Category: Notices

"We are suggesting that alertness to Irishness as a sort of ‘internal other’, which is also and magically intrinsic and identical with white Australia, deepens our understanding of the play of difference and sameness in the national imaginary. Far from self-identical, the story of white Australia reveals itself as a product of division and discrimination, enmeshed in a history of separation and assimilation that is periodically forgotten or elided. Deeper understanding of those cultural processes, including the way in which Irishness can be variously derided, exoticised, and ignored, including by the Irish themselves, opens up possibilities for the broad field of Australian literary studies and how it understands the dynamics of cultural encounter and absorption." Ronan McDonald, Maggie Nolan

Applications are open for the 2022 O’Donnell Fellowship in Irish Studies at St Mary's Newman Academic Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia. The application deadline is Friday 16 July 2021.

A remarkable figure in Victoria’s Irish-Australian community, Gerry Higgins and his family generously funded the Gerry Higgins Chair of Irish Studies at the University of Melbourne. It remains the only chair of Irish Studies in the whole of Australia. Gerry’s philanthropy has enabled hundreds of students to understand better Ireland and its part in world and Australian history; and has also supported research and teaching by a score of scholars. His achievement will be honoured by all those interested in Irish Studies, in Victoria and around the world. - Professor Ronan McDonald, Gerry Higgins Professor of Irish Studies, University of Melbourne

The 2021 ISAANZ postgraduate essay competition is now open, with entries accepted from anyone enrolled in an MA or PhD between June 2020 and June 2021 at any tertiary institution. Essays on any aspect of Irish Studies will be considered, and must be submitted by 15 February 2021.