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RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

AUGUST 2012 - NEW PUBLICATION

A new book, edited by four members of NUI Galway staff, including two from the School, has been published. 

Alderete-Díez, Pilar / Incalcaterra McLoughlin, Laura / Ní Dhonnchadha, Labhaoise / Ní Uigín, Dorothy (eds.)

Translation, Technology and Autonomy in Language Teaching and Learning

Series: Intercultural Studies and Foreign Language Learning - Volume 12, Peter Lang.

MAY 2012 - ITALIAN COURSE

The School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures marked an eight week intensive course in Italian at St Joseph Patrician College, The Bish, with an award ceremony in the Aula on May 11th, 2012. The ceremony was attended by His Excellency the Ambassador of Italy, Dr Maurizio Zanini, and the President of NUI Galway, Dr James J. Browne.

APRIL 2012 - BOOK LAUNCH

Professor Bill Richardson's new book, Borges and Space, was officially launched in the Moore Institute
Seminar Room on Thursday 19th April.  The book was introduced by Roberto González Echevarría,
Sterling Professor of Hispanic and Comparative Literature, Yale University. 

 

MARCH 2012 - GALICIAN-IRISH SYMPOSIUM

A very successful collaboration between Spanish, NUIG; The School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures; The Moore Institute, and the Amergin Centre for Irish Studies, A Coruña, " The Speckled Ground", Hybridity in Irish and Galician Cultural Production, took place on 30th - 31st March.

FEBRUARY 2012 - SYLLABUS PROJECT

The third year of the national syllabus project for Irish was launched recently in St. Patrick’s College, Dublin. Dr. John Walsh, Irish, School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures and Prof. Máirín Nic Eoin of St. Patrick’s College are joint directors of the project, which is financially supported by Foras na Gaeilge. 17 third-level institutions both north and south are involved in the project which is based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The third year syllabus and support materials were launched by the expert on multilingualism and former president of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages, Neasa Ní Chinnéide (in the photo with Dr John Walsh). More information: http://www.teagascnagaeilge.ie/. 

JANUARY 2012 - BOOK LAUNCH

Professor Nollaig Mac Congáil, Registrar and Deputy President, Professor Paolo Bartoloni, Doctor Lindsay Myers and Professor Peter Hunt (Professor Emeritus in Children’s Literature at Cardiff University) at the launch of Dr Myers' book ’ Making the Italians’: Poetics and Politics of Italian Children’s Fantasy at the Moore Institute on January 26^th, 2012.  Italian children's literature has a diverse and unusual tradition of fantasy.  With the exception of Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio, however, it has remained almost entirely unknown outside of Italy.  This book charts the history and evolution of Italian children's fantasy, from its first appearance in the 1870s to the present day.  It traces the structural and thematic progression of the genre in Italy and situates this development against the changing backdrop of Italian culture, society and politics.


MAY 2011- DEBATING THE ITALIAN NATION

Professor Paolo Bartoloni, Italian Studies; Dr Angela Tangianu, Director of the Italian Institute of Culture; Dr Edward Herring, Dean, College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies; Dr Anne O’Connor, Italian Studies and Dr Enrico Dal Lago, History, at the opening of the workshop “Debating the Italian Nation”.

NUI Galway has marked the 150th anniversary of the creation of Italy with an interdisciplinary one-day workshop focused on specific themes of debate. In 1861, with the creation of the Italian Kingdom, Italy became for the first time in her history a unified nation. The one-day workshop at NUI Galway, held on Friday, 27 May, was called ’Debating the Italian Nation – Historical and Cultural Perspectives’.

NUI Galway staff from the disciplines of History and Italian were joined by prestigious overseas scholars to discuss the significance of the idea of the nation for contemporary Italian history, society, and culture.

According to NUI Galway’s Professor Paolo Bartoloni, Head of Discipline, Italian Studies: “The 2011 anniversary is an occasion to reflect upon this important event in history and its significance from different perspectives. Our intention is to pay respect to an idea, but also to read that idea against and in relation to the mediation of time, memory, history and culture. The history of unified Italy is a history of struggles, of significant achievements, of great individual and popular successes, starting from the Wars of Independence, to the Resistance, to the economic boom. And yet it remains a history intercalated by divisions: the division between the rich and poor Italy, the Italy of the north and the Italy of the south. One of the most enduring historical catch-phrases to describe Italy is “The Divided Italy”. This is a problematic division, a division that calls into question the very notion of unity. It is not by accident that time and time again attempts have been made to address and remove this division, an while it is imperative that economic, and power relation divisions, such as those still characterizing men and women relations, must be relentlessly tackled, it is also necessary that cultural differences be maintained.”.

Some 150 people study Italian at NUI Galway, including the BA in Italian and the BComm in Italian. The University is offering an evening Diploma in Italian in September 2011.

FEBRUARY 2011 - BOOK LAUNCH BY DR DEIRDRE BYRNES

(l-r): Professor Hans-Walter Schmidt-Hannisa, German, Professor Emeritus Hugh Ridley, UCD,
Dr. Deirdre Byrnes, German, Dr. Lillis O’Laoire, Head of the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.

A book written by Dr Deirdre Byrnes, who teaches German in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, was launched in the Moore Institute on Thursday, 10 February. Rereading Monika Maron: Text, Counter-Text and Context was launched by Professor Hugh Ridley, Emeritus Professor of German, University College Dublin.

Monika Maron’s biography charts a complex relationship with the German Democratic Republic, from initial ideological identification with the state to sustained, radical rejection. In her book, Dr Byrnes charts the development of a number of seminal themes in Maron’s work: the search for an authentic form of expression; the writing and the rewriting of history; memory transmission and generational forgetting; the rupture and the ultimate refashioning of biographies in a post-GDR age.

According to Dr. Byrnes: “Monika Maron’s writing articulates salient aspects of her generation’s social and historical experience, in particular the caesura caused by the collapse of the GDR in 1989. In my book, I set out to demonstrate the significance of her contribution to contemporary German literature.”

Launching the book, Professor Hugh Ridley highlighted Monika Maron’s “representative function for a whole generation” and described her work as being “focused on pain, the sense of loss, the need to face up to the world”.

Rereading Monika Maron: Text, Counter-Text and Context is published by Peter Lang in the series British and Irish Studies in German Language and Literature. It can be ordered at http://www.peterlang.com/.

Further information is available from Dr. Deirdre Byrnes at 091 492014 or deirdre.byrnesnuigalway.ie.

31 JANUARY 2011: NEW BOOK ON THE IRISH LANGUAGE AND DEVELOPMENT  

The promotion of Irish has a positive influence on Ireland’s socio-economic development and the language should have a central role in the effort now needed to rebuild the country. That’s according to Dr. John Walsh, Lecturer in Irish, the author of a new book entitled Contests and Contexts: The Irish Language and Ireland’s Socio-Economic Development. In his book, Dr. Walsh illustrates how historians and commentators on Irish society have ignored the consequences of the rapid decline of Irish. He argues that we need a new theoretical model, combining elements of sociolinguistics and socio-cultural development, in order to better understand the link between language and development. Peadar Kirby, Professor of International Politics and Public Policy at the University of Limerick, launched the book in the Galway City Museum on 28 January 2011.

10TH - 11TH DECEMBER 2010: FIRST INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE CONFERENCE

NUI Galway hosted its First International Language Conference: Translation, Technology and Autonomy in Language Teaching and Learning on 10 to 11 December.

Over 80 speakers examined issues related to translation, technology and autonomy in language learning and teaching over the two days.  Speakers presented in Irish, French, Spanish, Italian and English and delegates came from up to twenty countries and fifty third-level institutions. 

The inaugural event was hosted by the School of Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge and The Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at the University.   

This conference received funding from the Irish Research Council for the Humanities & Social Sciences.

22.11.10: FUNDING OBTAINED FOR FINAL STAGE OF SYLLABUS PROJECT FOR IRISH

Funding has been obtained by An Mheitheal um Theagasc na Gaeilge ar an Tríú Leibhéal for the final stage of its Irish language syllabus development project for third level institutions throughout the country.

Foras na Gaeilge awarded €65,000 to the Meitheal – a group of representatives of Irish departments from throughout Ireland – to develop a syllabus and teaching and learning materials for the third year of the BA or BEd in Irish.

The group is led by Dr. John Walsh, Irish and Prof. Máirín Nic Eoin of the Department of Irish, St. Patrick’s College.

Syllabi and teaching materials for first and second year are available already at http://www.teagascnagaeilge.ie/. The project was funded by Foras na Gaeilge and the institutions themselves to date.

 

07.09.10: SECOND PHASE OF NATIONAL SYLLABUS PROJECT FOR IRISH AT THIRD LEVEL LAUNCHED

The Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Pat Carey T.D. launched the second phase of a national syllabus for Irish at third level at an event in Dublin on Monday, September 6^th.

The project is directed by An Mheitheal um Theagasc na Gaeilge ar an Tríú Leibhéal, a support group established in 2008 and comprising representatives of Irish Departments in twenty universities and other third level institutions on both sides of the border. The work is co-funded by Foras na Gaeilge and the participating colleges. Dr. John Walsh of the Department of Irish is Joint Director of the project with Prof. Máirín Nic Eoin, St. Patrick’s College.

With the support of Foras na Gaeilge, a Project Manager was re-employed to design a syllabus and teaching and learning materials for students of Irish in the second year of the BA or BEd programmes. A first year syllabus and accompanying teaching and learning materials were published in September 2009, also with the support of Foras.

According to Dr. Walsh: ’Our group, An Mheitheal um Theagasc na Gaeilge ar an Tríú Leibhéal, are pioneers in the teaching of Irish. Everything we have done has been based on the European Framework of Reference for Language Learning and is in tune with the latest best practice regarding the teaching and learning of languages. We believe that this work is very important particularly in the context of the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language which is to be published soon’.

According to Prof. Nic Eoin: ’I am extremely proud that we now have a syllabus and teaching materials available for both first and second years. The Project Manager, Ailín Ní Chonchúir, has worked very hard to develop attractive multi-media resources. We are looking forward very much to moving on to the final phase of the project, the development of a third year syllabus, once we have secured appropriate funding’.

23.06.2010: TEACHING AWARDS FOR GRADUATES OF IRISH

Two graduates of Irish have been presented with teaching awards abroad. Maitiú de Hál, BA, DIO, will be a Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant for Irish at Elms College, Massachussetts for the academic year from September 2010. Maitiú is third from the left in the picture below.

Ailish Bhreathnach, BA, DIO, (below) will be an Irish Language Teaching Assistant at St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia for the academic year from September 2010. Both Maitiú and Ailish are completing the MA in Modern Irish at the moment. Congratulations to them both!

CONFERENCE

Spanish and The School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures hosted an international conference on 'Interpreting Independence in Latin America,' on June 4th-5th, 2010. This conference was held to coincide with widespread celebrations of the bicentenary of Latin American Independence throughout Central and Southern. It was an interdisciplinary conference and welcomed papers from all disciplines across the humanities.

For further information please click on the link below:

http://www.latinamericanconference.org/

RESEARCH DAY

A very successful Research Day was held on 20th May, with twenty two members of staff giving a brief talk on their current research, followed by a Q&A session.  Link to Programme

RESEARCH SEMINARS

A one day interdisciplinary workshop took place in the Moore Institute on Friday 30th April, from 9am to 6pm.

The title was " Place, the Real: An Interdisciplinary Workshop". 

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José Luis Rocha, Universidad Centroamericana (UCA), Managua, Nicaragua.

  Don’t Deported Migrants Have any Human Rights?

 Thursday, March 11 at 4pm in AM 205 Arts Millennium Building

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 A Research Seminar was held on Wednesday 27 January 2010. Dr Mark Stansbury, Classics, presented a paper entitled ’The Beaten, Shorn, and Looped Origins of Irish Script’.

RESEARCH NETWORK IN CANADA

Dr. John Walsh, Gaeilge, this month attended the inaugural meeting of an international research network on language governance in Canada. The network, based at the University of Ottawa, aims to conduct research over a five-year period on community governance among linguistic minorities, in Canada, the United States and Europe. More information: 
http://www.sciencessociales.uottawa.ca/aruc-cura/eng/index.asp

                                                        

Oct. 2009: Additional funding for syllabus project

Foras na Gaeilge awarded €64,700 to An Mheitheal um Theagasc na Gaeilge ar an Tríú Leibhéal, a consortium of Irish departments/units throughout the country, to develop Stage Two of its Syllabus Project. The consortium was established by Dr. John Walsh, Irish, in association with Dr. Máirín Nic Eoin of the Department of Irish, St. Patrick’s College. The Project aims to create a syllabus and teaching resources for Irish at third level. Stage One of the Project was published in September and is available at  http://www.teagascnagaeilge.ie/

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30th September: A taste of italy: food & film

For more details click on link.

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Sep. 2009: IRCHSS Project       

                                                   

Dr. Virginia Stevens Blankenhorn has been appointed as post-doctoral fellow to the Research Project, Joe Heaney: Irish Song Man, supported by IRCHSS. The project runs under the direction of Dr. Lillis Ó Laoire, IRCHSS Senior Research Fellow 2009-2010. Dr. Blankenhorn will be based at Áras Shorcha Ní Ghuairim, Carna, where she will assemble materials from The Joe Heaney Archive, dealing with the life and work of Joe Heaney, the renowned singer from Carna (1919-1984). The work is being carried out with the joint support of Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta, Gaeilge and The Joe Heaney Archive, The University of Washington, Seattle.

                                                   

    

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