Summer Seminar for
School Teachers
The Irish Sea Cultural Province:
Crossroads of Medieval Literature and Languages -- Belfast, Ireland
-- Douglas, Isle of Man -- Glasgow, Scotland
June 8-July 12, 2015
Dear Colleague,
Thank you for expressing an interest in our summer seminar on The Isle of Man: Crossroads of Medieval Literature and Languages, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. We are very excited about this project and very much look forward to bringing together College and University teachers from across the United States and from diverse disciplines and subject areas to explore medieval language, literature, and culture via texts and artifacts in Northern Ireland, on the Isle of Man, and in Scotland.
The purpose of this five-week seminar is
to provide participants with an enriched appreciation for the
multicultural reality of the British Isles and Ireland (the Irish
Sea cultural province) in the Middle Ages. While early British
literature and culture is sometimes thought to be exclusively
Anglo-Saxon, in fact, Britain was rich in cultural and linguistic
diversity. In this seminar we will survey the extent and the
significance of this linguistic, cultural, and physical multiplicity
as we investigate the conflict and resolution which characterized
the relation between Briton, Saxon, Gaelic, Norse, and Latinate
culture.
During the course of the seminar, we will
focus on five distinct cultures: the Irish, the Scots (and Picts),
the Welsh, the Anglo-Saxons, and the Norse. Situating ourselves at
an important nexus of these cultures on the Isle of Man, we will
focus on the Irish Sea as a means of cultural connection rather than
as cultural barrier. We will spend the first week in Belfast and
focus our discussion of Old Irish language/literature/and
paleography, with a particular focus on the T�in B� C�ailnge.
We will have a special lecture by J.P. Mallory on the
background for the TBC and tour Navan fort, the primary setting of
the text and an important archaeological site in its own right.
After taking a ferry from Belfast to
Douglas, we will spend the next two weeks on the Isle of Man, and we
will visit the seats of these various cultures to explore their
diversity through the study of their language, literature, and
history. We will also explore ways in which the Irish Sea connected
these communities and provided a means for the interaction of ideas,
commerce, and the spread of Christianity. The Isle of Man is ideal
for this enterprise, not only because it was such an important and
rich link for all these cultures, but also because the island is
small enough that the various settlements are in relative proximity.
Man, which was a popular Victorian vacation site, has ample
inexpensive accommodation; it also has a wonderfully functional,
extensive, and charming railway system, which incorporates steam,
electric, coal, and diesel power. Our excursions over the island
will be both economical and enjoyable.
We will spend the final two weeks of the
seminar in Glasgow, Scotland, where participants will research
individual topics and projects in the facilities of the department
of Celtic, the University Research Library, and various college
libraries, as well as museums in Glasgow and Edinburgh. While the
Isle of Man is the ideal place for us to do our field research and
to witness the coming together of various Medieval cultures,
Glasgow, with its excellent libraries and museums, and its unique
department of Celtic, is the ideal place for the seminar
participants to be exposed to the latest research in the field and
to utilize these resources for our own endeavors.
We have arranged the schedule to that it
dovetails with the 15th International Celtic Congress
which will be held at the University of Glasgow from July 13th
to 17th and we encourage our seminarians to stay on and
attend some or all of the Congress and even to give papers. We will
arrange one round-table session for our NEH seminar, but
participants may submit papers to other sessions at the Congress as
well.
The ultimate goal of the seminar, then,
is to explore some of the infinite variety, beauty, intellectual
rigor, and diversity that were the Middle Ages. To this end, we will
study a variety of texts and tap the accumulated resources of
prominent scholars. We will select participants in the seminar based
on the relevance of the seminar to their teaching duties and to
their interests. We will not, however, require any special knowledge
of the applicants. We are interested in applicants who teach
medieval history or medieval literature and who are keen to learn
more about the complexity and diversity of medieval British
languages and cultures.
Application Procedure
Application materials, including the
guidelines and application form, are available on-line at:
http://www.neh.gov/projects/si-school.html. Once
you have completed the application, please submit all application
materials electronically and/or via email to:
isleofmanneh@gmail.com.
We encourage you to also submit your application via regular mail.
This will be very helpful in expediting the selection process, and
your cooperation will be much appreciated, All application materials
must reach the project director in the method indicated below no
later than March 2, 2015.
NEH: Irish Sea
c/o Milissa Ackerley
FT 202A
Dept of English
California State University, Bakersfield
9001 Stockdale Hwy
Bakersfield, CA 93311
Perhaps the most important part of the
seminar application is the four-page application essay. This essay
should include any personal and academic information that is
relevant; reasons for applying to the seminar; your interest, both
intellectual and personal, in the topic; qualifications to do the
work of the seminar and make a contribution to it; what you hope to
accomplish by participation; and the relevance of the seminar topics
to your teaching. If you have any questions about the seminar or the
application process, feel free to email us at
isleofmanneh@gmail.com,
but you may also reach us at
cmacquarrie@csub.edu
and/or
mackerley@csub.edu). Also, check out our web page,
as we will be updating it regularly with relevant and useful
information:
http://www.csub.edu/~cmacquarrie/isle_of_man/
Again, thank you for your interest in the
upcoming NEH Summer Seminar; we look forward to learning more about
your interests and background and look forward to the opportunity to
engage and explore this subject with a group of educators next
summer.
Yours sincerely,
Joseph F. Nagy, Charles W. MacQuarrie,
and Milissa Ackerley
Any views, findings, conclusions, or
recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily reflect
those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
