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RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER and REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
academy for irish cultural heritages The Academy for Irish Cultural Heritages was launched by Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney. The Academy was funded under the Department for Employment and Learning’s SPUR initiative.
The Academy has the distinction of being among the leading Irish cultural research centres in the world and represents a unique departure in scholarship and research in Irish historical, heritage, linguistic and literary studies.
it will become the investigative engine charged with integrating the University’s research strategy into the enormous changes occurring in Irish cultures both within the island and abroad. A series of cultural events accompanied the launch and these proved to be a great success.
Speaking at the launch Professor Brian Graham,
Director of the Academy said:
“Our primary function is to conduct integrated research projects in the
field of Irish and Northern Irish cultural heritages and to explore the
richness and diversity of the cultures and traditions of the whole island.
The Academy will also address our relationships with our neighbours in
Scotland and Britain, and within the larger global community. Through the
Academy, our scholarship and research expertise in History, Celtic Studies
and English is brought together, creating a synergy and adding an exciting
new dimension to the study of Ireland’s rich and diverse cultural
heritages across these disciplines.”
Seamus
Heaney said:
“The work of the Academy is immediately relevant to Northern Ireland.
It is born out of what is here, but it is an institute of learning, it is
not a social engineering place.
"This Academy will promote a sense of respect and dignity in each tradition and of each heritage and that way promote better civic life. It will take a while. Culture is self-administered. It cannot be put in like an innoculation. You cannot take people along and give them an injection or a shot of a new mental attitude. It is a gradual process of education and of self-education.”
Unique departure
In bringing together the University’s scholarship and research expertise
in History, Celtic Studies, English and Geography, the Academy represents
a unique departure in cultural studies related to Ireland and the Irish
diaspora. Its function is to integrate the University of Ulster’s research
vision and strategy into the enormous changes occurring in the cultures of
Ireland both within the island and abroad.
| The SPUR initiative is a public-private partnership financial framework initiative which is investing up to £40 million in the research infrastructure at the University of Ulster and Queen’s University, Belfast over a four-year period (2000- 2004).The investment was made on a competitive basis under the auspices of the Northern Ireland Higher Education Council, assisted by an international panel of experts chaired by Sir Kenneth Bloomfield. The main aim of SPUR is to enhance the strategic approach taken by the two Northern Ireland universities to the development of their research capacity, and strengthen their research base, in particular, to increase the volume of research operating at the highest international standard. |
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