Institute for the Study of Knowledge in Society (ISKS),University of Limerick

Annual Report – Academic Year 2009/2010

An Institiúid um Léann ar an Eolas sa tSochaí,Ollscoil Luimnigh

Tuarascáil Bhliantúil – 2009/2010

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Contents

04: Introduction

06: Role of ISKS and Activities in 2009/2010

08: ISKS Staff and Services

13: European and National Funding Calls: Projected Timeline 2010-2011

17: Irish Social Sciences Platform

22: Humanities Serving Irish Society

23: Confronting the Crisis: ISKS Conversation Series

28: ISKS Post-Graduate Research Seminar Series

31: Publications and Presentations by ISKS Members

35: ISKS Supported Research Activities

37: ISKS Members

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IntroductionThe academic year 2009-10 has been a very busy one for ISKS, further developing its profile and activities, and enhancing the services it can offer its members. On 1 January 2010, ISKS became UL’s first cross-faculty institute, serving the needs of all academics in UL whose research touches on areas of the Humanities and social sciences, no matter to what faculty or department they belong. This offers the prospect of developing genuinely cross-disciplinary research projects which straddle the major divide between the Humanities, social sciences and business on the one hand, and the natural sciences, engineering and technology on the other, thus making the institute a unique academic unit in Irish higher education.

As ISKS has developed over the year, it has established its profile in two major ways. Firstly, it has further refined its ability to match funding calls to the research interests and activities of academic staff, and proactively encouraged and supported funding applications to both national and international bodies. Secondly, through the series of Conversations it organised over the course of the year, a series which generated quite an interest both within and outside the university, it has sought to develop a space for critical and engaged thinking about the multiple crises that face Irish and global society, a space that links academics with opinion formers in public life. It is my hope that these activities have helped reinforce the unique identity of ISKS as it seeks both to enhance the quantity and quality of research being undertaken in the Humanities and social sciences in UL, and to ensure as far as possible that this is put at the service of addressing the many challenges of society.

The past year also saw a further development of the research being undertaken by the thirteen PhD students and four post-Doctoral Fellows attached to the institute, most of them linked to the Irish Social Sciences Platform project on knowledge, innovation, society and space. The range and variety of this research found eloquent expression in the ISKS Post-Graduate Research Seminar Series organised by Dr Cliona Barnes and in the very successful Interdisciplinary Conference on Researching Young Lives hosted in UL in April 2010. ISKS continued its active involvement in the ISSP and is delighted to be hosting the third annual ISSP conference in December 2010. ISKS also represents UL on the Humanities Serving Irish Society (HSIS) consortium, linking it to Humanities institutes in other Irish universities.

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One development with immense potential that happened in 2010 was the announcement of the UL-NUIG strategic alliance. Discussions have already taken place between ISKS and senior Humanities and social science faulty in NUIG, with both parties committed to developing collaborative activities and enhancing synergies wherever possible.

Ba bliain dheacair í 2009-10 ó thaobh maoiniú na n-ollscoileanna de. De bharr gearradh siar i mbuiséid an stáit d’oideachas sa triú leibhéal, tháinig srianú mór ar acmhainní a d’éirigh níos measa le linn na bliana. Táthar ag súil leis gur in olcas a rachaidh an scéal amach anseo. Tugann sé seo dúshláin faoi leith do lucht léinn dul in iomaíocht go hidirnáisiúinta don mhaoiniú atá uathu; sa chomhthéacs seo tuigeann an Institiúid um Léann ar an Eolas sa tSochaí an tábhacht a bhaineann leis an tacaíocht leanúnach gur féidir leis a thabhairt. Agus, mar a léiríonn an tuarascáil bhliantúil seo, leanann baill na hInstitiúde ag foilsiú a gcuid taighde ar mhaithe le bealaí nua a aimsiú don todhchaí.

This year’s annual report details the many activities of the institute and its members. However, it also outlines the various services offered by the institute, particularly its extensive support for research funding, and its knowledge transfer activities. I hope that this will dispel any doubts about the added value brought by ISKS, particularly in a context of ever greater pressure on resources. I also hope that it will draw more UL faculty to use the services of the institute. My final word, however, must go to the dedicated and talented staff that ISKS is so lucky to have – ultimately it is their commitment and creativity that continues to drive its success.

- Professor Peadar Kirby, Director of ISKS

Professor Peadar Kirby, Director of ISKS

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The Institute for the Study of Knowledge in Society (ISKS) supports research activities and post-graduate education related to the Humanities and social sciences across the University of Limerick. The institute was established in 2006, initially as a research institute within the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. The institute expanded in 2008, hiring administrative staff and a Research Scholar, after the award of €2.6 million in funding under PRTLI4. A core responsibility of ISKS is to support collaborative and interdisciplinary research. To strengthen its capacity to do so, ISKS became the university’s first cross-faculty research institute at the beginning of 2010.

ISKS welcomes new members from all disciplines and at all stages of career progression. The institute has attracted seventy-nine members from across the university: sixty-one members are academic faculty, five are post-doctoral scholars, and thirteen are post-graduate scholars.

ISKS provides the following services to members, research centres, and faculties:• Administrative support for research and post-graduate education related to the Humanities and social sciences• Circulation of information on forthcoming and open funding calls • Assistance with sourcing and establishing contact with target groups for the dissemination of research findings • Support in drafting the administrative elements of proposal forms through liaising with the Research Office and the Finance Office (e.g., signatures for applications and budgetary matters)• Assistance with partner searches for networks and collaborative research projects• Support in organising knowledge transfer strategies, plans and activities for research projects • Assistance with publishing in public media

Role of ISKS and Activities in 2009-2010

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In the academic year 2009-2010, ISKS supported ten funding applications. Of these, fifty percent were to IRCHSS, forty percent were to the European Union, and ten percent were for Foundation grants. One IRCHSS application, led by Dr Cinta Ramblado, was successful and received funding of €49,380.

The institute, in collaboration with the university’s Regeneration Task Force, has created a database of projects, initiatives and activities that are connected to Limerick Regeneration. The database is intended to raise awareness of regeneration activities being undertaken across the campus community and facilitate staff in building networks and co-ordinating their work. The database is accessible at www.ul.ie/isks/research.html.

ISKS is acting as host institution to the Knowledge Interfaces project, which is being managed by Professor Angela Chambers and is funded through the Irish Social Sciences Platform (ISSP). The institute also acts as the university’s representative to the Humanities Serving Irish Society (HSIS) consortium.

The institute supported a Post-Graduate Seminar Series in the spring semester, in which fourteen Government of Ireland Scholars presented their work to an audience of peers, supervisors and faculty.

A key activity of ISKS in the last academic year was to foster in the university a space for critical debate on Irish society, the economy and the global environment. A series of Conversations on the theme ‘Confronting the Crisis’ brought together speakers from academia, politics and the private sector. The series attracted interest from across the university and from public media.

ISKS also provided small scale funding to research activities and conferences within the university. Among the conferences that received ISKS funding were the New Voices Post-Graduate Conference, the Interdisciplinary Conference on Researching Young Lives, and the 11th Limerick Conference on Irish-German Studies.

ISKS Staff and ServicesContact details

ISKS Research and Development Officer Office: C1079Tel: 00353(61)234608Email: funding.isks@ul.ie

Níamh O’Sullivan ISKS/ISSP CoordinatorOffice: C1079 Tel: 00353(61)234607Email: niamh.osullivan@ul.ie

Sandra Lorenz-O’Sullivan ISSP Knowledge Transfer OfficerOffice: C1079 Tel: 00353(61)232340Email: sandra.lorenz-osullivan@ul.ie

Dr Anthony CawleyISKS Research ScholarOffice: C1070Tel: 00353(61)234623Email: anthony.cawley@ul.ie08

ISKS Staff

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Profile: ISKS Research and Development Officer ISKS has a Research and Development Officer to disseminate information on funding opportunities and to support applicants with the preparation of their proposals. The institute is in the process of appointing a new officer. Tracy Aspel, who filled the position from 2008 to 2010, explains how the role can benefit ISKS members.

“The Research and Development Officer role in ISKS doesn’t really exist in any other university in Ireland. It gives members an opportunity to benefit from hands-on support from the moment they decide to apply for research funding.

“My aim was to simplify the application process for members from start to finish. I was happy to meet people one-on-one to discuss initial proposal ideas, to suggest suitable funding opportunities, or even just to brain-storm about the options available to them. A key function of the officer’s role is to be familiar with the various funding calls, when they are coming out, and what different funders are looking for.

“A good starting point in the application process is to think: ‘Do I need to reinvent the wheel?’ You may already have much of the work done in a previously submitted, but unsuccessful, proposal. Taking on board evaluators’ feedback, or a fresh edit, may strengthen the proposal for a re-submission or make it suitable for a different call.

“I tried to lighten the administrative burden on an applicant by acting as a link to different offices around the campus. The officer can assist with the preparation of budgets and of sections on impact, management and coordination, and arrange a pre-submission reading service. The role goes beyond the grant being awarded, also. The officer supports members in fulfilling their administrative obligations to the funder or to the consortium they’ve joined.

Tracy Aspel

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“The ISKS website has a section dedicated to funding information. It is updated each week, and has summaries of all funding opportunities that are relevant to members: tenders, calls from foundations, and national and European funding.

“There is a familiarity and a sense of comfort with national funding, particularly IRCHSS. UL has done well over the years with this funding. But the funding available from IRCHSS has reduced, and it’s a trend that is likely to continue.

“Now is a good time to consider European Union funding. The current Framework Programme makes funding available until 2013, and preparations are already underway on shaping the next programme. Gaining European funding can really be positive for your own career development, for the reputation of the centre or institute to which you’re affiliated, and for the profile of the university.

“Planning for funding calls is always important. The great thing about Framework Programmes is that the calls tend to come out at relatively fixed, often annual, intervals. Many of them are bottom-up, so you can choose your area. You’re not trying to craft or refine your research interests to fit into a certain theme.”

Examples of how Tracy Aspel, through the role of ISKS Research and Development Officer, has supported members in preparing funding applications:

European and national funding applications:

Dr Cinta Ramblado, Associate Head (Academic Affairs), School of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication –

“Tracy has helped me with a number of proposals, including a European Research Council application, Starter Grants, an IRCHSS Fellowship, COST, the European Science Foundation, and the latest IRCHSS Research Initiative.

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“She is efficient at keeping people aware of what calls are out there. Not only does she send periodic emails listing everything that is available, she will target you if she sees something suited to your research area. If you’re interested, she’ll reply straight away with all the application forms and any information and advice she can give you.

“She’s always willing to meet. She has a lot of practical information about the sorts of things different agencies are looking for. She can help you tailor your proposal while keeping your research focus.

“She’s especially good at helping with the budget. When you are setting aside an amount of money to go towards hiring a research assistant there are things you have to add to it: pension, holidays, and PRSI. Tracy knows how to calculate all of those things, and she’ll help to get the budget approved by Accounts. She’ll also get the necessary signatures for your application and make a copy for the Research Office, so you can focus your time on the content and writing the proposal.

“She will encourage you to recycle proposals: not work on something once and if you aren’t funded just leave it. For instance, when I applied for European Science Foundation funding I didn’t get it, but the feed-back was very good. Normally, Tracy will want to look at the feedback, so she can help you improve the proposal to submit somewhere else.

“She also offers support when you receive research funding. For the IRCHSS Research Initiative I was awarded with Dr Yianna Liatsos, she helped to set up the research account and advised us on how to meet the different criteria in the Research Assistant Recruitment Package.”

Dr Anthony Cawley, Research Scholar

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University of Limerick Seed Funding application

Dr Tríona Hourigan, ISSP Post-Doctoral Fellow – “When I was preparing a Seed Funding proposal with Professor Angela Chambers and Dr Liam Murray in 2008 I noticed that Tracy Aspel was offering a support service for applications. She was very enthusiastic and interested, and certainly helped to streamline the application process.

“She was instrumental on the administrative side of the application. She was knowledgeable about previous competitions, the application templates, submission guidelines, and the level of competition to expect. It was very encouraging to have extra support to keep you on track, reminding you of dates and ensuring you adhered to submission guidelines, especially when you have deadlines and other pieces of work to be doing and in your haste you may leave out something.

“She organised a workshop for people preparing Seed Funding applications. She read the proposal two or three times and provided non-expert feedback, which I found valuable. Sometimes your proposal will be reviewed by someone outside of your own field and your meaning may be unclear to a non-expert. Tracy gave advice on some keywords that would jump out at reviewers and made helpful suggestions to ensure the content of the application was easy to follow for non-experts.”

www.ul.ie/isks/funding.html

The funding section of the ISKS website is updated each week. Open calls are organised by funding category: Networking, Conference, Tenders, Large Project, Small Scale Project, Mobility, and Fellowship. For each call the website offers a summary of the application guidelines and highlights the submission date. The Research and Development Officer can provide additional information and advice on any of the calls listed on the website: funding.isks@ul.ie or extension 4608.

Funding section of ISKS website:

www.ul.ie/isks/funding.html

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FUNDER

European Research Council

IRCHSS

IRCHSS

Erasmus

European Science

Foundation

European Commission

European Commission

European Science

Foundation

Royal Irish Academy

European Research Council

Royal Caledonian Foundation

European Commission

COST

TYPE OF FUNDING

Advanced Grants for Advanced

researcher(<10 years post PhD)

Postgraduate Funding

Postdoctoral Fellowships

Joint Masters and Joint Degree Programmes and Mobility Grants

Workshop Funding

Individual Mobility Awards for Researchers

Funding for PhD Networks

Conference Funding

Mobility

Starter Grants for early-stage researcher(>10 years post PhD)

Research Visit to Scotland

Project Funding

Network

TYPICAL AMOUNTS

Up to €2.5 million for up to 5 years

Fees plus stipend for up to 3 year

Around €32,000 p.a., plus contribu-tion towards PRSI

Up to €15,000

Contribution towards salary as well as travel and associated costs

Fixed amount per PhD student and Postdoc per year

Up to €40,000

€750 - €2500 for 1-6 weeks travel

Up to €1.5 million for up to 5 years

Up to £6,000 for up to 6 months

Upwards of €2 million for a group

of researchers

Up to €100,000 p.a. for up to four

years

FUNDER

European Research Council

IRCHSS

IRCHSS

Erasmus

European Science

Foundation

European Commission

European Commission

European Science

Foundation

Royal Irish Academy

European Research Council

Royal Caledonian Foundation

European Commission

COST

CLOSING DATE

Spring 2011

January 2011

January 2011

March 2011

April 2011

August 2011

Autumn 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

October 2011

January/February

2012

March 2011September

2011 submission

dates

European and National Funding Calls:Projected Timeline 2010-2011

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Profile: ISKS Knowledge Transfer OfficerSandra Lorenz-O’Sullivan, Knowledge Transfer Officer – “Knowledge transfer describes activities that make existing or new research accessible for the benefit of other people. Academics engage in knowledge transfer all the time: to their students through teaching and to their colleagues and peers through presenting at conferences and publishing in journals and in books.

“My role, as Knowledge Transfer Officer, is to look at audiences whom academics often do not reach but who could benefit from being aware of their research: the public, community groups, the voluntary sector, and policy-makers, among others. I offer support to ISKS members who want their research findings to reach such audiences, either through events or the media. Knowledge transfer is a good way for researchers to give something back to the communities in which they’ve been working, and to break down some of the barriers that may exist between academia and the public.

Sandra Lorenz-O’Sullivan,

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“My role originated in the Knowledge Interfaces project, which is funded under PRTLI4 as part of the Irish Social Sciences Platform. It is led in UL by Professor Angela Chambers and is hosted in ISKS. I began by supporting the project’s researchers in disseminating the findings of their research.

“That remains a central part of my role, but researchers don’t have to be part of the ISSP project to receive support for knowledge transfer activities. Any ISKS member or faculty staff can come to me and say, ‘I’m conducting research in this area. I think it could benefit an audience beyond the academic community. How do I go about reaching them?’

“The researcher identifies the audiences that could benefit from their work and, together, we discuss the best ways to reach them, whether to invite them to a workshop in UL or to host an event in the city. We then consider the funding that would be needed to organise the activities.

“I facilitate knowledge transfer through the UL Press Office, also. I may ask for an abstract describing the event, the key presenters, and so on, and write an article based on that. I’ll pass the article to the UL Press Office to circulate to their contacts in local, regional and national media. I encourage researchers to go down that route, because it creates awareness among the public of what is going on in the universities and shows how the work here can be relevant to people’s lives.

“I like people to be proactive in coming to me and asking for knowledge transfer support. It doesn’t matter what size the project is, or whether it’s just a small workshop in UL or a conference. Anything like that I would be happy to support.”

Example of Knowledge Transfer support: English as a Second Language event

Dr Fiona Farr, Assistant Dean, Academic Affairs, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Lecturer in English Language Teaching, School of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication

And

Joanna Baumgart, IRCHSS Government of Ireland Scholar, Centre for Applied Language Studies, and School of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication

Dr Fiona Farr – “We have been organising an ESL (English as a Second Language) event for primary and secondary school teachers who provide support for English language learners. It is also open to policy-makers, members of local VECs, support units, and Doras Luimní. The idea is to have a one-day event with a couple of plenary talks and some workshops for teachers. Unfortunately, it couldn’t go ahead earlier in the year as planned because of travel disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud. It has been rescheduled for the end of November. Emma Leahy [acting Knowledge Transfer Officer from November 2009 to March 2010] provided support to us in organising the event. Sandra Lorenz-O’Sullivan has been helping us more recently.”

Joanna Baumgart – “Emma was always with us at meetings. She worked with us to compile data on schools and contact details. We had a large database, so she helped us with filtering: which schools were useful, which not. She assisted with practical tasks: organising the catering, booking rooms, printing material, and sorting out envelopes and stickers. She was also very active on the creative side of things when we were working up the posters.”

Dr Fiona Farr – “She organised meetings as well, and took minutes. I considered her to be a full committee member when she was working with us on it. She did about 90% of the administration, which saved time as otherwise we would have ended up doing that ourselves. I know that Sandra plans to be there on the day of the rescheduled event to help with the registration, so that will be useful.” 16

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Florence Le Baron-Earle

Irish Social Sciences PlatformThe ISSP is a major research project within ISKS which brings together expertise from eight Irish institutional partners, including the University of Limerick, and nineteen academic disciplines to create a truly all-island, interdisciplinary platform for social science research. Funded under the PRTLI4, UL’s participation in the ISSP takes the form of the Knowledge Interfaces Project and involves the development of two structured PhD programmes, in Social Science and Applied Language Studies, as well as funding for twelve PhDs and four research fellows.

Graduate education

The 2009-2010 academic year represented an important milestone in the project, as the PhD students completed the first two years of the PhD programmes, which include a number of taught modules. The transfer procedure to year three involved a viva with internal examiners other than the supervisors, and presented a challenge to the researchers, a foretaste of the final PhD viva in two years’ time. The students were also active in presenting their research at international conferences during the year. Florence Le Baron-Earle, PhD Programme in Applied Language Studies, was awarded the prize for best presentation at the international conference on Computer-Assisted Language Learning in Antwerp in August, 2010.

In addition to their studies, ISSP students were active in the ISKS Postgraduate Seminar Series 2010. This seminar series was initiated, convened and chaired by Dr Cliona Barnes (ISSP Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, ISKS/Department of Sociology) and offered an excellent opportunity for early stage PhD researchers to present their work in a supportive environment focused on generating productive discussion and receiving critically engaged feedback. It also provided an opportunity, both for the PhD researchers and for the wider campus community, to learn about the diverse work being conducted within the ISSP Project and ISKS across a range of disciplinary contexts.

Throughout the series 14 PhD students from across the faculties of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Education and Health Sciences presented their ongoing research work to an audience of their fellow students, faculty and other interested parties. A SULIS page in the University’s virtual learning environment was also set up for the dissemination of slides, research papers and discussions arising from the series.

The Winter School on Quantitative and Qualitative Methods, organised by the Department of Sociology and the Department of Politics and Public Administration, UL, ran successfully for the second year. Under the leadership of Dr Brendan Halpin, the Winter School continues to play an important role in developing collaboration in graduate education in the ISSP and in Ireland.

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Postdoctoral fellows promote interdisciplinary activitiesResearching Young Lives

A one-day, interdisciplinary, international conference, Researching Young Lives: Power, Representation and the Research Process, focusing on critical discussion about research with children and young people, was held at UL on 30 April 2010. This event was primarily funded by the ISSP, with additional support from the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Education and Health Science, the Department of Sociology, and the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences. The conference marks a successful collaboration between two prominent research centres at UL – ISKS and PE PAYS (Physical Education, Physical Activity and Youth Sport).

Organised by ISSP Post-Doctoral Research Fellows Dr Cliona Barnes and Dr Maria O’Dwyer (ISKS/Department of Sociology) with Dr Eimear Enright (PE-PAYS/Department of Physical Education and Sport Science), the conference saw more than 70 delegates attend from across Ireland, the UK, the USA, Canada, Bosnia and Nigeria. Twenty-eight paper presentations were made on the day along with keynote presentations by high-profile invited speakers Professor Madeleine Leonard (Queens University Belfast), Dr Anoop Nayak (Newcastle University), and Dr Hayley Fitzgerald (Leeds Metropolitan).

The conference was extremely well supported and well attended, and feedback from delegates has been uniformly positive. Thus, it is hoped to run a second conference on an expanded theme in 2011, using the same naming prefix and building on this year’s success.

Prof Mary O’Sullivan, Dr Eimear Enright,

Prof Madeleine Leonard, Dr Hayley Fitzgerald,

Dr Cliona Barnes, Dr Anoop Nayak, and

Dr Maria O’Dwyer

Nomadic Work/Life in the Knowledge Economy

Following on from a highly successful event hosted in 2009, the project ‘Nomadic Work/Life in the Knowledge Economy’, organised by ISSP Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Dr Anthony D’Andrea, in collaboration with the project co-directors Dr Breda Gray and Dr Luigina Ciolfi, promoted the second edition of an international seminar on new methodologies for mobilities research in May 2010, hosting five guest-speakers from Ireland, UK and Germany currently producing leading-edge work in the international scholarship: Professor Tim Cresswell (Geography, University of London, UK); Dr Detlev Lück (Sociology, University of Mainz, Germany); Dr Henrike Rau (Political Science, NUI-Galway, Ireland); Dr Carsten Sørensen (Management, London School of Economics, UK); and Professor John Urry (CeMoRe, Lancaster University, UK).

Given that the prior seminar focused on micro, phenomenological and technical features of methodological work, this was complemented in 2010 by areas such as:

• Methodology and epistemology in the mobilities paradigm• Macro, meso, and macro-micro links in mobilities research• How to investigate political economies and power regimes of mobilities• Digital, virtual and new media for methodologies in mobilities research

The event was once again extremely successful, attracting international attendees though places were limited. Publications plans based on the event are underway to mirror the success of the first event and the follow-up publication of a special issue of Mobilities journal co-edited by the organisers and to appear in 2011.

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Technology and Teaching Community of Practice

The Technology and Teaching Community of Practice (CoP) was established in June 2009 by ISSP Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Dr Tríona Hourigan and IRCHSS Government of Ireland Scholar Elaine Riordan at UL. The aim of this initiative was to encourage staff members with an interest in technology and learning to come together and share their ideas on this increasingly important area in Third Level education. Indeed, the potential of creating such a community was underlined the previous year with the successful organisation of the ISKS ‘Technology and Learning’ seminar series and one-day symposium by Dr Tríona Hourigan, thanks to a successful Seed Funding award from the office of the Vice-President Research, Professor Brian Fitzgerald.

On the 15 June 2010 the CoP hosted its second annual event comprising presentations from members of staff on their exploitation of technology for educational purposes. Interdisciplinary in nature, presenters came from a wide variety of working contexts on campus, with representation from the following areas: the Kemmy Business School; the Department of Midwifery and Nursing; the Department of Chemical and Environmental Sciences; the Glucksman Library; the Regional Writing Centre; the School of Languages Literature Culture and Communication; the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering; the Centre for Teaching and Learning; and the Educational Media Research Centre.

Activities planned for the 2010-2011 academic year include the hosting of eCoffee Mornings by individual members of the CoP in order to maximise networking for members. In addition, a number of half-day events will also be organised allowing staff to present their ideas to the community.

Currently, the Technology and Teaching Community of Practice is hosted online by the NDLR (National Digitial Learning Resources) and can be accessed on their website: http://www.ndlr.ie/.

Humanities Serving Irish SocietyThe University of Limerick is a partner institution in the Humanities Serving Irish Society (HSIS) consortium. Funded under the fourth cycle of PRTLI and co-ordinated by the Royal Irish Academy, HSIS is an all-island platform for Humanities research, teaching and training. A central element of HSIS is the Digital Humanities Observatory (DHO), which has responsibility for developing and managing digitised resources in the arts and Humanities. HSIS partner institutions collaborate and co-ordinate their activities through the following research and training clusters: An Foras Feasa, The Global Ireland Institute, and Texts, Contexts, Cultures. The consortium hosts an annual conference as well as training workshops and summer schools for arts and Humanities scholars. Many of the digital humanities resources being developed by the consortium, particularly through the DHO, are being made available online to researchers. See www.dho.ie.

ISKS acts as the university’s representative to HSIS. More information on HSIS is available at www.hsis.ie.

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Confronting the Crisis: ISKS Conversation SeriesProfessor Peadar Kirby: “The ISKS Conversation series grew out of a recognition that too much public debate is structured in a way that sets up oppositions, with one side for a position and another against. Especially at a time of fundamental crisis such as that through which Irish society is currently living, we need spaces that help expand the public imagination to consider different futures and break out of the limitations of the current paradigm that has led us into the greatest crisis faced by Irish society for a century. Thus, the first ISKS Conversation series over 2009-10 sought to link academics with public opinion formers to stimulate new thinking on confronting the multiple crises we face.”

Podcasts of all conversations in the Confronting the Crisis series are available to download at www.ul.ie/isks/podcasts.

1: Transformative Tools for a Better Ireland – A Conversation between Professor Ruth Levitas and Micheal D. Higgins, T.D. – 12 October 2009

Professor Ruth Levitas, from the University of Bristol, England, is a renowned sociologist whose research focuses on utopianism and social exclusion. “We need a different, unfamiliar mode of thinking to address these twin crises, thinking that is best described as Utopian. And for those who think Utopia is about the impossible, what really is impossible is to carry on as we are, with social and economic systems that enrich a few but destroy the environment and impoverish millions. Our very survival depends on finding another way of living.”

Michael D. Higgins is a Labour Party T.D. and a former Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands. He is an academic, author, poet, and social critic. “One of the most difficult challenges facing us is the anti-intellectualism which prevails at a widespread level. I powerfully believe this…there is such little space for reflection, such little place for reflection in society, and where you have such institutional atrophy the real, serious questions cannot be raised.”

Professor Peadar Kirby, Professor Ruth Levitas,

and Michael D. Higgins, T.D.

Confronting the Crisis: ISKS Conversation Series2: Clarifying Future Options – A Conversation between Dr Michael O’Sullivan and Dr Mary Murphy – 3 December 2009

Dr Michael O’Sullivan is an economist in the City of London. His books include Ireland and the Global Question and What Did We Do Right? Global Perspectives on Ireland’s ‘Miracle’: “A lot of our politicians are very good barristers, very good at ducking and diving, very good at dismissing things. But in my personal view they’re notvery good at policy. And I think this momentous episode is really showing that up in quite brutal circumstances.”

Dr Mary Murphy teaches politics at NUI, Maynooth and is a long-time community activist: “We might theorise that anger isn’t crystalising around social and economic issues because, to some degree, people have bought the myth that there is no alternative to the set of social and economic and political solutions we’re being offered by the body-politic at the moment. And if people have bought the myth that there is no alternative then they can’t imagine alterna-tives, and they can’t get angry at what they’re losing…if we can’t imagine a better world, a more equal world, a world without poverty, then we don’t get angry at the loss because we can’t visualise or experience the loss emotionally.”

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Dr Michael O’Sullivan,

Dr Mary Murphy, and Professor Peadar Kirby

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Confronting the Crisis: ISKS Conversation Series 3: Vision of Ireland in 2050 – A Conversation between Dr Stephen Kinsella and Professor Finbarr Bradley – 9 February 2010

Finbarr Bradley is a former Professor of Finance at Dublin City University and is co-author of Capitalising on Culture, Competing on Difference: “Tangible resources like money and technology, related to the needs of the Irish economy, are necessary but not sufficient conditions to have a sustainable competitive advantage. It’s intangible resources that really matter in terms of innovation. And the most valuable part of that knowledge is tacit: it’s about imagination, inspiration, intuition…If that is the knowledge that is most valuable, it will not emerge from the old way of thinking. It will come from a sense of belonging to something greater than yourself – rootedness, being part of a community, whether it’s in a company, in a city, or in a country.”

Dr Stephen Kinsella is a lecturer in economics at the University of Limerick. He is author of Ireland in 2050 and is a regular contributor to public media: “We’re training our kids to accommodate an industrial model which no longer exists. Where we see our education system at its brightest is the young scientist competition. We see project-focused, innovative solutions that can actually change something.”

Professor Finbarr Bradley,

Dr Stephen Kinsella, and Professor Peadar Kirby

Confronting the Crisis: ISKS Conversation Series 4: Can Technology Save Us? – A Conversation between Professor Liam Bannon and Mr Brian O’Donovan – 9 March 2010

Liam Bannon is a former Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Interaction Design Centre at the University of Limerick: “There’s an importance in having variety and diversity in what we support. I have a concern about this focus on the one best way in research. We’re moving towards a kind of audit society, where suddenly the only thing that counts in research is getting certain publications in particular ranked journals according to an ISI index. That leaves out a lot of different kinds of work and research. It’s one measure, and of course it has some validity, but the notion of validity here is also problematic in terms of forcing people into having to play that game if they want to get ahead in their careers. It’s a very, very narrow view of what is good science, good research.”

Mr Brian O’Donovan is Programme Director at the Sametime Dublin Software Lab on the IBM Technology Campus: “What we really should focus on is making sure that all of our children are growing up IT literate and understand how to make best use of technology in whatever field they chose to go into. If you talk about computers in education, you should talk about people who understand education and have enough of an understanding about IT to apply it, but not necessarily IT specialists who say, ‘Here I have my bag of tricks. Where do I apply it?’”

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Professor Liam Bannon,

Mr Brian O’Donovan, and Professor Peadar Kirby

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Confronting the Crisis: ISKS Conversation Series 5: European Perspectives – A Conversation between Dr Frédéric Royall, Dr Cinta Ramblado, and Dr Joachim Fischer – 13 April 2010

Dr Joachim Fischer is a senior lecturer in German at the University of Limerick, and is Joint Director of the Centre for Irish-German Studies as well as Associate Director of the Ralahine Centre for Utopian Studies: “The most fundamental question is how the changes that many in Ireland regard as urgently needed can be effected. It is at this point that many Irish critics fall silent. Irish critics and journalists are brilliant with words and are exceptionally sharp at analysing the past and the present, but are remarkably less imaginative about a better future and the paths to it.”

Dr Cinta Ramblado is a lecturer in Spanish at the University of Limerick, and is Associate Head (Academic Affairs), School of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication: “One of the arguments that I hear from the Taoiseach and from the different Ministers is that they know what they’re doing. It’s as simple as that. People don’t have to worry about it because they know what they’re doing. And for me this is one of the basic foundations of authoritarianism. The people are dumb and the Government knows what it’s doing, just leave it with them and they’ll deal with it. If this country is a democracy it should be exercised, and the Government itself should practice it.”

Dr Frédéric Royall is a senior lecturer in French at the University of Limerick, and is Head of the School of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication: “I think there’s very strong reflection about the economic model the Irish have gone through these past fifteen, twenty, twenty-five years. The neo-liberalist model, the American type of model: anything goes. Is that really what we want to do? Is there not another path open to our future?”

Dr Frédéric Royall, Dr Cinta Ramblado, Dr Joachim Fischer,

and Professor Peadar Kirby

ISKS Post-Graduate Research Seminar Series Fourteen Government of Ireland PhD Scholars presented their research at the ISKS Post-Graduate Research Seminar Series. The seminars, which ran through the spring semester, were convened as an opportunity for early-stage researchers to discuss their work with a supportive and critically engaged audience of fellow post-graduate researchers, doctoral supervisors, and staff members from across the university community. The series was supported by Professor Angela Chambers and Professor Peadar Kirby and was organised and chaired by ISKS Post-Doctoral Fellow Dr Cliona Barnes.

Carmel Joyce, Dr Cliona Barnes,

and David O’Dwyer at the ISKS/ISSP

Postgraduate Research Seminar

Series

Phil Noone speaking at the ISKS/ISSP Postgraduate Research Seminar Series

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23 February Trade Unions and Transitions: A Comparative Study of South Africa and ZambiaCiara McCorley – Department of Politics and Public Administration

Debating Deservedness: Broadsheet (Re)Presentation of Polish MigrantsKatarzyna Ramsey – Department of Sociology

2 March Gendered Work/Lives of New Media WorkersLisa Wixted – Department of Computer Science and Information Systems; Department of Sociology

Working Across Several Locations: Investigating the Mediational Role of Computer TechnologiesFabiano Pinatti – Department of Computer Science and Information Sys-tems; Department of Sociology

9 March Adolescents’ Understanding of Health and Physical Activity: a Review of the LiteratureNicola Hayes – Physical Education, Physical Activity, and Youth Sport (PE PAYS) Research Centre; Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences

The Limerick Printed Magazine of Magazines and its Role in Knowledge TransferZi Parker – Eighteenth Century Research Group; Department of History

16 March A New Context for Language Policy?Aoife Lenihan – Centre for Applied Language Studies; School of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication

Ethical and Methodological Considerations of Research with ‘Vulnerable’ PeopleLiz Brosnan – Department of Sociology; Department of Occupational Therapy

ISKS Post-Graduate Research Seminar Series

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23 March Ecology, Ideology and Planning: the Linguistic and Educational Reality within an English-Medium International Ausgerichteter Studiengang in GermanyClive Earls – Centre for Applied Language Studies; School of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication

Using Wikis: Motivation and Anxiety Issues Met by Third-Level StudentsFlorence Le Baron-Earle – Centre for Applied Language Studies; School of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication

27 April Minority and Majority Group Members’ Perceptions and Representations of National IdentityCarmel Joyce – Department of Psychology

A DNA Database: Striking the Right BalanceDavid O’Dwyer – School of Law

11 May The Challenges of Researching Ageing in PlacePhil Noone – Department of Sociology

Language Accommodation and the Integration of English Language Learners in the Irish Secondary School ContextJoanna Baumgart – Centre for Applied Studies; School of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication

ISKS Post-Graduate Research Seminar Series

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Publications and Presentations by ISKS MembersISKS members have enjoyed considerable success over the last academic year in disseminating their research through publications and at national and international conferences. Members have also maintained a high visibility in public media.

Publications of ISKS members 1 Journal articles 642 Books 43 Edited books 124 Book chapters 395 Reports 56 Conference proceedings 517 Non-peer reviewed publications 10

Media articles and contributions 1 Print 302 Television 253 Radio 1114 Online 57

Presentations and awards 1 International conferences 722 National conferences 203 Keynote addresses 94 Invited seminars 345 Plenary sessions 66 Awards/special recognition 5

*Based on 34 responses

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Books published by ISKS members in the last academic year

Professor Bernadette Andreosso-O’Callaghan, Department of Economics, and Professor M. Bruna Zolin, University of Ca’ Foscari, Italy(Editors)Current Issues in Economic Integration: Can Asia Inspire the ‘West’? Farnham: Ashgate. Published: 2010.

Dr Fiona Farr, School of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication, and Assistant Dean, Academic Affairs, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social SciencesThe Discourse of Teaching Practice Feedback: A Corpus-Based Investigation of Spoken and Written Modes. London: Routledge. Published: 2010.

Dr Stephen Kinsella, Department of Economics Ireland in 2050: How We Will Be Living. Dublin: Liberties Press. Published: 2009.

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Books published by ISKS members in the last academic year

Dr Stephen Kinsella and Dr Anthony Leddin, Department of Economics (Editors)Understanding Ireland’s Economic Crisis: Prospects for Recovery. Dublin: Blackhall Publishing. Published: 2010.

Professor Peadar Kirby, Director of ISKS, Department of Politics and Public AdministrationThe Celtic Tiger in Collapse: Explaining the Weakness of the Irish Model. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Published: 2010.

Dr Helena Lenihan and Professor Bernadette Andreosso-O’Callaghan, Department of Economics, and Professor Mark Hart, Aston University, England(Editors)SMEs in a Globalised World: Survival and Growth Strategies on Europe’s Geographical Periphery. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Published: 2010.

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Books published by ISKS members in the last academic year

Dr Freda Mishan and Professor Angela Chambers, School of Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication, and Centre for Applied Language Studies (Editors)Perspectives on Language Learning Materials Development. New York: Peter Lang. Published: 2010.

Dr Michael Mulqueen, School of Languages, Literature, Culture and CommunicationRe-evaluating Irish National Security Policy: Affordable Threats? Manchester University Press. Published: 2009.

Professor Mary O’Sullivan, Dean of Education and Health Sciences, and Dr Ann MacPhail, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences (Editors)Young People’s Voices in Physical Education and Youth Sport. London: Routledge. Published: 2010.

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ISKS Supported Research Activities11th Limerick Conference in Irish-German Studies: The Irish Palatines in Context. Palatine Museum, Rathkeale, and University of Limerick, 4-5 September Dr Joachim Fischer and Dr Gisela Holfter, in co-operation with the Palatine Society of Ireland and the 18th Century Research Group, organised the 11th Conference in Irish-German Studies to mark the centenary of the arrival of Palatine settlers in Ireland. The conference, under the theme The Irish Palatines in Context, attracted more than 100 participants from Germany, England, Canada, Australia and Ireland, many of them of (Irish) Palatine extraction. It was opened by the German Ambassador, H.E. Busso von Alvensleben. Papers covered the 18th century social, political, cultural as well as literary contexts of this remarkable and unique instance of large scale emigration from Germany to Ireland. The conference ended with a reading of the first ever English translation of selected scenes from a 19th century German drama of the Palatine emigration to Ireland, Die Pfälzer in Irland. At the conference reception, the German Ambassador launched volumes three and four of the centre’s book series, Irish-German Studies. The conference was supported by ISKS and the German Embassy in Dublin.

New Voices: Inherited Lines Post-Graduate Conference, University of Limerick, 28-29 May

The 11th New Voices Post-Graduate Conference was hosted at the University of Limerick in May. The conference serves as a valuable opportunity for post-graduate students in Irish Literary Studies and the Humanities more generally to discuss their research. The event attracted national delegates as well as international delegates from Vienna, London and Newfoundland. Two doctoral students of English, Yvonne O’Keeffe and Claudia Reese, supported by their supervisors, Dr Tina O’Toole and Dr Gisela Holfter, organised the conference, which explored literary and cultural representations of the Irish family and how it has shaped Irish literature and culture in the modern era. The programme included three renowned keynote scholars in the field of Irish Studies: Professor Patricia Coughlan of University College Cork, Professor Anne Fogarty of University College Dublin, and Dr Eamonn Hughes of Queen’s University Belfast. Funding from ISKS was used to print conference booklets, detailing the schedule, abstracts, and a biography of 2007 Booker Prize Winner, Anne Enright, who gave a public reading on campus from her prize-winning novel The Gathering.

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ISKS Supported Research ActivitiesDr Ria O’Sullivan-Lago: 6th International Conference on the Dialogical Self in Athens, Greece, 30 September-3 October

Dr Ria O’Sullivan-Lago attended the 6th International Conference on the Dialogical Self to present to a symposium she organised on Dia-logicality Between and Within Institutions. The purpose of the sympo-sium was to explore the dialogicality of institutions and their members, examining tensions between and within institutions, between members and their audiences, and also within members. The symposium pos-ited that, although there is often a tendency to assume homogeneity and coherence within institutions and their members, institutions are dialogical entities made up of dialogical individuals: both orienting to-wards different audiences and engaging in dialogues with others. This symposium explored different levels of dialogical engagement. Papers presented explored diverse institutional settings and contexts, and suggested the inherent dialogicality of institutions both at the institu-tional and individual level. The theoretical implications were discussed.

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ISKS MembersFaculty membersDr Maura Adshead (Politics and Public Administration)Professor Bernadette Andreosso-O’Callaghan (Kemmy Business School)Dr Lucian Ashworth (Politics and Public Administration)Dr David Atkinson (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Professor Liam Bannon (Computer Science and Information Systems)Dr Ciara Breathnach (History)Dr Anthony Cawley (ISKS/Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Professor Angela Chambers (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Luigina Ciolfi (Computer Science and Information Systems)Yvonne Cleary (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Jean Conacher (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr David Coughlan (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Stiofan De Burca (Sociology)Dr Eoin Devereux (Sociology)Dr Seán Donlan (School of Law)Professor Jane Edwards (Irish World Academy of Music and Dance)Dr Fiona Farr (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Deirdre Finnerty (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Professor Paul Finucane (Medical School)Dr Joachim Fischer (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Breda Gray (Sociology)Dr Michael J. Griffin (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Brendan Halpin (Sociology)Dr Edel Hughes (Law)Dr Eric Igou (Psychology)Dr Michael Kelly (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Helen Kelly-Holmes (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Professor Peadar Kirby (ISKS/Politics and Public Administration)Dr Carmen Kuhling (Sociology)Dr Yianna Liatsos (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Professor Tom Lodge (Politics and Public Administration)Dr Robert Lowe (Psychology)Florence Lynch (Politics and Public Administration)Dr Ann MacPhail (Physical Education and Sports Science)Professor Paul McCutcheon (Law)Dr Orla McDonnell (Sociology)Professor Anthony McElligott (History)Dr Elizabeth McKay (Occupational Therapy)Dr Freda Mishan (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Angus Mitchell (History)Dr Lee Monaghan (Sociology)

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ISKS MembersProfessor Tom Moylan (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Mairead Moriarty (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Michael Mulqueen (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Liam Murray (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Professor Orla Muldoon (Psychology)Professor Pat O’Connor (Sociology)Dr Ruan O’Donnell (History)Dr Tadhg Ó hIfearnáin (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Stephanie O’Riordan (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Íde O’Sullivan (Teaching and Learning)Professor Mary O’Sullivan (Physical Education and Sport Science)Dr Tina O’Toole (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Judith Pettigrew (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Brid Quinn (Politics and Public Administration)Dr Cinta Ramblado (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Jennifer Schweppe (Law)Professor Serge Rivière (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Professor Geraldine Sheridan (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Roland Tormey (Education and Professional Studies)Dr Barrie Wharton (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)

Post-Doctoral membersDr Cliona Barnes (Sociology)Dr Anthony D’Andrea (Sociology)Dr Tríona Hourigan (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Dr Maria O’Dwyer (Sociology)Dr Ria O’Sullivan-Lago

Post-Graduate membersJoanna Baumgart (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Liz Brosnan (Sociology)Charlotte Cooper (Sociology)Clive Earls (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Nicola Hayes (Physical Education and Sports Sciences)Florence Le Baron-Earle (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Aoife Lenihan (Languages, Literature, Culture and Communication)Ciara McCorley (Politics and Public Administration)Phil Noone (Sociology)Zi Parker (History)Fabiano Pinatti (Sociology)Katarzyna Ramsey (Sociology)Lisa Wixted (Sociology)

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