Society for the Study of Nineteenth-Century Ireland
Midwest Victorian Studies Association
Joint International Conference
16-18 April 2004, De Paul University, Chicago
CALL FOR PAPERS
Structures of Belief in Nineteenth-Century Ireland
– in British and Irish Perspective
The histories of nineteenth-century Britain and Ireland are often thought
of as asymmetrical, with religious faith as a key marker of difference
between the two cultures. How did religion and other systems of belief
operate in the relationship between the islands? Did religion increase in
importance in Ireland as it diminished in Britain?
This conference invites papers that explore belief systems in
nineteenth-century Ireland. It especially welcomes contributions that probe
the relationship of such systems to British action, perception and
articulation. The impact of Catholic emancipation on Britain, the presence
of the Catholic masses in British cities, the ideology of evangelical
activity, the relationship between religion, gender and subjectivity in
literature, and the interaction of religion and material culture are among
the many topics that might be explored. All systems of belief are of
interest to the conference. Though Christianity predominated, Maria
Edgeworth advocated Jewish rights in Harrington (1817), John Kells Ingram
was a notable disciple of Comte, John Tyndall a doughty exponent of
evolution and W.B. Yeats a committed adherent to theosophy.

Hard Copy Paper Proposals (200-400 words), mail, email and phone contact
details, and one-page CVs by 1 November, 2003 to Prof. James H. Murphy,
Dept of English, De Paul University, McGaw Hall, 802 West Belden Avenue,
Chicago, IL 60614-3214, USA.

Further information concerning conference registration will in time be
found at: www2.ic.edu/MVSA/   and at  www.qub.ac.uk/english/socs/ssnci.html