Irish Sea Symposium 19-20 Sept

What does the Irish Sea contribute to the lives of the people who inhabit its shores?
How does the sea benefit those communities economically and socially? What role does the Irish Sea play in defining our communities politically and culturally? How do the people who live on its coastlines use, exploit, and imagine the Irish Sea? How do we engage with the Irish Sea as a living ecosystem, or as a means of transportation, or as a distinctive sea-space with its own histories and its own nature? How can we do so without damaging the ability of future generations to live safely and fruitfully on its shores?
The Irish Sea: History, Culture, Environment is a symposium to address these questions about the sea which Ireland shares with Wales, the Isle of Man, England, and Scotland. The symposium brings together a range of academics and independent researchers from the sciences and the humanities to present the findings of their research, and to discuss with scholars and a public audience the values, meanings, and histories of the Irish Sea. The symposium will conclude with a workshop about the possibilities and opportunities for future interdisciplinary research on the Irish Sea.

Eleven speakers will cover topics as diverse as the Irish Sea’s underwater heritage, its fisheries, marine biology, coastline and seabed mapping, in addition to its rich maritime art, history, poetry and literature as well as the prolific smuggling industry that once thrived in North County Dublin. This eclectic mix of interests is designed to stimulate debate about the Irish Sea and concludes with workshop sessions to ascertain how the various interests might collaborate together in a large interdisciplinary research project. The speakers’ presentations will also be recorded for a worldwide audience on UCD’s Scholarcast Series http://www.ucd.ie/scholarcast/series7.html 

Organisers:

  • Dr John Brannigan, UCD School of English, Drama and Film
  • Dr Tasman Crowe, UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science
  • Richard McCormick, National Maritime Museum Library and Archive

To register to attend the symposium, please click here to go to the registration page, or email john.brannigan@ucd.ie
For details, click here for the Symposium site