ICIS - the International Congress of Irish Studies

The International Congress of Irish Studies was established to provide an alternative to state/neoliberal narratives of 21^st century Ireland. As a result, it does not accept direct state or corporate donations and funds itself through personal (ie non-corporate!) donations and conference registrations.

So far it has run two successful conferences, one at UC Berkeley and one in Dublin (ICIS 1 and 2)

ICIS 1

See http://events.berkeley.edu/index.php/calendar/sn/ihouse.html?event_ID=55681

The proceedings were published as

http://www.amazon.com/Ireland-Crisis-Analyses-Proposed-Solutions/dp/1443849650

Tues 10 July

8-30 to 9am Registration and Coffee/Tea

9 am Welcome and introductory comments by Sean O Nuallain (conference chair), and Peter Glazer for UC Berkeley

9-15 am to 10-45 Am First panel on theater; Peter Glazer (Session chair), Jackie Fulmer, Virginia Morris with response by Melanie O'Reilly

10-45 am Tea/Coffee break

11 am to 1pm Joyce presentations – invited papers by

Diarmuid Curraoin (Sandford Park) "Metaphysics and Myth in Joyce"
Jackie Fulmer (UC Berkeley - session chair) “Dilly Dedalus: Tomorrow's Girl and Next World Feminism “

Lunch

Submitted papers
2pm to 2-45 pm Seamus Brennan (UCC) (session chair) ; Milesians, Surnames and YDNA; Irish Identity in the Internet Age

2-45 pm to 3-30 pm Seamus Cain " A New Wave of INNOVATIVE writers and poets, in
Ireland and within the Irish diaspora"

Tea/Coffee break

3-45 pm to 5-30pm The destruction of academic freedom in Ireland; Stephen Myers Watt (session chair), Ignacio Chapela, Sean  O Nuallain

5-30pm Break

6 pm; Maurice Fitzpatrick introduces and shows  his film "The boys of St Columb's" with Q+A afterward

Wed 11 July

8am to 9-30 am
The technology and economy session (Chair Dr Sean O Nuallain)

8 am to 9am

 Presentations via Skype by those in Europe

This includes Harry McGee (8-9am) introduced by Sean O Nuallain
 9 am  "Unethical behavior and the rise and fall of Ireland’s Economy".
Author: Rick Revoir, EdD, MBA, CPA

Revisionism and Race  (Chair Catherine Eagan)

(9-30 am)Micheal o hAodha on Ireland's travelers (an ethnic minority)

10 am “Ireland, Irish Studies, and Ethnonational Narratives of Race”
Dr. Catherine M. Eagan, Las Positas College

10-30 am to 11-15 Ishmael Reed - "Does Irish America Need an Intervention from Ireland?"- introduction by Jackie Fulmer

11-15 Coffee

11-30 am to 1pm The Connemaras; a Gaelic-speaking Midwest experiment
Seamus Cain (session chair), Bridget Connelly
Performers of the Irish script  include Liodain ni hUallachain,  Sean O Nuallain

1pm Lunch

2pm  Cathal MacSwiney-Brugha (UC Dublin), Melanie O’Reilly (chair),  and others on the legacy of Macswiney and the neoliberal assault on Irish musical culture

315pm Coffee

3-30pm to end Submitted papers

Session chair; Conn Mac Aogáin

3-30 to 4-30 pm

Conn Mac Aogáin Lehman College, City University of New York
'The Irish Language and a “Gaeltacht” Language Community in the 21st Century: Re-Imaging and Re-Imagining in a Post-Modern, Post-Tiger Ireland'

4-30 pm Victor Vargas (Claremount) "Who goes with swami?

 5-30pm Stephen Myers Watt (Indiana University) "Neoliberalism, Tenure, and Academic Freedom in American and Ireland"


6pm Closing discussion

 Break

7pm Gaelic Jazz concert

ICIS 2

Dublin/BAC, Ireland, Nov 2013

Confirmed panels include
"Episodes from an incomplete coup"

In the course of the last two decades, lamented failings in Irish political culture an acknowledged democratic deficit at the broader level of the European Union have been a backdrop to numerous more specific incidents where the responsibility of the state and public institutions to serve Ireland's citizenry with impartial prudence has been flouted. These disquieting patterns and certain particulars will here be discussed.

“To declare a new republic, or not?”

The frustration experienced by Ireland's public and, indeed, members of the political class, in the face of a calamitous reality-check amidst the broader international economic crisis, is often told; equally, the tentative-to-meek Irish response, almost without protest, in the face of recent calamity. This panel continues a conversation that has so far failed to ignite real political impetus in seeking renovation of the Irish republic.

“Just Once or with improbable frequency: Can the unlikely success of left-field Irish musical theatre be continued?”

In recent years Ireland has produced high caliber musical theatre across genres, from historical science counter-fact of Improbable Frequency through the biting political satire of Anglo! Of a sudden, it has seemed, Ireland has a burgeoning tradition in quality musical theatre. Participants in this panel consider the possibility of its success being sustained and young talents nurtured in the present economy of arts.

"Intellectual life, academe and common knowledge in Ireland"

Higher education in Ireland is under strain, stretched thin by budget cuts and confused agenda. Intellectual life (whether as vocation or formation) should serve not only to educate an economically productive populace, but also the production and circulation of knowledge as a common good. This panel invites discussants to reflect upon their experience of the ideal University in Ireland, however imperfectly embodied, not only in educational institutions, but also in the public sphere, where journalism and the media are integral to the kind of 'information economy' that is indispensable for real democracy.

The deadline for abstracts, which can be up to 300 words, is Oct 5 2013; however, potential participants for the panels and indeed proposals for other panels will be accepted until Oct 15.

There is a suggested fee of 40 Euro per session, 100 Euro for all sessions.
Cheques should be made payable to Nous Research, Dublin 4.

Students are encouraged to attend any single session of especial interest without payment.
No-one will be turned away for want of funds.

For further details about ICIS, proposals for any additional panel and submission of abstracts please contact feargus@gmail.com or seanoig@gmail.com

Provisional schedule;
 Nov 8 10am – 1pm

9 am – noon Episodes from an incomplete coup

Session chair/moderator  Prof Des O’Neill

Des O’Neill  “The failed privatization of the Irish medical system”

Break 10-30 am tea/coffee

11 am Sean O Nuallain "From social partnership to corporatism and beyond; the state and Irish civil society"

Moderated discussion

Noon
(Provisional) Press conference on the state's collusion with criminals in defrauding Irish musicians

Nov 8 2pm- 4pm Intellectual Freedom Session chair/moderator Feargus Denman

2pm Cathal Macswiney Brugha "Terence MacSwiney and Intellectual Freedom"
3pm round-table discussion chaired by Feargus Denman
 4pm Break  am tea/coffee

4-30pm submitted papers


Nov 9 10am – 1 pm
Panel discussion on the perceived necessity for a second republic, to be chaired/moderated by Demond Fennell.

Joe McCarthy (fiasco.ie) “Hanging chads and other garbage: waste, power and voting in the first Irish republic”

Break 11 am tea/coffee

11-15 Sean O Nuallain “The Tim Pat Coogan/Dan Rooney visa affair: does the USA really support the idea of a united 32-county Irish republic?"
11-45Desmond Fennell
12-15 Cathal Macswiney Brugha "The second Dail and the first Irish republic"
12-45 Gabriel Rosenstck; "From Christ to Krishnamurphy; postchristian secular Europe's search for its roots" Discussion

1-30 Lunch

Nov 9 2pm  - 5pm

: "Independent artists and undependable regulators: rights and oversight in
the Irish music industry"
Introduction 2-30pm  “The Irish music scam; how corruption in IMRO and the state regulatory bodies destoyed one of Ireland's flagship industries” (conference chair)
2-40 Melanie O'Reilly: "The Irish music biz: celtic mysteries, hiddenagendas, and why I became a singing detective."
Reply/amlpification by Danny Macarthy

3-45 pm Tea!coffee
4pm “Just once or with improbable frequency; can the success of Irish musical theater be continued?”Panel discussion, chaired by Ronan Smith who will make introductory comments

. Discussants include Arthur Riordan, Ronan Smith,Melanie O’Reilly