ACIS Annual Conference, 2017

The 2017 annual international meeting of the American Conference for Irish Studies will be in Kansas City, Missouri, March 29-April 2, 2017, hosted by the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The conference welcomes proposals on all aspects of Irish Studies, including the arts, cinema, culture, history, language, literature, and politics of Ireland and its diaspora. The conference invites proposals for individual presentations, pedagogy roundtables, panels, and workshops, including submissions from graduate students and independent scholars.

Especially welcome are proposals that address

• Connections between history and literature and the visual arts such as painting, photography, sculpture, and cinema.
• The sesquicentennial of Fenian activism, including the Manchester Martyrs and the founding of Clan na Gael.
• Irish music, the social sciences, and sciences.
• Topics that cross disciplinary lines.

Confirmed plenary speakers include Fearghal McGarry, Mary O’Malley, Marilynn Richtarik, and Elaine Sisson.

Individual paper proposals should be 250 words in length and include a title that will appear in the program. Panel and roundtable proposals should be 500 words total in length and provide an overview of the session. Please include a very brief bio (50 words) for all participants. Proposals and papers may be presented in English, Irish, or bilingually. Presenters must register for the conference and must be members in good standing of ACIS. (For membership details, see: http://acisweb.org/membership/join-acis/) We hope all presenters will participate in the life of the conference over several days.

Please submit proposals and bios as word documents to acis17@umkc.edu by December 15, 2016. Proposers will be notified of acceptance by January 20, 2017.

Graduate students and their supervisors: please note that every effort will be made to keep the registration fee for graduate students at or below $100. An informal festive event, less costly than a banquet, will be held on Saturday evening, April 1. Kansas City is served by most major airlines.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City is located near the Country Club Plaza and in close proximity to the National World War I Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the National Archives, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio.

This year’s conference has several partners including the Consulate General of Ireland, the Kansas City Irish Center, the National World War One Museum, and the Kansas City Irish Fest.

Please address any questions to the conference e-mail address acis17@umkc.edu