About Irish Studies

Students with an interest in focusing their literary studies on a topic related to Irish Studies can build a concentration within the English major or minor.

In collaboration with the Department of English, the Stuart A. Rose Library, and the Consulate General of Ireland in Atlanta, the Irish Studies Program sponsors a variety of events open to the public throughout the academic year including guest lectures, poetry recitals, plays, and musical performances.

Photo credit: Seamus Heaney, Rand Brandes

Ireland is known as the world’s smallest cultural superpower. A country with a population of seven million people [north and south], it is claimed as the point of origin for seventy million people across the globe. Ireland’s four Nobel literature laureates and five Nobel peace laureates are signposts to the twin concerns of creativity and conflict that have animated the last two centuries.

Irish Studies developed from an offshore branch of English literature to its current position as a burgeoning field across the globe. It has developed from the study of the great men of Irish literature and history into an investigation of a (disputed) territory and a (diasporic) people.

In the past two decades, immigration and globalization have transformed the island and its inhabitants. Irish Studies too has changed to embrace new comparative contexts such as post-conflict studies, migration studies, environmental humanities, and decolonial perspectives.

Emory’s Irish Studies Program offers a dynamic, interdisciplinary field of study and welcomes faculty, student, and professional outreach from the Atlanta-wide community.