Irish Studies Initiative

Recent Accomplishments

A great Success! ACIS Southern Regional "Inclusivity in Irish Studies: A Community for All" Conference Oct. 2023

On October 26-28, 2023 the Irish Studies Initiative team hosted the Southern Regional Meeting of the American Conference for Irish Stuides with the theme of "Inclusivity in Irish Studies: A Community for All" at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg Campus.

You can learn more about this conference by viewing the archived Conference Info Page and the full Conference Schedule here.

Conference Theme: 100 years ago, the nascent Irish Free State endured a brutal civil war that centered on the issue of the partition of the nation:  on who would be “in” and “out” of  a newly independent Ireland.  While the war ostensibly settled the issue by upholding the Anglo-Irish treaty, the real issues of partition, inclusion, and exclusion remain raw and volatile today.   
  
Our conference provided a venue to explore the relationship between community and inclusion in the past, present, and future of Irish history, literature, and the field of Irish Studies in general.  Participants were invited to explore the themes of "community" and “inclusion” in their widest sense, from current personal experiences with shifting perspectives on diversity and inclusion, to the role of ‘belonging’ or not in the ancient and medieval Irish past. Further, we invited discussion on inclusivity and Irish Studies within the communities of academia and Public History. 
  
With a well-known tradition of LGBTQIA+ pride, support of women- and minority-owned businesses, and ongoing creation of inclusive spaces for neurodivergent and differently abled persons, St. Petersburg, FL was the ideal location to gather and discuss these important pathways forward in creating a more inclusive Irish Studies.  The locally-owned and operated Hollander Hotel  provided a community-centered “home base” to the conference, and all conference events took place on the beautiful water-front University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus. The vibrant downtown community of St. Petersburg played a central role in the theme of the conference, and multiple outings to local museums and beaches were enjoyed by participants. 

Questions regarding this past meeting can be directed to the Irish Studies Initiative team at USF.The Irish Studies Inititiave remaings a proud supporter of the American Conference for Irish Studies: Join or Renew your ACIS Memembership here!

Christine Kinealy lecture and faculty fellowship advisor

Christine Kinealy delivered a fascinating and highly successful public lecture on the first day of the conference (Thursday, Oct. 26th) titled "'Mislike me not for my complexion': Three Black Artists in Ireland, 1829 to 1860" and has continued to act as an advisor and mentor to the USF Irish Studies Initiative.   

Christine Kinealy is the founding Director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University. A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, Christine has published extensively on Ireland’s Great Hunger and, more recently, the Irish Abolition movement. This includes the award-winning This Great Calamity: The Great Hunger in Ireland, and a graphic novel entitled, ‘The Bad Times’, or ‘An Drochshaol’. In 1997, she spoke in the British Houses of Parliament and in the American Congress on the Famine.

Christine is a Director of the African American Irish Diaspora Network. In 2018, she published Frederick Douglass and Ireland: In his own words. In 2020, Black Abolitionists in Ireland was published and a second volume is planned. This research led to the creation of Frederick Douglass Walking Trails in Belfast, Cork and Dublin.

Christine has been named one of the top educators in Irish America. In 2014, she was inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame and, in 2017, received an Emmy for ‘The Great Hunger and the Irish Diaspora’ documentary. In 2019, she was one of five historians who walked 100-miles from Roscommon to Dublin, following in the footsteps of tenants sent to Canada in 1847. This route now forms The National Famine Way. (source: https://www.qu.edu/faculty-and-staff/christine-kinealy-phd/)

USF Humanities Institute faculty Fellowship Award

The Irish Studies Initiative team was honored to be the recipients of the 2023-2024 Faculty Fellowship award through the USF Humanities Institite, and spent their year working together on "Global Irish Studies at USF." In October, the cohort welcomed Dr. Christine Kinealy of Quinnipiac University to deliver a public lecture as part of the 2023 Southern Regional American Conference for Irish Studies held at the USF St. Petersburg campus. The fellows worked on course development, seminars, and partnering with local groups to promote Irish culture and history.  Click here for more details on our time as the Faculty Fellows!