Dr Steve Coleman

    Anthropology

    Gaeilge agus fáilte

    Lecturer
    MA Creole/MA Linguistic Coordinator

    Rowan House
    1st Floor
    1.04
    (01) 708 3932

    Biography

    EDUCATION:
    University of Chicago - PhD Anthropology 1999
    University of Chicago - MA Anthropology 1987
    University of Washington, Seattle - BA Anthropology 1985

    ACADEMIC WORK AND TEACHING EXPERIENCE    :
    2000 - present - Lecturer in Anthropology
    National University of Ireland Maynooth

    1993-2000 - Contract Lecturer in Anthropology
    National University of Ireland Maynooth

    Spring 1998 - Part-Time Lecturer, Department of Anthropology
    LSB College, Dublin

    1992-1993 - Outside Lecturer in Anthropology (part-time)
    ST. Patrick's College, Maynooth

    1990-1992 - Instructor (Teaching English as a Second Language: Reading, Grammar, and Speech (to refugees)
    Harry S. Truman College, Chicago

    1988-1992 - Research Assistant (Analyzing interview data for a research project in applied psychological anthropology)
    Erickson Institute, Chicago

    PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS:
    2002-present  - Associate, Humanities Institute of Ireland, University College Dublin

    2002-present  - Associate, NIRSA, NUI Maynooth

    2000             - President, Anthropological Association of Ireland

    1996 - present Co-editor, Irish Journal of Anthropology.

    PUBLICATIONS (selected):
    2003. (Co-edited with Colin Coulter) The End of Irish History? Critical Approaches to the ‘Celtic Tiger’. Manchester University Press.

    2003. The Centralized Government of Liquidity: Language and Culture under the Celtic Tiger. Chapter in The End of Irish History? Critical Approaches to the ‘Celtic Tiger’, eds. C. Coulter and S. Coleman. Manchester University Press.

    2000. Music and Dialogue. Published by Traditional Music Archive and The Irish Traditional Music Society, University College Cork (Ó Riada Memorial Lecture 13).

    1997. Joe Heaney and Style in Sean-nós Singing. In Blas: the Local Accent in Irish Traditional Music, edited by T. M. Smith and M. Ó. Súilleabháin. Limerick: Irish World Music Centre, University of Limerick.

    1996. Joe Heaney Meets the Academy. Irish Journal of Anthropology 1.







    Research Interests

    Linguistic Anthropology Irish language discourse and literature Verbal art, music, and performance Minority languages and the nation-state C.S. Peirce's Semeiotic Political Movements Ethnographic Approaches to Literature

    Research Projects

      Project Role Funding Body / Program Description Start Date End Date Award (€)
    The Agri-Cultural Imagination: Ideas of the future of agriculture and their impact on the present / Stuart Lang PI Irish Research Council (IRC) / Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship The future is a precarious place, in both reality and in our imaginations. The future, and the past for that matter, have occupied humanity's collective consciousness for aeons. In today's world, the need for understanding our place in the present and how that might impact the future is as great, if not greater, than it has ever been. In the wider context of resource management, global climate change, and social upheaval, there are many threads an anthropologist could follow. But for my research project, I propose to untangle the web of meanings, understandings, and values surrounding the realms of agriculture, horticulture, and technology. I will examine how two forms of agriculture, urban and rural, differ from each other and how these differences impact on practices and discourse within the urban and rural farming communities. Through the use of visual culture, economic anthropology, material culture, and the more novel anthropology of time, I will explore how economic, environmental and technological values influence Irish urban farming. Farming, in its multitude of forms, has been an aspect of human life for millennia. But how we as a species has gone about growing food has changed many times over, whether due to social and economic factors, such as the Irish societal shift from agrarian to industrial, technology, or, as we are facing today, catastrophic environmental change. While the effects of dramatic climate change have yet to coalesce for Ireland, and the current countrywide system of food production works to a certain extent, there are those who are looking to, and creating new and novel practices to combat the destructive nature of industrialised farming. 01-SEP-19 31-AUG-21 50333.28
    To be a minority: language, place and expressive culture in two minority language communities, the Irish in the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht and the Slovenian in Trieste, Italy - Nastja Slavec PI Irish Research Council (IRC) / Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship There are many different minority language communities in Europe. Anthropologists who have researched them have mostly focused on language-related issues. Researching language (language use, ideologies, policies) is important, as speaking a minority language is precisely what differentiates people belonging to a linguistic minority from the majority population. However, there are also other aspects or variables that make up the experiences of minority language speakers and that haven’t been given much attention yet. Two such aspects are place and expressive culture. But also adding these two variables to our research still doesn’t have much relevance if we don’t look deeply at the people themselves: what are their experiences in relation to these variables? Are they just minority language speakers or also “minority people”? How is their identity shaped by and expressed through language, place and expressive culture? The project “To be a minority: language, place and expressive culture in two minority language communities, the Irish in the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht and the Slovenian in Trieste, Italy” aims to answer these questions by studying and comparing the Irish language speakers in Corca Dhuibhne/ West Kerry on the west coast of Ireland, and the Slovenian minority in Trieste in north-eastern Italy. The project will employ the ethnographic fieldwork method, which will enable to gain a deep intersubjective understanding of the lived realities of minority language speakers. Nine will be spent living and researching in each of the studied communities and two main techniques will be used to gather ethnographic data: participant observation and the person-centred interviewing technique. Building on the researcher’s background as a minority language speaker and on her previous research, and using a comparative approach, the project “To be a minority” will contribute new deeper insights into minority experiences. 01-SEP-19 31-AUG-23 96000
    GOI scholarship for Kevin Flanagan - City as a Commons PI Irish Research Council (IRC) / Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship 01-OCT-18 30-SEP-20 48000

    Books

      Year Publication
    2018 The end of Irish history?.
    Coulter C.;Coleman S. (2018) The end of Irish history?. [Details]
    2003 The end of Irish history? Critical reflections on the Celtic Tiger.
    Colin Coulter & Steve Coleman (2003) The end of Irish history? Critical reflections on the Celtic Tiger. Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Details]

    Book Chapters

      Year Publication
    2022 'Semiotics in Anthropology and Ethnography'
    Sally Ness and Steve Coleman (2022) 'Semiotics in Anthropology and Ethnography' In: Jamin Pelkey (eds). Bloomsbury Semiotics, Volume 3. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. [full-text] [Details]
    2020 'The Irish Gaeltacht as a trans-local phenomenon'
    Coleman S.;Ciosáin É. (2020) 'The Irish Gaeltacht as a trans-local phenomenon' In: Non-Territorial Autonomy and Decentralization: Ethno-Cultural Diversity Governance. [DOI] [Details]
    2021 '“Sí Teanga na Muintire a Shlánós an Mhuintir”: Ó Cadhain, Rhetoric, and Immanence'
    Steve Coleman (2021) '“Sí Teanga na Muintire a Shlánós an Mhuintir”: Ó Cadhain, Rhetoric, and Immanence' In: Marko Zivkovic and Jamin Pelkey (eds). Tropology: The Figuration of Social Thought and Action. New York: Berghahn Press. [Details]
    2020 'The Irish Gaeltacht as a Trans-local Phenomenon'
    Steve Coleman and Éamon Ó Ciosáin (2020) 'The Irish Gaeltacht as a Trans-local Phenomenon' In: Tove H. Malloy, Levente Salat (eds). Non-Territorial Autonomy and Decentralization Ethno-Cultural Diversity Governance. London: Routledge. [Details]
    2018 'The centralised government of liquidity: Community, language and culture under the celtic tiger'
    Coleman S. (2018) 'The centralised government of liquidity: Community, language and culture under the celtic tiger' In: The end of Irish history?. [Details]
    2012 'Nonsynchronism, traditional music, and memory in Ireland'
    Steve Coleman (2012) 'Nonsynchronism, traditional music, and memory in Ireland' In: Oona Frawley (eds). Memory Ireland vol. 2: Diaspora and Memory Practices. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. [full-text] [Details]
    2012 'Pobail Urlabhra'
    Steve Coleman (2012) 'Pobail Urlabhra' In: An tSochtheangeolaíocht: Feidhm agus Tuairisc. Baile Átha Cliath: Cois Life. [full-text] [Details]
    2012 'Non-synchronism, traditional music, and memory in Ireland'
    Steve Coleman (2012) 'Non-synchronism, traditional music, and memory in Ireland' In: Memory Ireland: Explorations in Irish Cultural Memory, Vol. 2. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. [Details]
    2012 'Ag Teacht Aniar: Dioscúrsa na Gaeilge agus “Athghabháil” Ráth Cairn'
    Steve Coleman (2012) 'Ag Teacht Aniar: Dioscúrsa na Gaeilge agus “Athghabháil” Ráth Cairn' In: Léann an Dúchais: Aistí in Ómós do Ghearóid Ó Crualaoich. Cork: Cork University Press. [Details]
    2011 'Archival Inscription'
    Steve Coleman (2011) 'Archival Inscription' In: The Companion to Irish Traditional Music, 2nd Edition. Cork: Cork University Press. [full-text] [Details]
    2003 'Irish Ethnography'
    S. Coleman (2003) 'Irish Ethnography' In: Encyclopedia of Ireland. London: Gill and Macmillan. [Details]
    2003 'The End of Irish History? An introduction to the book'
    C. Coulter and S. Coleman (2003) 'The End of Irish History? An introduction to the book' In: The End of Irish History? Critical Approaches to the 'Celtic Tiger'. Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Details]
    2003 'The Centralized Government of Liquidity: Language and Culture under the Celtic Tiger'
    C. Coulter and S. Coleman (2003) 'The Centralized Government of Liquidity: Language and Culture under the Celtic Tiger' In: The End of Irish History? Critical Approaches to the 'Celtic Tiger'. Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Details]
    2000 'Music and Dialogue'
    Dr. Steve Coleman (2000) 'Music and Dialogue' In: to be added. University College Cork: Traditional Music Archive and The Irish Traditional Music Society. [Details]
    1997 'Joe Heaney and Style in Sean-nos Singing'
    S. Coleman (1997) 'Joe Heaney and Style in Sean-nos Singing' In: Blas: the Local Accent in Irish Traditional Music. Limerick: Irish World Music Centre, University of Limeric. [Details]

    Peer Reviewed Journals

      Year Publication
    2010 'Mobilized sound: Memory, inscription and vision in Irish traditional music'
    Coleman, Steve (2010) 'Mobilized sound: Memory, inscription and vision in Irish traditional music'. Irish Journal of Anthropology, 13 [full-text] [Details]
    2007 'Looking back on some dead world that looks so new: the idea ofthe UN in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq'
    Coleman S. (2007) 'Looking back on some dead world that looks so new: the idea ofthe UN in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq'. IRISH JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY, 10 [full-text] [Details]
    2006 'Bridget Cleary Speaks!'
    S. Coleman (2006) 'Bridget Cleary Speaks!'. IRISH JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY, 9 :35-36 [full-text] [Details]
    2004 'The nation, the state, and the neighbors: personation in Irish-language discourse'
    Coleman, S (2004) 'The nation, the state, and the neighbors: personation in Irish-language discourse'. Language and Communication, 24 :381-411 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    1996 'Joe Heaney Meets the Academy'
    S. Coleman (1996) 'Joe Heaney Meets the Academy'. Irish Journal of Anthropology, 1 [full-text] [Details]

    Other Journals

      Year Publication
    2017 'AN BHEOCHAN AGUS AN ‘PERFORMANCE’ I DTRAIDISIÚIN NA HÉIREANN'
    Steve Coleman (2017) 'AN BHEOCHAN AGUS AN ‘PERFORMANCE’ I DTRAIDISIÚIN NA HÉIREANN' Spéis - Newsletter of ICTM Ireland, :22-28. [Details]

    Conference Contributions

      Year Publication
    2019 “The Irish Gaeltacht as a trans-local phenomenon”.
    Steve Coleman (2019) “The Irish Gaeltacht as a trans-local phenomenon”. [Invited Lecture], 1st ENTAN conference: Non-Territorial Autonomy as a Form of Plurinational Democracy: Participation, Recognition, Reconciliation, Belgrade, Serbia , 22-NOV-19 - 23-NOV-19 [Details]
    2019 Mediation and the “Life” of Signs.
    Steve Coleman (2019) Mediation and the “Life” of Signs. [Oral Presentation], 44th Annual Conference, Semiotic Society of America, Portland, OR , 09-OCT-19 - 13-OCT-19 [Details]
    2020 What is the “life” in “living culture”?.
    Steve Coleman (2020) What is the “life” in “living culture”?. [Invited Lecture], Third Annual Joe Heaney memorial Lecture,, Galway, NUIG , 22-JAN-20 - 23-JAN-20 [Details]
    2018 Annual Meeting, Anthropological Association of Ireland: Eco-cosmology, Sustainability and a Spirit of Resilience.
    Steve Coleman (2018) Annual Meeting, Anthropological Association of Ireland: Eco-cosmology, Sustainability and a Spirit of Resilience. [Oral Presentation], Ó Cadhain’s “living clay” a reexamination, Cork [Details]
    2018 CREOLE Intensive Programme: Ethnographic Narratives: Stories, Biographies, and Plots.
    Steve Coleman (2018) CREOLE Intensive Programme: Ethnographic Narratives: Stories, Biographies, and Plots. [Oral Presentation], Condensed and Insurgent Narratives, Bern, Switzerland [Details]
    2017 Annual Conference, Anthropological Association of Ireland: Predictive Texts: Imagining the Future.
    Steve Coleman (2017) Annual Conference, Anthropological Association of Ireland: Predictive Texts: Imagining the Future. [Oral Presentation], Futures past of 1967, Belfast [Details]
    2017 Creole & SENSOTRA Summer School / Intensive Programme “SENSORY DIMENSIONS OF ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELDWORK”.
    Steve Coleman (2017) Creole & SENSOTRA Summer School / Intensive Programme “SENSORY DIMENSIONS OF ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELDWORK”. [Oral Presentation], Ethnography as Sensory Crossing, Piran, Slovenia [Details]
    2018 MAYNOOTH UNIVERSITY ETHNOGRAPHY WINTER SCHOOL 2018: Ethnography in/and/as Institutions.
    Steve Coleman (2018) MAYNOOTH UNIVERSITY ETHNOGRAPHY WINTER SCHOOL 2018: Ethnography in/and/as Institutions. [Invited Lecture], Ordeals of Language, yours and theirs, in ethnographic research, Maynooth University [Details]
    2017 Maynooth Ethnographic Winter School, 2017: Ethnography in the Contemporary.
    Steve Coleman (2017) Maynooth Ethnographic Winter School, 2017: Ethnography in the Contemporary. [Invited Lecture], Speaking of Finance: The discursive production of contemporaneity, Maynooth University [Details]
    2016 First International Conference on Cultural Linguistics.
    Steve Coleman (2016) First International Conference on Cultural Linguistics. [Oral Presentation], The role of poetic speech in cultural cognition: poetic ideologies in Irish performance, Prato, Italy [Details]
    2009 Annual Symposium, International Council for Traditional Music, Ireland.
    (2009) Annual Symposium, International Council for Traditional Music, Ireland. [Oral Presentation], Speaking to the archive: Irish tradition and archival inscription, Dublin [Details]
    2009
    Dr. Michael Silverstein (2009) [Visiting and guest lecturers hosted], A Trinity for the Enlightened: Society, Polity, and Language Community in Anthropological Perspectiv, NUI Maynooth, Social Sciences, Anthropology [Details]
    2009 Understanding Recession public forum.
    (2009) Understanding Recession public forum. [Oral Presentation], Understanding Recession: What happened to the Irish economy and what is going to happen next?, NUI Maynooth [Details]
    2009 ALTE - The Association of Language Testers of Europe, 37th Annual Meeting, Maynooth, Ireland.
    (2009) ALTE - The Association of Language Testers of Europe, 37th Annual Meeting, Maynooth, Ireland. [Oral Presentation], The Gaeltacht as a type of community, Maynooth [full-text] [Details]
    2009
    Dr. Michael Silverstein (2009) [Visiting and guest lecturers hosted], The elementary forms of culture in a post-cultural world:Signification–circulation–emanation, NUI Maynooth, Social Sciences, Anthropology [Details]
    2009 World Culture and Nation-States: Erasmus Intensive Programme, Vienna.
    (2009) World Culture and Nation-States: Erasmus Intensive Programme, Vienna. [Oral Presentation], “General intellect” and global culture, Vienna, Austria [Details]
    2009 Spring Conference, Anthropological Association of Ireland.
    (2009) Spring Conference, Anthropological Association of Ireland. [Oral Presentation], Mobilised sound: Memory, inscription and locality in Irish traditional music, Belfast [Details]
    2003 Scheps Library Friday Series.
    (2003) Scheps Library Friday Series. Department of Anthropology, Columbia University , 14-FEB-03 [Details]
    2002
    (2002) Humanities Institute of Ireland, University College, Dublin , 29-NOV-02 [Details]
    2002 101st Annual Meetings, American Anthropological Association.
    (2002) 101st Annual Meetings, American Anthropological Association. New Orleans , 20-NOV-02 [Details]
    2002 Seventh meeting of the European Association of Social Anthropologists.
    (2002) Seventh meeting of the European Association of Social Anthropologists. Copenhagen , 20-NOV-02 [Details]
    2000 Representation and Beyond.
    (2000) Representation and Beyond. School of Anthropological Studies, Queen's University of Belfast , 28-NOV-00 [Details]
    2000 99th Annual Meetings, American Anthropological Association.
    (2000) 99th Annual Meetings, American Anthropological Association. San Francisco , 15-NOV-00 [Details]
    1999 'Dis-ease with Post-modern Anthropology: Anthropologists facing towards the 21st century'.
    (1999) 'Dis-ease with Post-modern Anthropology: Anthropologists facing towards the 21st century'. LSB College, Dublin , 12-DEC-99 [Details]
    1999 Defining Colonies.
    (1999) Defining Colonies. NUI Galway , 18-JUN-99 [Details]
    1999 Workshop in Interpretive Political Social Analysis.
    (1999) Workshop in Interpretive Political Social Analysis. Allihies, C. Cork , 01-SEP-99 [Details]
    1999 98th Annual Meetings, American Anthropological Association.
    (1999) 98th Annual Meetings, American Anthropological Association. Chicago , 20-NOV-99 [Details]
    1998 Paper presented to Anthropology Society.
    (1998) Paper presented to Anthropology Society. NUI Maynooth , 03-FEB-98 [Details]
    1998 Joint Anthropology-Sociology Seminar.
    (1998) Joint Anthropology-Sociology Seminar. NUI Maynooth , 19-MAR-98 [Details]
    1998 97th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association.
    (1998) 97th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Philadelphia , 02-DEC-98 [Details]
    1998 Winter Meetings of the Anthropological Association of Ireland.
    (1998) Winter Meetings of the Anthropological Association of Ireland. Thurles, Co. Tipperary , 11-DEC-98 [Details]

    Book Review

      Year Publication
    2011 John Walsh, Contests and Contexts: The Irish Language and Ireland's Socio-Economic Development.
    Coleman, Dr. Steve (2011) John Walsh, Contests and Contexts: The Irish Language and Ireland's Socio-Economic Development. Book Review [Details]
    2009 Review of Fintan Vallely, Tuned Out: Traditional Music and Identity in Northern Ireland Cork University Press.
    Coleman, Steve (2009) Review of Fintan Vallely, Tuned Out: Traditional Music and Identity in Northern Ireland Cork University Press. Book Review [DOI] [Details]

    Professional Associations

      Association Function From / To
    Member, American Anthropological Association of Ireland * 30-DEC-99 / 30-DEC-99
    Member, Anthropological Association of Ireland * 30-DEC-99 / 30-DEC-99
    Member, European Association of Social Anthropologists * 29-DEC-99 / 30-DEC-99
    President, Anthropological Association of Ireland * 01-JAN-00 / 30-DEC-99
    Member, Humanities Institute of Ireland * 01-JAN-02 / 30-DEC-99

    Recent Postgraduates

      Graduation Student Name University Degree Thesis
    2016 Marion Ní Mhaoláin Maynooth University PhD Scéalta Dharach Uí Dhireáin: A Linguistic and Anthropological Analysis
    2016 Threase Kessie Maynooth University PhD ‘Rise Up Dead Man and Fight Again’: Reviving and Defining Mumming in County Fermanagh
    2014 Lijing Peng Maynooth University PhD A Chinese Writer's Vicissitude in the Political and Cultural Context of Early Modern China