Call for papers
‘Free For Whom?’: A Multi-disciplinary Symposium on Gender, Sexuality and the Irish Free State 1922-1937
Friday 9 September 2022, in-person, Maynooth University
This multi-disciplinary conference, which takes place in-person on Friday 9 September 2022 at Maynooth University, seeks to explore from various perspectives the role of gender and sexuality in the Irish Free State, formed in 1922. Coinciding with the hundredth anniversary of the formation of Saorstát Éireann, scholars of any discipline are invited to participate in this in-person event. Bringing together various disciplinary perspectives, we will explore the lived reality, particularly for women and sexual minorities in the new State, and the values, policies, laws, practice and literature relating to genders, gender identities, and sexualities. While acknowledging the often restrictive (and indeed oppressive) values of the new State, we also seek to highlight acts of creativity, dissent and resistance, alongside diverse experiences of living, loving and being in the new State (and outside it, given the emigrant experience of many Irish people of that era).
The conference is multi-disciplinary, and welcomes scholars and researchers from all fields including, for example, politics, history, sociology, literature, law, education, media studies, and gender studies (amongst others).
This event is organised by the MU Sexualities and Genders Network. We have an excellent track record in organising events, such as the From the Margins Symposium and Workshop, Querying Histories: Encountering the Irish LGBT past and two Postgraduate Symposia on Sexualities and Genders Research.
Call for Papers
We invite papers for 20-minute presentations on the theme of this conference from Maynooth University academics, graduate students, and researchers in all disciplines.
To apply, please send an abstract of approx. 200 words to fergus.ryan [at] mu.ie by 12 noon on Monday 27th June 2022.