The 2014 NEACIS (New England Region of the American Conference for Irish Studies) meeting will be held at Wheaton College on 21-22 November. We welcome proposals for individual papers and panels focusing on all aspects of Irish Studies. Especially welcome are papers that address the conference theme of “Beyond the Pale: Alienation, Sites of Resistance, and Modern Ireland.”
The conference this year wishes to explore the broad theme of alienation and resistance in the construction of national identity. The conference expects that this theme will generate a range of papers addressing everything from broad themes (such as the role of urban space in the construction of modern Ireland or transnational culture as a challenge to and an extension of nationalism) to more specific papers addressing major literary figures (Joyce, Yeats, and Heaney come to mind) and significant historical moments (such as the Easter Rising, and its forthcoming centenary). Following are some possible topics:

• Transnational culture / Transatlantic Narratives
• Provincialism and Parochialism
• Citizenship and the Nation State
• Urban Ireland and sites of resistance
• The Easter Rising
• Rural Ireland and the nation state
• Alienation and Irishness
• The trope of the pale in Irish history and/or literature
• Seamus Heaney’s poetic voice and national character
• James Joyce, alienation, and urban Ireland
• Unionism and Nationalism
• The economic crisis and cultural resistance
• Failure and the history of Irish resistance

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Please e-mail paper and/or panel proposals to Jim Byrne (neacis2014@gmail.com) by August 31st, 2014.
Please note that all who attend the NEACIS must be members of the ACIS with dues paid through the end of the year.
If you have any further questions about the conference, please contact Jim Byrne (byrne_james@wheatoncollege.edu) in the English Department at Wheaton College.