The Program

In Spring 2004, Emory launched its Irish Studies Program, building on our tremendous strengths in teaching and research in Irish arts, literature and culture. Irish Studies at Emory introduces students to leading scholarship on Ireland through courses, seminars, readings and lectures. The goal of the program is to facilitate the study of the literary, historical, social, political, religious, artistic, and cultural dimensions of Ireland. The Irish Studies Program offers an interdisciplinary minor that draws upon courses offered in various departments that devote significant attention to the study of Ireland.

Why Study Ireland?

WB Yeats at Rapallo, 1929

In 2005, The Economist declared Ireland the best place to live in the world in terms of growth, per capita income and future prospects. It was not always so. For centuries, Ireland has been best known for its sad songs and happy wars, a country claimed as the point of origin for seventy million people across the globe but unable to sustain its own population of four and a half million. Ireland's four Nobel literature laureates and five Nobel peace laureates are signposts to the twin concerns of creativity and conflict that have animated the last two centuries. Now the roar of the Celtic tiger has propelled Ireland to the forefront of the European Union and to the attention of struggling economies across the globe.

So, what does the new Ireland mean for Irish Studies? Is it primarily an investigation into a (disputed) territory, a (diasporic) people or a study of the cultural output of a tiny Western island? Like the transformed economy, Irish Studies has developed from an offshore scion of English literature to its current position as a burgeoning field not only in Anglo-America but also in Eastern Europe, Asia and the former Soviet Union.

In March 2004, Emory hosted the southern regional meeting of the American Conference for Irish Studies. The theme of the conference was "Real Ireland" and for three days, 120 delegates investigated the real, the authentic and the invented Ireland across many disciplines. Pulitzer prize-winner, Paul Muldoon, whose papers are housed here, celebrated the launch of Emory's Irish Studies program with a wonderful reading and a limited edition broadside of his poem "The Coyote".

Meanwhile, the search for the "Real Ireland" in our program continues. Can the economic miracle be sustained in the current world recession? What are the implications for the Irish at home and abroad? What do the new stringent rules about immigration and citizenship say about the new Ireland and how will it cope with the rise of racism and intolerance in "Ireland of the Welcomes"? Moreover, how will Irish Studies have to change in order to accommodate a version of Ireland that does not always conform to the vision of itself that has prevailed over the last 50 years?  

With such questions at the forefront of our minds, we hope that Emory's Irish Studies Program will continue to meet the challenges of the 21st century:

                  That we in coming days may be
                  Still the indomitable Irishry.
                                                  W.B Yeats