Dr
Keith
O'Sullivan
Primary Department
School of English
Role
Head of School
Work Area/Key Responsibilities
English
Phone number:
Aside from researching, teaching and publishing widely in the children's and young adult literature, he is a founder member of the Irish Society for the Study of Children’s Literature, a member of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature, and a past member of the board of directors of Children’s Books Ireland. He has also served as a member of the judging panel for the Reading Association of Ireland Book of the Year Awards and as chair of the Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year Awards.
He was a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge (Homerton College, Centre for Research in Children's Literature) in 2012; the inaugural David Almond research fellow (Newcastle University and Seven Stories) in 2013; a recipient of a Friends of the Princeton Library research grant in 2016; and, an Irish Research Council grant-awardee (with Dr Pádraic Whyte of TCD) from 2013 to 2015 for the €350,000 National Collection of Children’s Book project (see National Collection of Children's Books).
Currently, he is co-principal investigator on ‘G-Book 2: European teens as readers and creators of gender-positive narratives’. This €200,000 project (which is co-funded by European Commission) aims to discover, explore, promote and disseminate literature that enables young readers to reflect on their identities and question stereotypes, bias and perceived norms around gender (see g-book.eu).
His latest publication, Children’s Literature Collections: Approaches to Research, which he co-edited with Dr Pádraic Whyte (TCD), was the recipient of the 2019 Edited Book Award at the 24th Biennial Congress of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature in Stockholm, Sweden.
He is happy to receive applications for doctoral research, especially in the following areas: young adult/children's literature (especially theory, collections, and of the city), contemporary fantasy (adult and children's), multimodal texts (especially postmodern picturebooks), Romanticism (especially in relation to poetry, and literary constructions of childhood), and contemporary Irish poetry (especially the works of women poets).
G-Book 2 Project: European Teens as Readers and Creators of Gender-Positive NarrativesCreative Europe (European Commission and DCU)
Dr Keith O'Sullivan (Co-PI)
€200,000 (DCU: €40,000)
2020-2021This project builds upon the work of the original G-Book project and the creation of the first gender-positive online bibliography for children. 'G-Book 2: European teens as readers and creators of gender-positive narratives' adopts a similar methodology to the original project and aims — mongst other outputs — to expand the original online bibliography to include literature read by children aged 11 to 14. Alongside the lead partner, University of Bologna, project partners include University of Vigo, University of Paris 13, Regional Library of Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgaria) and City Library of Sarajevo.
G-Book 1 Project: Gender Identity: Child Readers and Library CollectionsCreative Europe (European Commission and DCU)
Dr Keith O'Sullivan (Co-PI)
€310,000 (DCU: €51,000)
2017-2018
This project brought together specialists working in children's literature, gender studies, translation studies, library science and education from Dublin City University, University of Bologna, University of Vigo, University of Paris 13, Regional Library of Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgaria) and City Library of Sarajevo. The aim of the project was to discover, explore, promote and disseminate literature that enables young readers to reflect on their identities and question stereotypes, bias and perceived norms around gender. See g-book.eu for more information.
Friends of the Princeton University Library GrantFriends of the Princeton University Library
Dr Keith O'Sullivan (PI)
$3000
2017
This research project explored the holdings of the Cotsen Children’s Library, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library, in order to support the thesis that writers and illustrators of children’s fiction frequently return to a very particular Romantic construction of the equine when treating the horse as subject and symbol in their works.
Bringing to Book Artist-in-Residence ProjectArts Council
Dr Keith O'Sullivan (PI)
€45,000
2013-2016
Bringing to Book (B2B) was a three-year artist-in-residence (teaching and research) project, based in the Church of Ireland College of Education (CICE), funded by the Arts Council, and run in association with Children’s Books Ireland (CBI). In Year 1 of the project (Dr) Sheena Wilkinson was appointed writer-in-residence; in Year 2 Alan Nolan was appointed illustrator-in-residence; and, in Year 3 Claire Hennessy was appointed artist-in-residence.
National Collection of Children's Books ProjectIrish Reseach Council
Dr Keith O'Sullivan (Co-PI)
€350,000
2013-2015
The National Collection of Children's Books (NCCB) project was a two-year inter-institutional — Church of Ireland College of Education (CICE) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD) — and interdisciplinary research initiative funded by the Irish Research Council (with a grant co-principal investigators Dr Keith O'Sullivan and Dr Pádraic Whyte). Its primary aim was to create a union catalogue that might constitute the beginnings of a national collection of records of children’s books. See the
01 700
6097
Email Address
keith.osullivan@dcu.ie
Campus
All Hallows
Room Number
AHC S218
Academic biography
Keith O'Sullivan is head of the School of English, deputy chair of the MA in Children's and Young Adult Literature degree programme, and co-director of the Centre for Research in Children's and Young Adult Literature.
Before joining the School of English as an associate professor, he was senior lecturer and head of English at the Church of Ireland College of Education, Rathmines. A qualified secondary teacher of English, and a probated primary teacher (SEN), he taught English at all levels of the education system in Ireland and across most curricula and syllabuses, and acted as an assistant and appeals examiner for Leaving Certificate English with the State Examination Commission. At tertiary level, he taught English on the BEd programme at Church of Ireland College of Education; the BA, BEd and MA programmes at St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra; the MPhil (in children's literature) programme at Trinity College Dublin; and the PGDipEd programme at University College Dublin.
Before joining the School of English as an associate professor, he was senior lecturer and head of English at the Church of Ireland College of Education, Rathmines. A qualified secondary teacher of English, and a probated primary teacher (SEN), he taught English at all levels of the education system in Ireland and across most curricula and syllabuses, and acted as an assistant and appeals examiner for Leaving Certificate English with the State Examination Commission. At tertiary level, he taught English on the BEd programme at Church of Ireland College of Education; the BA, BEd and MA programmes at St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra; the MPhil (in children's literature) programme at Trinity College Dublin; and the PGDipEd programme at University College Dublin.
Aside from researching, teaching and publishing widely in the children's and young adult literature, he is a founder member of the Irish Society for the Study of Children’s Literature, a member of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature, and a past member of the board of directors of Children’s Books Ireland. He has also served as a member of the judging panel for the Reading Association of Ireland Book of the Year Awards and as chair of the Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year Awards.
He was a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge (Homerton College, Centre for Research in Children's Literature) in 2012; the inaugural David Almond research fellow (Newcastle University and Seven Stories) in 2013; a recipient of a Friends of the Princeton Library research grant in 2016; and, an Irish Research Council grant-awardee (with Dr Pádraic Whyte of TCD) from 2013 to 2015 for the €350,000 National Collection of Children’s Book project (see National Collection of Children's Books).
Currently, he is co-principal investigator on ‘G-Book 2: European teens as readers and creators of gender-positive narratives’. This €200,000 project (which is co-funded by European Commission) aims to discover, explore, promote and disseminate literature that enables young readers to reflect on their identities and question stereotypes, bias and perceived norms around gender (see g-book.eu).
His latest publication, Children’s Literature Collections: Approaches to Research, which he co-edited with Dr Pádraic Whyte (TCD), was the recipient of the 2019 Edited Book Award at the 24th Biennial Congress of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature in Stockholm, Sweden.
He is happy to receive applications for doctoral research, especially in the following areas: young adult/children's literature (especially theory, collections, and of the city), contemporary fantasy (adult and children's), multimodal texts (especially postmodern picturebooks), Romanticism (especially in relation to poetry, and literary constructions of childhood), and contemporary Irish poetry (especially the works of women poets).
Research interests
G-Book 2 Project: European Teens as Readers and Creators of Gender-Positive NarrativesCreative Europe (European Commission and DCU)
Dr Keith O'Sullivan (Co-PI)
€200,000 (DCU: €40,000)
2020-2021This project builds upon the work of the original G-Book project and the creation of the first gender-positive online bibliography for children. 'G-Book 2: European teens as readers and creators of gender-positive narratives' adopts a similar methodology to the original project and aims — mongst other outputs — to expand the original online bibliography to include literature read by children aged 11 to 14. Alongside the lead partner, University of Bologna, project partners include University of Vigo, University of Paris 13, Regional Library of Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgaria) and City Library of Sarajevo.
G-Book 1 Project: Gender Identity: Child Readers and Library CollectionsCreative Europe (European Commission and DCU)
Dr Keith O'Sullivan (Co-PI)
€310,000 (DCU: €51,000)
2017-2018
This project brought together specialists working in children's literature, gender studies, translation studies, library science and education from Dublin City University, University of Bologna, University of Vigo, University of Paris 13, Regional Library of Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgaria) and City Library of Sarajevo. The aim of the project was to discover, explore, promote and disseminate literature that enables young readers to reflect on their identities and question stereotypes, bias and perceived norms around gender. See g-book.eu for more information.
Friends of the Princeton University Library GrantFriends of the Princeton University Library
Dr Keith O'Sullivan (PI)
$3000
2017
This research project explored the holdings of the Cotsen Children’s Library, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library, in order to support the thesis that writers and illustrators of children’s fiction frequently return to a very particular Romantic construction of the equine when treating the horse as subject and symbol in their works.
Bringing to Book Artist-in-Residence ProjectArts Council
Dr Keith O'Sullivan (PI)
€45,000
2013-2016
Bringing to Book (B2B) was a three-year artist-in-residence (teaching and research) project, based in the Church of Ireland College of Education (CICE), funded by the Arts Council, and run in association with Children’s Books Ireland (CBI). In Year 1 of the project (Dr) Sheena Wilkinson was appointed writer-in-residence; in Year 2 Alan Nolan was appointed illustrator-in-residence; and, in Year 3 Claire Hennessy was appointed artist-in-residence.
National Collection of Children's Books ProjectIrish Reseach Council
Dr Keith O'Sullivan (Co-PI)
€350,000
2013-2015
The National Collection of Children's Books (NCCB) project was a two-year inter-institutional — Church of Ireland College of Education (CICE) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD) — and interdisciplinary research initiative funded by the Irish Research Council (with a grant co-principal investigators Dr Keith O'Sullivan and Dr Pádraic Whyte). Its primary aim was to create a union catalogue that might constitute the beginnings of a national collection of records of children’s books. See the