Canadian Association for Irish Studies 2019 Conference - Call for Papers

Irish Bodies and Irish Worlds

Bodies – the human body, textual bodies, bodies of knowledge, bodies of water – are central to the numerous disciplines that form Irish Studies.  Knowledge about Irish identities has been embodied through physical performance, articulated through literary and cultural bodies of work, and imagined as watery avenues of migration, exile, and diaspora.  In turn, these bodies operate in, are influenced by, and also influence in their own right the world around them.  The built environment, the natural world, fictional literary worlds, the transatlantic diaspora – all become ways to deconstruct and add nuance to multiple meanings of Irishness in a globalized society.

Through the theme of “Irish Bodies and Irish Worlds”, the Canadian Association for Irish Studies invites paper and panel proposals for the 2019 CAIS Conference, to be held at Concordia University in Montreal.  Potential paper topics include, but are not limited to:

o          Abortion and the Repeal the 8^th Movement and Referendum
o          Physical and/or sexual violence
o          The Irish world post-Brexit
o          Gendered Irishness
o          Ireland’s roles in colonial and post-colonial worlds
o          Climate change and the Irish landscape
o          Music and soundscapes
o          The Irish language as a threatened or empowered body of knowledge
o          Literary and theatrical bodies of work
o          The Irish Diaspora
o          Emigration and exile
o          Ireland’s contemporary place in global politics and culture
o          Parades and public performance
o          Irish sexualities

Confirmed keynote speakers for CAIS 2019 are Professor Joanna Bourke (Birkbeck, University of London), Professor Rhona Richman Kenneally (Concordia), award-winning author Kevin Barry, and Olivia Smith, co-editor of Winter Papers.  The conference programme features a guided walking tour of Irish Montreal, musical performances, public readings, and a gala banquet in Old Montreal.

We also seek papers from any aspect of Irish Studies and strongly encourage graduate student submissions.  We accept individual papers or panels (three papers and a chair) in English, Irish or French.  Please send to cais2019.concordia@gmail.com by 15 December 2018.  Proposals should include: title, 250-word abstract for each paper submitted, a brief biography, and an email address for future correspondence.