Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences marks annual Research Day
The event, held in the O’Reilly Library on the Glasnevin campus, opened with addresses by Executive Dean Prof Derek Hand and Associate Dean for Research Dr Gëzim Visoka. Prof Hand highlighted the challenge the Faculty faces in spanning all three of the University’s campuses, and the need to balance the focus on metrics with more nuanced ideas of impact.
Dr Visoka presented the faculty’s performance against research KPIs for 2028, many of which have been exceeded over the past few years, but again underlined the importance of looking “beyond the metrics.” This positive performance comes amidst a changing landscape where AI generated content is putting pressure on journals to expand their reviewing processes.
The first of two panels, led by Dr Miriam de Cock examined the story behind research and writing. Dr Ellen Howley spoke about the experience of adapting her PhD thesis on Irish and Carribean poetry into her first published book, highlighting the importance of “de-thesisifying”, refocusing and starting the book as a new piece of work even though it grew out of an existing work. She drew an interesting analogy between the experiments scientists conduct in their lab which contribute to their published findings and the early stage writing that humanities scholars undertake on specific projects.
Dr Eoin O'Malley outlined how his new book grew out of a four month re-read and reworking of a previous book originally on the subject of the Office of the Taoiseach. Prof O’Malley expanded two chapters to present Charlie Haughey and Garrett Fitzgerald’s rivalry as a more dynamic, continual interaction than in other studies.
Dr Matthew Jacobson’s presentation charted the challenges in recording, distributing and promoting an album as a research output. The album, which will be released in April as a pair of die with a QR for the digital download. It was funded through an Arts Council Grant, involved international travel to rehearse and record, and had to contend with diminishing media platforms on which to find coverage.
Dr de Cock rounded out the panel with a presentation on the challenges and opportunities of co-authorship on academic papers. She spoke about a range of experiences where the order of authorship became an issue when not established at the outset, and the additional challenge of writing with two voices rather than one. On the other hand, in one instance Dr de Cock was pushed to go beyond her original outlook for a paper.
The second panel of the day was chaired by Dr Andrew Forde and opened with a presentation by Dr Alicia Castillo Villanueva on how visual mediums aided her in telling the story of her research. Dr Castillo Villanueva highlighted writing and publishing in two languages as a key strategy, and stressed the vital importance of adapting one’s message according to the audience.
Dr Kathleen Stokes spoke about how she and colleagues built a narrative around two projects examining urban vacancy between 2019 and 2024. Citing a need to disrupt oversimplified narratives around what is a highly politicised issue, Dr Stokes and her collaborators engaged in an impressive array of publicity updates including Op Eds and blogs alongside their policy reports. Dr Stokes stressed the need to avoid the fear of sharing one’s work.
In speaking about her monograph on the poetry of Piaras Feiritéar, Dr Deirdre Nic Mhathúna echoed Dr Castillo Villanueva’s point about tailoring contributions at public events to the context and the need to consider one’s audience. She stressed the importance of engaging a more general audience alongside “hardcore” academic outputs, particularly at events such as a Seachtain na Gaeilge talk on Blasket Island literature at Raheny Library in which she participated.
In the last presentation of the panel before the Q&A, Dr Jack Quin spoke about his experience of engaging multiple audiences following the publication of his monograph on WB Yeats and the language of sculpture. Dr Quin felt this project led to natural interdisciplinary engagement, spanning English literature, Art History and Public History. This was reflected in a range of successful engagements including appearances on a WB Yeats themed YouTube series, the podcast This Irish American Life and an article for RTE Brainstorm.