Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Bill Mulligan
Subject: CFP: Massacres in Comparative Perspective
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Message-ID:

This may be of interest to some on the list. I can think of more than a few
events in Irish and Diaspora history that would be appropriate topics for a
paper.



Subject: Call for Papers: Massacres in Comparative Perspective
From:
Date: October 26, 2010 9:12:21 AM EDT

CALL FOR PAPERS

Bloody Days: Massacres in Comparative Perspective, June 23 - 24, 2011
McNeil Center for Early American Studies, University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania Law School, the McNeil Center for Early
American Studies, and the Georgetown Institute for Global History are
jointly sponsoring a conference, "Bloody Days: Massacres in Comparative
Perspective," to be held at the McNeil Center in Philadelphia on June 23-24,
2011. Psychologists and sociologists have studied and theorized massacres,
but there is no comparable body of work by historians. "Bloody Days" hopes
to give some coherence and depth to the historical study of such outbreaks
of violence by bringing together scholars and scholarship in a conference
dedicated to presentation of work on massacres across time and space.
Scholars who work on all periods and all parts of the world are urged to
apply. The conference will feature a keynote address by Karl Jacoby of Brown
University. Papers of no more than 25 pages in length will be precirculated
to all conference participants. Accepted papers will be due on May 15, 2011.

The conference will provide housing for one night to those who need it and
will defray modest travel expenses. Interested scholars, especially but not
only those early in their careers, are encouraged to submit proposals of no
more than 500 words, together with a short CV, to Alison Games
(gamesa[at]georgetown.edu) by December 15. If you have questions, please get in
touch with the conference organizers, Alison Games of Georgetown University
(gamesa[at]georgetown.edu) or Sally Gordon of the University of Pennsylvania
(sgordon[at]law.upenn.edu).



Bill



William H. Mulligan, Jr.

Professor of History

Graduate Program Coordinator

Murray State University

Murray KY 42071-3341 USA

office phone 1-270-809-6571

dept phone 1-270-809-2231

fax 1-270-809-6587

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Two Phd Positions in Irish (Diaspora) Fiction, Nijmegen
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Message-ID:

Two PhD Positions in Irish (Diaspora) Fiction (0,8 fte)=20

Faculty of Arts=20
Vacancy number: 23.18.10=20
Closing date: 1 December 2010=20
=20
Job description
As a PhD student you will participate in the project =E2=80=9CRelocated =
Remembrance: the Great Famine in Irish (Diaspora) Fiction, =
1847-1921=E2=80=9D. This project is funded by a Starting Grant from the =
European Research Council and directed by Dr. Margu=C3=A9rite Corporaal =
(principal investigator).=20

See: www.ru.nl/hlcs/relocated_remembrance/

You will conduct research on developments in the cultural remembrance of =
the Great Irish Famine (1845-50) in a transatlantic corpus of fiction. =
You will investigate how this remembrance evolves through time, from one =
generation to another, and across space, in diaspora.=20

Your research should result in a doctoral thesis and should contribute =
to the development of a novel theoretical model about the interaction =
between temporal and spatial relocation in cultural remembrance. At the =
same time, you will analyse the genre aspects which play a dynamic role =
in processes of cultural remembrance, adding a new perspective to the =
interdisciplinary debate on media of recollection in cultural memory =
studies.
=20
You will be based at Radboud University Nijmegen, Faculty of Arts, =
Research Institute for Historical, Literary and Cultural Studies (HLCS). =


Additional information PhD student 1: You will examine recollections of =
the Great Famine in prose fiction written between 1871 and 1891 in =
Ireland, England, the United States and Canada.=20

Additional information PhD student 2: You will investigate the =
remembrance of the Great Famine in prose fiction written between 1892 =
and 1921 in Ireland, England, the United States and Canada.=20

The research activities will have to be carried out at the instituut =
HLCS.=20
Requirements
You should have:=20
- a (Research) Master=E2=80=99s degree in literary studies, with first =
class honours, plus research experience in Irish studies;=20
- thorough knowledge of relevant theory from the fields of memory and =
diaspora studies;=20
- an outstanding record of undergraduate and Master=E2=80=99s degree =
work;=20
- excellent writing and speaking skills in English.=20

Organization
Radboud University Nijmegen is one of the leading academic communities =
in the Netherlands, renowned for its leafy campus, modern buildings, and =
state-of-the-art equipment. It has seven faculties and enrolls over =
17,500 students in approximately 90 study programmes. The university is =
situated in Nijmegen, the oldest city in the Netherlands, close to the =
German border, on the banks of the river Waal. Nijmegen has a rich =
history and its city centre is one of the liveliest in the Netherlands.=20
Your research will be embedded in the institute for Historical, Literary =
and Cultural Studies (HLCS) at the Faculty of Arts. Research at HLCS is =
centred around five themes: The Ancient World, Christian Cultural =
Heritage, History after the Middle Ages, Studying Criticism and =
Reception Across Borders, and the Performances of Memory. See: =
www.ru.nl/hlcs=20

Conditions of employment=20
Employment: 0,8 fte=20
The gross starting salary is =E2=82=AC2,042 per month based on full-time =
employment.=20
Additional conditions of employment
The total duration of the contract is 4.3 years. You will be offered an =
initial contract for 18 months with the possibility of extension by 2.8 =
years. The sub-projects are scheduled to start on March 1st, 2010.=20
Other Information
Please submit a cover letter, a current CV, transcripts of your =
qualifications to date(degrees and grade lists), two writing samples: a =
chapter from your Master=E2=80=99s thesis and a (forthcoming or =
published) article or presented conference paper, two referees should =
send letters by email to P&O.=20

Additional Information=20
Mw. dr. M. Corporaal=20
Telephone: +31 24 3612034=20
E-mail: m.corporaal[at]let.ru.nl=20
Application
You can apply for the job (mention the vacancy number 23.18.10) before 1 =
December 2010 by sending your application -preferably by email- to:=20

RU Nijmegen, Faculty of Arts, Personnel Department=20
P.O. Box 9103, 6500 HD, Nijmegen (NL)=20
E-mail: vacatures[at]let.ru.nl=20

No commercial propositions please.=20

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: CFP Early Modern Migrations: Exiles, Expulsion,
& Religious Refugees 1400-1700, Toronto, 2012
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Message-ID:

Early Modern Migrations: Exiles, Expulsion, & Religious Refugees 1400-1700
Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies

An international and interdisciplinary conference
Victoria College in the University of Toronto
19-21 April 2012

The early modern period witnessed a dramatic increase in the migration,
expulsion and exile of social groups and individuals around the globe. The
physical movements of religious refugees triggered widespread, ongoing
migrations that shaped both the contours of European colonialist expansion
and the construction of regional, national and religious identities. Human
movements (both real and imagined) also animated material culture; the
presence of bodies, buildings, texts, songs and relics shaped and reshaped
the host societies into which immigrants entered. Following exiles and their
diasporic communities across Europe and the world enables our exploration of
a broad range of social, cultural, linguistic and artistic dynamics, and
invites us to reconsider many of the conceptual frameworks by which we
understand 'Renaissance' and 'Reformation'.

This conference invites a sustained, comparative and interdisciplinary
exploration of the phenomenon and cultural representation of early modern
migrations. It also aims to consider how the transmission and translation of
material, textual and cultural practices create identity and cross-cultural
identifications in contexts animated by the tension
between location and dislocation. While often driven by exclusion and
intolerance, the exile/refugee experience also encouraged emerging forms of
toleration, multiculturalism and notions of cosmopolitanism. In a period in
which mobility was a way of life for many, identifications rooted in
location were often tenuously sustained even as they could be forcibly
asserted in cultural representation.

Deadline for Submissions: 31 January 2011

Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies

Web Site

http://new.crrs.ca/news/cfp_migrations/

http://new.crrs.ca/

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: CFP Europe, Migration, Identity, University of Minnesota
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Message-ID:

Subject: cfp: Europe ? Migration ? Identity

=93Europe =96 Migration =96 Identity=94=20


Summer Seminar=20
Date: August 25-27, 2011=20
Location: University of Minnesota=20
Conveners: Donna Gabaccia (U Minnesota) / Sally Gregory Kohlstedt (U
Minnesota) / Jan Logemann (GHI)=20

This workshop aims to bring together established scholars and graduate
students from both sides of the Atlantic for a three day seminar on the
themes of migration, identity formation, and Europe. The seminar builds =
on
the University of Minnesota=92s special emphasis on migration history =
and a
new collaborative research project at the German Historical Institute,
=93Transatlantic Perspectives: Europe in the Eyes of European Immigrants =
to
the United States, 1940-1980=94 (www.ghi-dc.org/tp). The seminar aims to
promote exchanges between scholars engaged in the field of migration and
emigration research and those who are interested in processes of
=93Europeanization=94 in the modern era (after 1850).=20

A central question will be what =93Europe=94 meant to migrants abroad on =
several
levels =96 ranging from the personal, to the professional, to the =
political.
Can we trace the emergence of =93European=94 identities among different =
groups
of migrants and, if so, what form did they take? To what degree are such
identities comparable to the crystallization of national identities =
within
migrant communities in nineteenth century America? How far did personal
migration experiences impact changing perceptions of European homelands? =
We
welcome a variety of disciplinary, methodological, and topical =
approaches to
issues of changing and hybrid identities among migrants of different
backgrounds, predominantly in Europe and the United States.=20

We invite contributions from emerging historians, sociologists,
anthropologists, and others from the humanities and social sciences who =
are
in the early stages of their PhD research; support will be available for
those presenting. Over the course of three days, the summer seminar will
allow graduate students from different academic cultures to show-case =
their
work, receive in-depth feedback and network across disciplines. Topical
sessions based on pre-circulated papers will bring together the ongoing
research of graduate students with contextualizing comments by =
established
scholars in the field. The program will also include accompanying =
lectures
and a concluding plenary discussion. The University of Minnesota is =
located
at the heart of the Minneapolis / St. Paul metropolitan area. We are
planning excursions into sites showcasing the rich immigration history =
and
diverse immigrant communities of Minneapolis and an introduction to the
extensive collections of source materials archived at the Immigration
History Research Center.=20

Please send applications with a project description along with a =
proposed
paper topic and how it would relate to the seminar=92s overarching =
themes
(700-1,000 words) to Ashley Narayan (narayan[at]ghi-dc.org) by December 10,
2010.=20

We are particularly interested in ongoing dissertation research that =
engages
one of these themes:=20
Identification with Europe among Migrants and Refugees=20
National Identity and European Identity Compared=20
Europeanness as a Hybrid Identity=20
Immigrant Communities: Towards =93European-Americans=94?=20
Identity Formation in Labor Migration and Political Migration
Compared=20
Migrants and =C9migr=E9s in Transatlantic Networks: Politics, Sciences,
Business, Professions=20

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Wales-Ireland Network: November events
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Message-ID:

Forwarded On Behalf Of Claire Connolly

Dear all,

The Wales-Ireland Network welcomes a number of distinguished guests to
Cardiff University this month, and gratefully acknowledges the support =
of
the Embassy of Ireland, Great Britain and Culture Ireland.=A0

We look forward to seeing at least some of you in attendance at the
following events. Please do spread the word.


Tuesday November 2, 5.15 pm, Room 2.47, Humanities Building, Colum Road,
Cardiff
Prof. Elizabeth Malcolm=A0(Melbourne University) 'Celts, Gold and =
Madness:
Irish, Scottish and Welsh Immigrants in a Lunatic Asylum during the
Australian Gold Rushes, 1851-71'

Wednesday November 17, 5 pm, Optometry Lecture Theatre, Optometry =
Building,
Maindy Road, Cardiff
Prof. Edna Longley=A0(Queen=92s University, Belfast) =91Yeats, Edward =
Thomas and
Symbolism=92

Thursday November 18, 6 pm, Committee Rooms, Glamorgan Building, King =
Edward
VII Avenue, Cardiff
Michael Longley=A0Poetry Reading

The events are free and open to all but, for the Michael Longley =
reading,
please book tickets via publicbookings[at]cardiff.ac.uk

best wishes,

Claire Connolly, Katie Gramich, Paul O'Leary

http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/encap/research/networks/wales-ireland/seminars.h=
tml

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Book Notice, Sport,
Representation and Evolving Identities in Europe
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Message-ID:

Do note that the original notice, as distributed, got the year of the =
book launch wrong.

The official book launch, with Mike Cronin, will be in January next =
year, 2011.

I have corrected the notice, below. The collection touches on a number =
of Irish Diaspora list recurring themes, and the chapters by Marcus Free =
and Alan Bairner should be noted.

P.O'S.


Philip Dine / Se=C3=A1n Crosson (eds)
Sport, Representation and Evolving Identities in Europe

Foreword by Paddy Agnew

Peter Lang: Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, New =
York, Wien, 2010.
XXII, 369 pp., num. coloured and b/w ill., tables and graphs
Cultural Identity Studies. Vol. 19
Edited by Helen Chambers
ISBN 978-3-03911-977-6 pb.
sFr. 80.=E2=80=93 / =E2=82=AC* 54.70 / =E2=82=AC** 56.20 / =E2=82=AC =
51.10 / =C2=A3 46.=E2=80=93 / US-$ 79.95
=20
=20
Sport annually mobilizes millions of people across Europe: as =
practitioners in a wide variety of competitive, educational, or =
recreational contexts, and as spectators, who are physically present or =
following events through the mass media. Sport, Representation and =
Evolving Identities in Europe is a major new collection, funded by the =
Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences, that =
includes original research into modern sport both from leading academics =
in the area and emerging scholars engaged with the topic of sport and =
its representation. Its aim is to examine the distinctive contribution =
made by this complex phenomenon to the construction of European =
identities.The book focuses scholarly attention on sport=E2=80=99s =
social significance, as a set of mass-mediated practices and spectacles =
giving rise to a complex network of images, symbols, and discourses. As =
its title suggests, the specific aim of this edited volume is to examine =
sport=E2=80=99s distinctive contribution to the construction of European =
identities. It thus seeks to explore, and ultimately to explain, the =
processes of representation and mediation involved in the sporting =
construction, and subsequent renegotiation, of local, national, and, =
increasingly, global identities.

This ongoing process is examined by means of a survey of key =
developments in sporting Europe =E2=80=93 from the mid-19th century to =
the present, and from the Atlantic to the Urals =E2=80=93 presenting new =
research by acknowledged international experts at the level of =
individuals, communities, regions, nation-states, and Europe as a whole, =
both in its geographical and political incarnations. Among the major =
figures to contribute to the volume are the English novelist, =
broadcaster, former professional football player (for FC Spartak Moscow) =
and Russian scholar, Professor James Riordan; founding president of the =
European Committee for the History of Sport and German sport specialist, =
Professor Arnd Kr=C3=BCger; and David Scott, Professor of French Textual =
and Visual Studies at Trinity College Dublin, and author of The Art and =
Aesthetics of Boxing. As part of its examination of the representation =
and role of sport in various national contexts across Europe, this =
volume also considers the Irish dimension in contributions considering =
the experience of Catholic players in the Northern Irish soccer team and =
the iconic figure of former Irish international footballer, Roy Keane. =
The book also includes a preface by Rome correspondent of The Irish =
Times, Paddy Agnew.
=20
=20
Contents:=20
Paddy Agnew: Foreword. Football and Evolving National Identity =E2=80=93 =

Philip Dine/Se=C3=A1n Crosson: Introduction. Exploring European Sporting =
Identities: History, Theory, Methodology =E2=80=93=20
S=C3=A9bastien Darbon: An Anthropological Approach to the Diffusion of =
Sports: From European Models to Global Diversity =E2=80=93=20
Borja Garc=C3=ADa: The Governance of European Sport =E2=80=93=20
Eleni Theodoraki: Expressions of National Identity through Impact =
Assessments of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games =E2=80=93=20
Jeffrey Hill: =E2=80=98I Like to Have a Go at the Swanks=E2=80=99: Alf =
Tupper and English Society, 1945-1990 =E2=80=93=20
Paul Dietschy: From =E2=80=98Sports Arditism=E2=80=99 to =
Consensus-Building: The Ambivalences of the Italian Sporting Press under =
Fascism =E2=80=93=20
=C3=81lvaro Rodr=C3=ADguez D=C3=ADaz: Spain=E2=80=99s Social Values =
through Film: Films about Sports =E2=80=93=20
David Scott: Boxing and Masculine Identity =E2=80=93=20
Cathal Kilcline: California Dreaming: Surfing Culture in Mediterranean =
France =E2=80=93=20
Marcus Free: Antihero as National Icon? The Contrariness of Roy Keane as =
Fantasy Embodiment of the =E2=80=98New Ireland=E2=80=99 =E2=80=93=20
Alan Bairner: Representing the North: Reflections on the Life Stories of =
Northern Ireland=E2=80=99s Catholic Footballers =E2=80=93=20
Gyozo Molnar: Rediscovering Hungarian-ness: The Case of Elite Hungarian =
Footballers =E2=80=93=20
Dilwyn Porter: Cornwall and Rugby Union: Sport and Identity in a Place =
Apart =E2=80=93=20
Arnd Kr=C3=BCger: Sport and Identity in Germany since Reunification =
=E2=80=93=20
James Riordan: Sport and Politics in Russia and the Former Soviet Union =
=E2=80=93 John Bale: Europeans Writing the African =
=E2=80=98Olympian=E2=80=99.=20
=20
Philip Dine is Senior Lecturer in French at the National University of =
Ireland, Galway. He has published widely on representations of the =
French colonial empire, including particularly decolonization, in fields =
ranging from children=E2=80=99s literature to professional sport. Other =
published research includes a history of French rugby football, as part =
of a broader reflection on leisure and popular culture in France. The =
present volume is one of the outcomes of a thematic project on sport and =
identity in France and Europe for which he acted as coordinator and =
which was funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and =
Social Sciences (2006=E2=80=932009).
=20
Se=C3=A1n Crosson is Programme Director of the MA in Film Studies in the =
Huston School of Film & Digital Media at the National University of =
Ireland, Galway. He teaches courses in the Huston School on Irish film, =
documentary, world cinema, and cinema and Vietnam. He has published =
widely on various aspects of Irish studies, from film to literature, and =
his current research concerns the representation of sport in film, from =
the silent to the contemporary period, the subject of several recent and =
forthcoming publications.
=20
Sport, Representation and Evolving Identities in Europe will be launched =
in the Huston School of Film & Digital Media, NUI, Galway, by Professor =
Mike Cronin, Academic Director, Boston College-Ireland on Thursday, =
January 20th, *2011* at 2.30pm. The launch will be preceded by a lecture =
by Professor Cronin entitled =E2=80=9CMaking history into documentary: =
Aonach Tailteann and TG4=E2=80=9D.
=20
=20
=20
To order a copy by mail, phone, email or online, contact Peter Lang at:
Peter Lang AG =C2=B7 International Academic Publishers
Moosstrasse 1 =C2=B7 P.O. Box 350
CH-2542 Pieterlen / Switzerland
Tel.: +41 (0)32 376 17 17 =C2=B7 Fax: +41 (0)32 376 17 27
e-mail: info[at]peterlang.com
Website: www.peterlang.com
=20
=20
=20

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Thesis, Opposition,
discipline and culture: The civic world of the Irish and Italians
in Philadelphia, 1880--1920
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Message-ID:

Increasingly, basic information about theses is turning up in our alerts -
often through the ProQuest web site.

I have not been sure how to present this material - often it is difficult
and expensive to get beyond the basic information. I do feel that younger
scholars should be given the time and the space to develop a research and
publications record.

On the other hand...

On the other hand basic thesis information does give the Irish Diaspora list
some feel for trajectories of Irish Diaspora Studies in different parts of
the world.

P.O'S.


Opposition, discipline and culture: The civic world of the Irish and
Italians in Philadelphia, 1880--1920
by Mullan, Michael L., Ph.D., TEMPLE UNIVERSITY, 2009, 573 pages; 3408744

Abstract:

One of the stock assumptions that inhabits our understanding of the history
of 19th - and early 20th -century immigration to an industrializing America
is the wretchedness of the new immigrant laborers. Whatever progress the new
ethnic groups achieved in cultural and civic matters was attributable to
learning and adapting to American influence, a process of assimilation that
instilled social discipline in personal and public life and an appreciation
for American democracy.

This study challenges this stock assumption and relocates the locus of
investigation overseas, to transnational sources of civic life in the
pre-emigration lands of Ireland and South/Central Italy to explain the rapid
rise and proliferation of ethnic voluntary associations in the late 1800s,
early 1900s. The empirical universe is the Irish and Italians of
Philadelphia; the time frame is 1880-1920, and the social site of
investigation and analysis is the vibrant community life of ethnic voluntary
associations the Irish and Italians constructed.

This study also challenges a reading of the Irish associations in
Philadelphia as little more than neighborhood clubs peopled by an aspiring
upper strata of the Irish American community reaching for bourgeois values.
This work suggests that the associations were populated by the working
class, many born in Ireland, that substituted an ethic of solidarity for
individual achievement values, a communal opposition to symbols of past
oppression and agents of privilege.

The Irish Americans of Philadelphia had cultural advantages prior to
emigration, and they capitalized on this stock of common knowledge absorbed
in native Ireland to transfer the norms, methods and moral codes of behavior
from the Irish Friendly Society to the Irish American Beneficial Association
of Philadelphia. However closely the Irish of Philadelphia followed the
original transatlantic model, they ultimately molded their own style of
ethnic association that elevated humanitarian communal values and
constructed their civic life on a scaffolding of stable financial reasoning
backed by a solid group discipline.

The region of Abruzzo in South/Central Italy sent a disproportionate share
of its rural people to Philadelphia in a massive chain migration that formed
the Italian colony of South Philadelphia in the early 1900s. The Abruzzesse
were a mountainous people defined by their rocky hilltop topography and a
hard heritage derived from eking out an existence working rocky soil or
shepherding; this was a mobile population cultured in the tradition of
seasonal migration within Europe as the small farmers and rural laborers
often spent months away from home in search of work to support their family
and home.

The rural proletariat of Abruzzo that eventually settled in Philadelphia
also arrived with a rich civic heritage firmly intact, and the Italians
capitalized on their knowledge and experience of an advanced civic culture
based in local mutual aid to establish beneficial associations in Italian
Philadelphia.

In the process of following transatlantic models and in creating their own
life, these ethnic groups constructed a collective consciousness mediated
through the immediate community and educational mission of the ethnic
associations. For the Irish, the association became the protective
institution for a world view that defined Irish identity within the Diaspora
as a community of exiles torn from cherished rural locations, a people bent
on maintaining a vigilant eye on enemies such as the occupying British state
in Ireland, on Irish landlordism and anti-Catholic agents in America ever
supportive of Irish nationalism. This consciousness grafted all kinds of
imaginary symbols to its base, including race, a Social Darwinisitic
rendering of the Celtic type as superior to the Anglo Saxon, and a matrix of
factors that conflated social class, nationalism, and sentimental
remembrance into a hard opposition leveled at all forms of illegitimate
privilege.

The Italians were a mobile people of the mountains loyal to family and land,
schooled in the rigors of migration, backed by the civic institutions of
self-help they constructed in their agricultural towns; they were not
burdened by the weight of sentimental nationalism as the Irish were in their
Diaspora. Yet, during Italy's time of crisis during World War I, the Italian
Americans of Philadelphia awakened national leanings and constructed a
movement of national support for failing Italy. The Italian American
associations of South Philadelphia came alive to sponsor financial and moral
support for Italy at war, and a renewed Italian imperialism in the immediate
post-war years.

Thus, as the Irish and Italians drew on their old-world methods to create
new civic institutions in Philadelphia, they also constructed separate
ethnic identities and an active community, a vibrant energy that made
industrial Philadelphia the home of the American voluntary association.
(Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Thesis, "The house of the Irish": Irishness, history,
and memory in Griffintown, Montreal, 1868-2009
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Message-ID:

"The house of the Irish": Irishness, history, and memory in Griffintown,
Montreal, 1868-2009
by Barlow, John Matthew, Ph.D., CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY , 2009, 338 pages;
NR63386

Abstract:

This dissertation examines the arc of Irish-Catholic identity in
Griffintown, a working-class neighbourhood of Montreal, over the course of
the "long" twentieth century, from 1868 to 2009. Griffintown is significant
as it was both the first and last Irish-Catholic neighbourhood of the city.
Situating the working-class Irish-Catholics of Griffintown within a
postcolonial framework, this dissertation examines the development and
functioning of a diasporic Irish culture in Montr?al. We see how that
culture operated in Griffintown, at times shielding the residents of the
neighbourhood from goings on in the wider city and nation, and at other
times allowing for the forging of common cause across class lines within the
Irish-Catholic community of Montr?al. In the years following World War II,
Irish-Catholic Griffintown disappeared from the landscape, owing to
depopulation and the physical destruction of the neighbourhood. We then see
how Irish-Catholic identity in Montr?al as a whole broke down, as the Irish
made common cause with the Anglo-Protestants of the city to forge a new
alliance: Anglo-Montr?al. Thus situated, the Anglophone population of the
city girded itself in a defensive posture for the linguistic, cultural,
economic, and constitutional strife that dominated life in Montr?al over the
second half of the twentieth century. In the years since the second
referendum on Quebec sovereignty in 1995, Irish identity has undergone a
renaissance of sorts in Montr?al, due to both developments locally and the
reinvigoration of the Irish diaspora globally since the 1980s. In this
process, we see the intersection of history and memory as Griffintown has
become the site of Irish memory and remembrance on Montr?al's cultural
landscape. The Irish of Montr?al, then, have used Griffintown as a means of
claiming their space on the cultural landscape of the city and to
demonstrate their long-standing connection to Montr?al. In effect,
Griffintown has allowed the Irish in Montr?al to re-claim their stake as one
of Montr?al's "founding nations."

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Simon Jolivet
Subject: Re: Irish Diaspora Museums
In-Reply-To:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Message-ID:

Bonjour Prof. Murray=2C

There was one in 2009-2010 at McCord Museum in Montr=E9al called "Being Iri=
sh O'Quebec - Irlandais O'Qu=E9bec"=2C but it was a temporary exhibition.=20

It is still possible to visit the "online exhibition"=2C though : http://ww=
w.mccord-museum.qc.ca/expositions/expositionsXSL.php?lang=3D1&expoId=3D55&p=
age=3Daccueil

Kind regards=2C

Simon Jolivet


> Date: Tue=2C 2 Nov 2010 10:16:15 +0100
> From: Edmundo.Murray[at]WTO.ORG
> Subject: [IR-D] Irish Diaspora Museums
> To: IR-D[at]JISCMAIL.AC.UK
>=20
> Dear friends=2C
>=20
> Are there any museums dedicated to the Irish Diaspora (eg. with permanent=
exhibitions and own collections)?
>=20
> Thank you=2C
>=20
> Edmundo Murray
> ________________________________
> Please consider the environment before printing this email or its attachm=
ent(s). Please note that this message may contain confidential information.=
If you have received this message in error=2C please notify me and then de=
lete it from your system.
=

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Article, Australian Colonial Mentalities in Emigrant Letters
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Message-ID:

From: "Patrick O'Sullivan"
To: "IR-D Jiscmail"
Subject: Article, Australian Colonial Mentalities in Emigrant Letters

The journal, Australian Studies, is developing its Open Access policy.
In 2009 it became an electronic journal, published under the aegis
of the National Library of Australia.

I have found its search facility a bit unwieldy. And I think a bit more
thought should be given to how articles should be cited.

However this article by Eric Richards has turned up in our alerts, and is
freely available.

This link takes you directly to a pdf of the article.

https://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/australian-studies/article/view
File/1757/2132

P.O'S.

Australian Studies, Vol 2

Australian Colonial Mentalities in Emigrant Letters
Eric Richards

Abstract

Reconstructing lives from correspondence is probably the most common
technique employed in biography, Australian or other. This is not easily
achieved among the less lettered elements in the population, notably among
the least literate and poorest strata. The lives of the majority of the 19th
century Australian population generally fall within these poorly-documented
categories. The survival of emigrant letters provides relatively good access
to these groups, in the form of direct documentation from the people
themselves. There are inherent problems in the use of letters of any sort.
This paper asks whether it is possible to penetrate into the mental worlds
of enough of these people to identify some of the frameworks of their
thoughts. For instance, attitudes to race, work, the new world, religion and
the costs and benefits of migration in their lives may indicate recurring
mentalities in these new Australian lives.

Keywords: emigrant letters; literacy; mental worlds; colonial biography

This paper was delivered, in its original version, to the biennial
conference of the British Australian Studies Association, entitled
'Australian Lives', on 7 September 2006, at the Cornwall Campus of the
University of Exeter, Penryn.

http://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/australian-studies/article/view/
1757

http://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/australian-studies/index

http://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/australian-studies/about

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: "Murray, Edmundo"
Subject: Irish Diaspora Museums
In-Reply-To:
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
MIME-Version: 1.0
Message-ID:

Dear friends,

Are there any museums dedicated to the Irish Diaspora (eg. with permanent e=
xhibitions and own collections)?

Thank you,

Edmundo Murray
________________________________
Please consider the environment before printing this email or its attachmen=
t(s). Please note that this message may contain confidential information. I=
f you have received this message in error, please notify me and then delete=
it from your system.

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: "Rogers, James S."
Subject: Re: Irish Diaspora Museums
In-Reply-To:
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
MIME-Version: 1.0
Message-ID:

I don't usually go out of my way to comment on facile treatments of Irish i=
mmigration history (which are numberless as the stars) , but: having just w=
atched the slide show on the proposed the Irish American Museum of Washingt=
on DC, I have to say it is breathtakingly ill-informed. Except for a few o=
ddments, like Eileen Collins (the first female space shuttle pilot) and of =
course, JFK, the whole thing could have been conceived in 1950. Military H=
istory dominates to a ridiculous degree-- maybe half of the images. There=
appears to be no understanding of , for example, Women's History, Politic=
al History, or the history of the American city. Oh, and the history of th=
e American Catholic church went missing, too.=20

Jim Rogers

-----Original Message-----
From: The Irish Diaspora Studies List [mailto:IR-D[at]JISCMAIL.AC.UK] On Behal=
f Of Noreen Bowden
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2010 10:30 AM
To: IR-D[at]JISCMAIL.AC.UK
Subject: Re: [IR-D] Irish Diaspora Museums

Hi Edmundo,

There is no major museum dedicated to the diaspora - yet! But there are a f=
ew institutions you might be interested in. These are the ones I'm aware
of:

The Irish World Heritage Centre in Manchester is hoping to establish a dias=
pora museum. http://www.iwhc.com/newcentre.htm

The Dunbrody http://www.dunbrody.com/level1.php?level=3D1&id=3D1 - was give=
n funding in 2008 to start an emigration history centre. More at http://www=
.globalirish.ie/2008/dunbrody-ship-to-become-centre-for-emigration-history/

The Jeanie Johnston is a floating museum about the Famine and emigration - =
http://www.jeaniejohnston.ie/

Ulster-American Folk Park http://www.nmni.com/uafp

There are plans for a major museum in Washington DC, focusing on Irish-Amer=
ican history http://www.irishamericanmuseumdc.org/

There is a small Irish-American heritage museum in the Catskills in NY - ht=
tp://www.irishamericanheritagemuseum.org/ (I'd imagine several of the Irish=
heritage centers dotted around the US and no doubt elsewhere have small mu=
seums attached as well.)

A group in Galway that I've been a little bit involved with is hoping to cr=
eate an Irish Diaspora Museum there - that website is pending.

Hope that helps!
Noreen Bowden
http://www.globalirish.ie




On Tue, Nov 2, 2010 at 9:16 AM, Murray, Edmundo wro=
te:

> Dear friends,
>
> Are there any museums dedicated to the Irish Diaspora (eg. with=20
> permanent exhibitions and own collections)?
>
> Thank you,
>
> Edmundo Murray
> ________________________________
> Please consider the environment before printing this email or its=20
> attachment(s). Please note that this message may contain confidential=20
> information. If you have received this message in error, please notify=20
> me and then delete it from your system.
>

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: CFP 100 Myles: Flann O'Brien Conference, Vienna, 24-26 July 2011
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Message-ID:

First Call for Papers

100 MYLES:
THE INTERNATIONAL FLANN O'BRIEN CENTENARY CONFERENCE

University of Vienna, Austria, 24 - 26 July 2011


2011 marks the centenary year of Brian O'Nolan, whose comic =
master=ACpieces At
Swim-Two-Birds and The Third Policeman (as Flann O'Brien) and bitingly
satirical Cruiskeen Lawn newspaper column (as Myles na gCopaleen) remain
among Ireland's, and the 20th century's, best kept secrets. A tireless
documenter of the struggles of fictional characters against their =
oppressive
creators, of the human attributes of bicycles (and vice versa), and of
insufferable bores of all stripes, O'Nolan's writing remains a rich and
underexplored body of comic invention and postmodern tropes. This =
conference
will have the dual objective of celebrating and re-assessing O'Nolan's
legacy and body of work -- in its various forms and genres -- as well as
spear=AChead=ACing a more integrated international community dedicated =
to this
=91cult=92 author.

Vienna provides a surprisingly fitting location for such an event. The
Austrian capital might lay claim to being
the European city that has engaged with O'Nolan's work most fully =
outside of
his native Dublin, providing the
home of numerous theatrical adaptations and of the only film adaptation =
of
his novels to date (Kurt Palm's In
Schwimmen-Zwei-V=F6gel).

As Palm's film demonstrates, the commonly held view of O'Nolan's =
influence
as hardly reaching beyond Irish shores is in desperate need of updating,
with traces of his influence increasingly evident in contemporary works =
of
metafiction. The appearance of The Third Policeman in US primetime drama
Lost likewise testifies to O=92Nolan=92s growing cultural purchase. As =
such, the
conference is especially interested in challenging and =
re-=ACevalua=ACting the
view of O'Nolan as a purely local writer -- particularly in comparison =
with
his
compatriots/expatriates Joyce and Beckett -- by considering his work in
broader, more international
con=ACtexts.

Since the conference aims to provide a forum for exploring the diversity =
of
O'Nolan texts, the organisers welcome proposals on all aspects of his
writings. However, as we are interested in a broadly representative
programme which would explore O'Nolan's work beyond his two most famous =
and
innovative novels, proposals on his Irish-language novel An B=E9al =
Bocht, his
Irish Times column =93Cruiskeen Lawn=94, the later novels (The Hard =
Life, The
Dalkey Archive, and the unfinished Slattery's Sago Saga), and even on =
his
rarely produced theatrical plays (such as Faustus Kelly) are =
particularly
welcome.

Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following areas of =
interest:
=95=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Reassessing O'Nolan's Legacy/Influence at 100
=95=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Cultural/Textual Appropriations and Adaptations of =
O'Nolan's Work
=95=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 O'Nolan between Modernism and Post-Modernism
=95=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 O'Nolan and Theories of the Comic
=95=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 O'Nolan and Theories of Genre
=95=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Self-Plagiarism as Style / Pseudonymy as Literary =
Technique
=95=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 O'Nolan and Science (Physics, Pataphysics, Human =
Biology, etc.)
=95=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 The Plain People of Ireland: O'Nolan, the Politics =
of Culture, and
the Culture of Politics


Abstracts: If you would like to propose a paper (in English, not =
exceeding
20 minutes), please submit your
title and an abstract of 250 words accompanied by a short =
bio=ACgraphical
sketch. In addition to the presentation of papers we invite proposals =
for
alternative forms of discussion: e.g. debate motions (and debaters), =
themed
panels, poster sessions (esp. for PhD students), etc.

Deadline for submission of proposals and abstracts:
**1 February 2011**.

Keynote Speakers to be announced shortly!

All correspondence (preferably by e-mail) should be addressed to the
organisers:

wern.huber[at]univie.ac.at , paul.eamonn.fagan[at]gmail.com ,
rubenborg[at]mscc.huji.ac.il=20



Prof. Dr. Werner Huber and Paul Fagan, MA
Department of English and America Studies
University of Vienna
Spitalgasse 2-4, Hof 8.3
A-1090 Vienna, Austria

Dr. Ruben Borg
English Department
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jerusalem 91905, Israel

--
Prof. Dr. Werner Huber
Institut f=FCr Anglistik und Amerikanistik
Universit=E4t Wien
Spitalgasse 2-4, Hof 8
A-1090 Wien, AUSTRIA

tel:=A0 + 43 1 4277 42481
fax:=A0 + 43 1 4277 42498
e-mail: wern.huber[at]univie.ac.at=20

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: "jjnmcg1[at]eircom.net"
Subject: Re: (Irish) Diaspora Museums
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Message-ID:

Edmundo,Dont forget the American Ulster Folk Park in Omagh-Paddy Fitzgeral=
d
and Brian Lambkin there=2EIt depends what you mean by Museums=3F Cheers Jo=
hn
McGurk

Original Message:
-----------------
From: Patrick O'Sullivan P=2EOSullivan[at]BRADFORD=2EAC=2EUK
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2010 16:49:23 -0000
To: IR-D[at]JISCMAIL=2EAC=2EUK
Subject: [IR-D] (Irish) Diaspora Museums


From: ultancowley[at]eircom=2Enet
To: IR-D[at]jiscmail=2Eac=2Euk
Subject: (Irish) Diaspora Museums


Edmundo

Surely you're not expecting to find one here in the Republic of
Ireland=3F The Cobh exhibition is, I suppose, something of the sort but on=
ly
as it relates to emigration to the USA=2E=2E=2E

Ultan =20


--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web=2Ecom =96 Enhanced email for the mobile individual based on Micro=
soft=AE
Exchange - http://link=2Email2web=2Ecom/Personal/EnhancedEmail

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Noreen Bowden
Subject: Re: Irish Diaspora Museums
In-Reply-To:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Message-ID:

Hi Edmundo,

There is no major museum dedicated to the diaspora - yet! But there are a
few institutions you might be interested in. These are the ones I'm aware
of:

The Irish World Heritage Centre in Manchester is hoping to establish a
diaspora museum. http://www.iwhc.com/newcentre.htm

The Dunbrody http://www.dunbrody.com/level1.php?level=1&id=1 - was given
funding in 2008 to start an emigration history centre. More at
http://www.globalirish.ie/2008/dunbrody-ship-to-become-centre-for-emigration-history/

The Jeanie Johnston is a floating museum about the Famine and emigration -
http://www.jeaniejohnston.ie/

Ulster-American Folk Park http://www.nmni.com/uafp

There are plans for a major museum in Washington DC, focusing on
Irish-American history http://www.irishamericanmuseumdc.org/

There is a small Irish-American heritage museum in the Catskills in NY -
http://www.irishamericanheritagemuseum.org/ (I'd imagine several of the
Irish heritage centers dotted around the US and no doubt elsewhere have
small museums attached as well.)

A group in Galway that I've been a little bit involved with is hoping to
create an Irish Diaspora Museum there - that website is pending.

Hope that helps!
Noreen Bowden
http://www.globalirish.ie




On Tue, Nov 2, 2010 at 9:16 AM, Murray, Edmundo wrote:

> Dear friends,
>
> Are there any museums dedicated to the Irish Diaspora (eg. with permanent
> exhibitions and own collections)?
>
> Thank you,
>
> Edmundo Murray
> ________________________________
> Please consider the environment before printing this email or its
> attachment(s). Please note that this message may contain confidential
> information. If you have received this message in error, please notify me
> and then delete it from your system.
>

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: (Irish) Diaspora Museums
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Message-ID:

From: ultancowley[at]eircom.net
To: IR-D[at]jiscmail.ac.uk
Subject: (Irish) Diaspora Museums


Edmundo

Surely you're not expecting to find one here in the Republic of
Ireland? The Cobh exhibition is, I suppose, something of the sort but only
as it relates to emigration to the USA...

Ultan

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Simon Jolivet
Subject: CFP --- Canada, Irishness,
and Performance --- University of Toronto, 15-16 April 2011
In-Reply-To:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Message-ID:

*Call for
Papers:*

*Canada=2C Irishness=2C and Performance: Opening the Debate*

*The 8th Annual Irish Theatrical Diaspora Conference*

*Graduate Centre for Study of Drama=2C University of Toronto*

*April 15-16=2C 2011*

*Proposals Due: Dec 17=2C 2010

Submit Proposals to: ITD2011[at]gmail.com*



The history of Irish diasporas in Canada is rich and diverse=2C and the Iri=
sh

have contributed significantly to the creation of Canadian cultural

phenomena=2C yet the study of Irish theatre in terms of Canadian diasporic

identities has not produced an equally rich body of literature.



With this scholarly lacuna in mind=2C this conference aims to address the

scope and character of Irish influence on performance in Canada=2C with

particular attention to the ideas of multi- and inter-culturalism.

'Performance' in this case includes theatre=2C dance=2C spectacle=2C and al=
l

aspects of the performing arts=2C as well as extra-theatrical activity - su=
ch

as parades and community gatherings - that foreground 'Irishness' in some

way. Canada has a well-established multicultural identity=2C whereas Irelan=
d

is just beginning to negotiate a civil society that is constituted by a

variety of residents from different ethnic and racial backgrounds. How does

Irish performance fit into the Canadian cultural 'mosaic'? Furthermore=2C w=
hat

kinds of Irish plays are being produced in Canada=2C and how do these

performances negotiate the relationship between Irish culture and Canadian

culture? How is 'Irishness' performed in Canada=2C and from this=2C what ca=
n we

learn about the mechanisms and character of cultural exchange? And finally=
=2C

what is the state of academic activity concerning Irish performance and

Canada?



Keynote speakers include Ann Saddlemyer (Professor Emeritus=2C University o=
f

Toronto)=2C Jackie Maxwell (Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival)=2C and =
Lisa

Fitzpatrick (Director of Drama=2C University of Ulster - Derry).



Possible topics include:



- Irish theatre on Canadian stages

- Impact of Irish theatre professionals in Canada

- Irish influence on Canadian drama

- Multi-/inter-culturalism in Toronto and Irish performance

- Irishness and Canada's 'Celtic' east coast

- Performing Irish identity in Canadian society (drama and arts groups=2C

pubs=2C community centres).

- St. Patrick's Day parades in Canada

- Orange Lodges and performance in Canada

- Performing the Famine in Canada





Submit: Proposals (max. 250 words) along with a brief bio and contact

details. Deadline: *Friday=2C December 17=2C 2010*

Contact: Please send proposals and CFP-related queries=2C preferably by ema=
il=2C

to the conference organizer:



Dr. Natalie Harrower

School of English

Trinity College Dublin

Dublin 2=2C Ireland

ITD2011[at]gmail.com





The conference organizers welcome applications from scholars at any stage o=
f

their career=2C and particularly encourage graduate students to submit

proposals. For more information on Irish Theatrical Diaspora personnel=2C

conferences and publications=2C please visit www.irishtheatricaldiaspora.ne=
t

=

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: CFP Sixth Scotch-Irish Identity Symposium,
The Scotch-Irish and Their Culture, 2011, South Carolina
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Message-ID:

Forwarded on behalf of Dr. Joyce M. Alexander

CENTER FOR SCOTCH-IRISH STUDIES
Sixth Scotch-Irish Identity Symposium
June 3 - 4, 2011
The Scotch-Irish and Their Culture

CALL FOR PAPERS
The Center for Scotch-Irish Studies is pleased to announce that the Sixth
Scotch-Irish Identity Symposium will be held on Saturday, June 4, 2011 at
the McCelvey Center, York, South Carolina.

The symposium will be preceded by a reception and welcome dinner at the
McCelvey Center on the evening of Friday, June 3, 2011.
The theme of the symposium is The Scotch-Irish and Their Culture. We hope to
discuss the cultural identity of the Scotch-Irish in its widest sense and to
look at variations over time and in different parts of the United States.

Our approach is multi-disciplinary and we encourage contributions from
scholars in a variety of disciplines.

We are particularly interested in presentations in the following areas:
1 Scotch-Irish customs and culture
2 Scotch-Irish music and dance
3 Scotch-Irish literature and drama
4 Scotch-Irish art and architecture
5 Scotch-Irish political culture
6 Scotch-Irish material culture
7 The Scotch-Irish in a multicultural society
8 Regional differences among the Scotch-Irish

However, we also welcome scholarly work on other Scotch-Irish topics, and we
are particularly happy to receive abstracts from graduate students.
We ask that you read the requirements for Symposium presentations in the
statement on Goals and Standards on the website

www.Scotch-IrishCentral.org

Please direct any questions to Michael Scoggins at the McCelvey Center, at
micscoggins[at]chmuseums.org, to Dr. Joyce M. Alexander at the Center for
Scotch-Irish Studies, at cntrsis[at]aol.com, or to Dr. Richard K. MacMaster at
rmacmast[at]ufl.edu.

Abstracts (approximately 250 - 300 words), together with a brief C.V.,
should be sent to the Center as file attachments (Microsoft Word preferred)
as soon as possible, but no later than December 31, 2010. Authors will be
informed by January 15, 2011 if their abstracts have been accepted.
Texts for accepted presentations will be due on or before March 15, 2011.

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Re: Irish Diaspora Museums
In-Reply-To:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Message-ID:

I have been asked to comment on a number of such projects over the years...

This is a quote from a report I wrote in a different context...

'My starting point - and my end point - must be the fact that all over the
world the possible and potential archives of the Irish Diaspora are being
thrown into dumpsters. The people who find themselves in effect
'custodians' of these archives are elderly, are dying - and often they, or
their children, do not understand the significance or the meaning of the
material which, as they see it, clutters their homes. We already have
horror stories of important items being rescued from rubbish heaps, and
bonfires. We can only guess about the material that has not been rescued.

Because of my role as Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit, and because
of my other interventions into this field, I find myself often contacted by
people with potential archives or material of interest. And I also find
myself asked to give advice to policy makers and to potential projects,
within Ireland, the Irish Diaspora and in other diasporic communities. The
recurring fault of these potential projects is that they are far too
grandiose. And eventually - of course - these grandiose projects get
nowhere. Also, these grandiose projects are like the scholarly equivalent
of planning blight - they, in effect, prevent action. Meanwhile still more
time passes, important material is lost. On the scholarly side, we lose the
possibility of understanding what is out there, waiting to be collected. We
fail to develop the expertise to understand, present and use this material.
Often, in frustration at the grandiose failures, I say: Can't we just start
small, and see how we get on?...'

The failure to create a Museum of Irish America is a fascinating story - and
some day someone should study that story in detail. Failure is always
interesting.

An exhibition, a sort of precursor has been studied. See
Council for Scholarly Evaluation of Gaelic Gotham.; New York Irish History
Roundtable. (1997). The Gaelic Gotham report. New York: New York Irish
History Roundtable.

Another of my starting points has to do with definitions... I am not a
great fan of arguments that begin with the definition of words, but here
goes...

You cannot call a thing a 'museum' unless scholarship takes place there. If
scholarship does not take place there they it is something else, a display,
an exhibition. Thus Cobh is not a museum. Strokestown is not a museum.

(This, perhaps, simply to pick up Ultan Cowley's point about lack of
interest within the Republic of Ireland...)

The Ulster American Folk Park is a museum, by this definition, because - see
the above quote - people can take objects to the scholars there. And those
scholars will understand their significance. The great example is the McGee
needlework sampler...

Lambkin, B.& Meegan, J. (2004). The fabric of memory, identity and diaspora:
An Irish needlework sampler in Australia with United States and Canadian
connections. FOLK LIFE, 43, 7-31.

The project by Marion Casey and her colleagues is an example of a project
that is going, from small beginnings, in a right direction...

The Archives of Irish America
http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/aia/index.html

The most significant new development is taking place in Australia. We are
in touch with Richard Reid, who is curating the much-anticipated Irish in
Australia exhibition for the National Museum of Australia.

See
http://www.irishecho.com.au/tag/dr-richard-reid
and a web search will find more.

I think that Irish Diaspora communities everywhere will learn from Richard
Reid's project, what he has done and how he has done it.

P.O'S.


-----Original Message-----
From: The Irish Diaspora Studies List [mailto:IR-D[at]JISCMAIL.AC.UK] On Behalf
Of Murray, Edmundo
Sent: 02 November 2010 09:16
To: IR-D[at]JISCMAIL.AC.UK
Subject: [IR-D] Irish Diaspora Museums

Dear friends,

Are there any museums dedicated to the Irish Diaspora (eg. with permanent
exhibitions and own collections)?

Thank you,

Edmundo Murray
________________________________
Please consider the environment before printing this email or its
attachment(s). Please note that this message may contain confidential
information. If you have received this message in error, please notify me
and then delete it from your system.

Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: documentary film, Butte,
America: The Saga of a Hard Rock Mining Town
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Message-ID:

FILM: "Butte, America: The Saga of a Hard Rock Mining Town,"
WHEN: Saturday, November 6th [at] 8 p.m.
WHERE: Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th Street, San Francisco

The feature-length documentary film narrated by actor Gabriel Byrne and
broadcast on the PBS series "Independent Lens," recounts the rise and fall
of Butte, once the world's largest producer of copper and known as "the
Pittsburgh of the West," and its mining community.

RECEPTION & FILM: 5:30-7pm - $25
FILM ONLY: 8pm - $15

TO PURCHASE TICKETS: www.victoriatheatre.org/calendar.htm
ABOUT THE FILM: www.butteamericafilm.org

SPONSORED BY: the Consul General of Ireland, San Francisco Labor Council,
Labor Archives & Research Center (S.F. State), Irish Literary and Historical
Society, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and Knight Program for
Science and Environmental Journalism.