland, in the initial mailing in January. A second mailing will follow in March for those whose dues are received between January and March. Notices for unrenewed memberships are sent in September, November and February. Questions can be directed to John P. Harrington, ACIS Treasurer, Humanities, The Cooper Union, New York, NY 10003. E-mail: harrin@cooper.edu
THE NEXT ANNUAL ACIS volume II focuses on political performances in contemporary Northern Ireland. Editors John Harrington and Elizabeth Mitchell expect publication by the University of Massachussetts Press in early 1999. The volume juxtaposes essays on dramatic representations of conflict on stage and television with analyses of everyday life performances by the people of Northern Ireland who perpetuate and endure this highly symbolic struggle.
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