When a massive strike of silver miners in Leadville, Colorado exploded in May of 1880, Michael Mooney—the Dubin-born leader of the union—declared “We may not have the whole American flag, but we have earned a corner of it.” Irish immigrants to North America faced desperate circumstances. Entry into the American mainstream meant overcoming myriad obstacles and involved reshaping themselves culturally, socially, and politically as they navigated toward acceptance. This conference seeks to examine how this process worked and the choices and adjustments that migrants made to their identities and practices, along with the strategies and tactics that they used to build social and community strength in the streets, their workplaces, the arts, and the public sphere. Today, migrants from other parts of the world navigate a similar terrain.

We invite proposals that draw comparative perspectives to migrant communities today from other parts of the world, asking what we can learn from the past during this time of exclusion. Along with these themes, we will also accept proposals addressing any dimension of Irish Studies more broadly. We welcome interdisciplinary proposals from scholars across all stages of their careers, including graduate and undergraduate students, independent scholars, and artists.

Submission Guidelines:

Please submit a 250-word abstract and a brief biographical note (approx. 100 words) as a single PDF or Word document to [email protected] by December 12, 2025. Please indicate in your email if your presentation requires any audiovisual technology. We welcome proposals for:

• Individual Papers (20 minutes)
• Organized Panels (3-4 presenters)
• Roundtable Discussions (3-5 participants)
• Plenary Sessions (1 hour)
• Creative Presentations or Performances

Notifications of acceptance will be sent in January, 2026.