Project Director, Faculty, and Staff
Professor Nagy earned a PhD in Celtic at Harvard University in 1978. An eminent scholar of Medieval Celtic Languages and literrue as well as comparative Folklore and Mythology, he is the author of THE WISDOM OF THE OUTLAW: THE BOYHOOD DEEDS OF FINN IN GAELIC NARRATIVE TRADITION (University of California Press, 1985; new edition forthcoming from Four Courts Press, Dublin) and CONVERSING WITH ANGELS AND ANCIENTS: LITERARY MYTHS OF MEDIEVAL IRELAND (Cornell University Press and Four Courts Press, 1997). Recently he edited WRITING DOWN THE MYTHS (Brepols, 2013), a collection of comparative studies of mythography. Nagy is also the founder and former editor of the CELTIC STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA YEARBOOK and former editor of WESTERN FOLKLORE. Nagy teaches courses in Old Irish and Middle Welsh, Celtic mythology, literature, and folklore, and comparative studies of oral tradition (including epic, ballad, and folktale) and mythology.
Dr. MacQuarrie earned his Ph.D. in medieval languages and literature from the University of Washington. He took his B.A. degree in Classical and Medieval literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and his M.Litt. in Celtic Studies from the University of Edinburgh. Dr. MacQuarrie is the former editor of the Celtic Studies newsletter and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. During 1996-97 he was Washington Fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and visiting scholar in Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic at the University of Cambridge. In 2002 he was a Fulbright fellow to the American Academy of Rome. His book, The Waves of Manannan: The Biography of the Irish God of the Sea from The Voyage of Bran to Finnegans Wake, was published by Edwin Mellen Press in 2004. He also has a chapter on the Isle of Man in Medieval literature in the New History of the Isle of Man: Volume 3, to be published by Liverpool University Press. Dr. MacQuarrie currently teaches at California State University, Bakersfield.
Milissa Ackerley was one of the assistants on the 2013 trip to the Isle of Man and Scotland. She is excited to take on the challenge of serving as our site coordinator and administrative assistant for the trip in 2015. She is looking forward to making this trip an enjoyable and enlightening experience for all of the participants. Milissa earned her B.A. in Religious Studies from California State University, Bakersfield. She is currently the Administrative Support Coordinator for the English Department at California State University, Bakersfield.
