About EFACIS

• Description of the Organisation
• Activities
• Current Members of the EFACIS Steering Committee
• Constitution

1. Description of the Organisation

The European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies (EFACIS) was founded to promote interest in and support the expansion of Irish Studies throughout Europe. Our focus is the study and debate of all aspects of society, culture and literature of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the Irish diaspora within the humanities and social sciences. EFACIS encourages as wide a range of organisations as possible to raise the profile of the subject area, to enhance the participation levels in Irish Studies and to further contacts between those involved in Irish Studies in the region.

2. Activities

Publications

EFACIS promotes the dissemination of current research in Irish Studies in Europe with a new series aptly entitled "Irish Studies in Europe" which gathers selected papers from EFACIS conferences. The series is published and distributed by Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier (WVT).

For more information on the series and on how to order, please visit the link "EFACIS Publication Series" on the left.

If you would like to receive more information on how to contribute to future volumes, please contact the series editor, Werner Huber (see profile).

Conferences

Future EFACIS conferences Past EFACIS conferences

Intensive Programmes in Irish Studies

In co-operation with the Socrates/Erasmus Programme, members of EFACIS have organised a number of summer courses in Irish Studies providing a valuable forum for both students and teachers in the field. The Intensive Programme is open to students (undergraduate and postgraduate) from participating universities in Europe who may claim ECTS credits for their work on the course. To date two Intensive Programmes in Irish Studies have taken place, hosted by Dr. Hedwig Schwall and Dr. Catherine Maignant with Dr. Bernard Escarbelt respectively:

Politics and Patronage: Troubled National and Regional Identities and their Representation in Irish Literature, Film and Music.
September 4-16, 2000 Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. Guest speakers: John Banville and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill.

Politics and Patronage: National Identities and Irish Culture.
September 10-22, 2001 Université Charles-de-Gaulle Lille 3, France.
Students and lecturers from across Europe have participated, including those from universities in Aarhus, Amsterdam, Braga, Cambridge, Chemnitz, Cork, Debrecen, Dublin, Gdansk, Göteborg, Leuven, Lille, Prague, Rennes, Verona and Wolverhampton.

PhD seminar

Future seminars

PhD Seminar in Irish Studies - Leuven 2012

Past seminars

2nd Prague International Postgraduate Conference in Irish Studies "Boundary Crossings"
16-17 September 2011
The conference programme is now available at
http://ualk.ff.cuni.cz/news/2nd-international-postgraduate-conference-in-irish-studies.html

The conference is hosted by the Centre for Irish Studies at Charles University, Prague. It is organised in association with EFACIS, and supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland.

"Fins de siècles": developments in Irish culture, literature and society from the 1890s to the 1990s Leuven, 6-10 September 2010

This is the first of a series of two-yearly doctoral seminars which the Leuven Centre for Irish Studies of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven will organise in collaboration with EFACIS and with the Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe.

The aim of this seminar is to give PhD students in Irish Studies from different European countries the opportunity to present their research to receive feedback from established scholars and other students from a wide variety of backgrounds to improve their methodological skills to deepen their knowledge of the different aspects of Irish culture, history and society to encourage the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and insights within the broad field of Irish Studies.

The programme consists of lectures by invited keynote speakers theoreticalmethodological seminars which discuss the state of a given field or methodological/theoretical approach on the basis of selected texts student papers: presentation of participants' research projects followed by discussion tutorials: individual discussions of participants' research with participating scholars

The programme is built around a central theme so as to ensure coherence and facilitate the exchange of ideas across the different disciplines. The 2010 theme will be the developments in Irish culture, literature and society from one fin-de-siècle (the 1890s) to the next (1990s). In the course of this ‘long’ century, Ireland saw considerable changes in terms of politics, religion, economics and social organisation as well as in the different domains of its culture. We therefore invite those students whose doctoral research investigates an aspect of these developments to participate in this PhD-seminar. Keynote speakers for the 2010 seminar are Dominic Bryan, Wesley Hutchinson, Margaret Kelleher, John Kelly, Gerardine Meaney and Tina O'Toole.

For further information, please contact Elke D'hoker (elke.dhoker@arts.kuleuven.be).

http://www.irishstudies.be/ http://www.louvaininstitute.com/ http://www.efacis.org

3. Current Members of the EFACIS Steering Committee

Committee Members

4. Constitution

Article 1. Denomination

The title of the Federation is the European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies (EFACIS).

Article 2. Objectives

The objectives of EFACIS are:

1. to develop, in a European context, teaching and research in Irish Studies as an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary field of study;
2. to hold biennial conferences;
3. to affiliate national and regional associations and centres, as well as individual scholars, of Irish Studies, and to co-ordinate its activities with other organisations within the field of Irish Studies;
4. to further the dissemination of research, critical inquiry and educational ideas in Irish Studies;
5. to encourage and facilitate the establishment of research and teaching networks and projects on a European level.

Article 3. Membership

Membership is registered through the Treasurer of the Steering Committee. Membership of EFACIS is always individual, and is open to scholars, students or teachers, whether attached to centres or associations or working individually. Centres and associations must consist of at least five members. Registration of and payment for membership may be administered by affiliated national and regional associations and centres. Associations and centres shall inform the Treasurer of the names and addresses of their associated members and shall pay their fee through their national organisation. Registered membership is a requirement for members to: (i) present papers at conferences held under the auspices of EFACIS; (ii) cast one vote at the general meeting; (iii) receive the publications of EFACIS, as well as electonic mailing lists and newsletters; (iv) access the members´ database; (v) participate in any EFACIS activities. The Steering Committee may communicate with members via e-mail and the website.

Article 4. Membership fee

Members pay an annual fee, the amount of which is determined by the Steering Committee subject to the approval of the General Meeting. Fees are due to the Treasurer by 15 January each year.

Article 5. The General Meeting

The General Meeting is held in connection with the biennial conference and is open to all members. The General Meeting debates and approves the report of the Steering Committee, formulates the policies of EFACIS, elects the officers of the Steering Committee and two auditors.

General meetings must be announced at least four months in advance. The announcement must call for nominations for all offices of the Steering Committee. The agenda of the General Meeting and a list of nominated candidates, including statements of the candidates, should be cicurlated electronically to members at least two months prior to the meeting. Only members have the right to vote. Each member has one vote. Votes may only be cast in person at the General Meeting.

Article 6. The Steering Committee

The Steering Committee consists of the President, the Vice-President, the Treasurer, the Secretary and five members elected individually by the General Meeting for a period of two years.

The offices of the President and Vice-President may only be held for two consecutive periods. The four executive roles can only be elected from among the existing members of the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee must be largely representative of the affiliated associations and centres. The Steering Committee shall be empowered to co-opt up to eight further members with a view of maintaining a balanced representation of the membership or of membership or of organising events within the auspices of EFACIS.

The Steering Committee is responsible for advancing the objectives of EFACIS, as expressed in Article 2, and for presenting a general and financial report to the General Meeting. The financial report, signed by the auditors, shall be distributed in written form at the General Meeting. The Steering Committee is responsible for the production and circulation of an electronic newsletter to all affiliated bodies and members of EFACIS. It is also responsible for producing and maintaining the EFACIS website on the World Wide Web as a service to members and others interested in Irish Studies.

Article 7. Amendments

The present constitution my be amended by the General Meeting by a majority of two thirds of the voting members. Amendments may be proposed by members of the Steering Committee and by individual and corporate members. Proposed amendments must be communicated to all members at least four months prior to the General Meeting.

Article 8. Dissolution

In the event of the dissolution of EFACIS, its assets shall be used for purposes compatible with Article 2 subject to the decision of the General Meeting.