Great Famine Topic of Irish Studies Conference

The 7th Annual Irish Studies Program Conference will explore the Great Irish Famine through social and historical contexts.

The event, which begins at 9 a.m. on Friday, April 13, in Wilson Formal Lounge, features eight lectures, a film screening, and musical performances. It is free and open to the public.

Conference Schedule

9 a.m.
Welcome
Fionnuala Regan, Irish Studies Coordinator of Events

The Great Famine Background
Students from the Celtic Spirituality class

Frederick Douglass and the Origins of the Great Famine
Timothy J. Madigan, professor and chair, philosophy and classical studies

10:10 a.m.
Children and Famine
Elizabeth Osta, author of Jeremiah’s Hunger

Other Famines in Irish History
Michael McCarthy, president of the Irish American Cultural Institute

11:15 a.m.
The Great Famine’s Depiction in Art
Ryan Mahoney, executive director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University, and Angela Kelly, professor of photographic arts and sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology

12:20-1:15 p.m.
Lunch Break

1:25 p.m.
Ireland’s Great Famine in Irish-American History
Mary C. Kelly, professor of history at Franklin Pierce University

2:30 p.m.
Teaching The Great Famine
Maureen Murphy, professor of curriculum and teaching and co-director of Irish Studies, Hofstra University

3:35 p.m.
Famine in Rochester Today
Julia Tedesco, executive director of Foodlink Rochester

4:25 p.m.
Screening: “Ireland’s Great Hunger and The Irish Diaspora”
2017 Emmy award-winning documentary narrated by Gabriel Byrne

7 p.m.
Concert: Manus Mcguire and Dave Curley (135 BASIL HALL)
Enjoy Sligo fiddle music with song and dance from Ireland and Canada.
Sponsored by the Irish American Cultural Institute and Comhaltas Ceóltoiri Éireann.

This conference is supported by the William and Helen Cavanaugh Chair of Catholic Studies and by a generous grant from Bond, Schoeneck & King. Contact Tim Madigan at (585) 385-5259 or tmadigan@sjfc.edu for more information.