Getting to Know - Research Institute for Irish and Scottish Studies
Who’s in the team?
The Research Institute for Irish and Scottish Studies is an interdisciplinary hub for Humanities research on Ireland and Scotland. The institute is directed by Professor Michael Brown from the Department of History and he is supported by deputy directors Dr Bradford Bow (History) and Dr Sarah Sharp (English). Dr Clare Loughlin joined us in 2023 as a Lecturer in the Jacobite World.
We also have affiliated staff from a range of disciplines and we are always keen to hear from staff who’d like to work with us. We are currently supporting projects from across the Humanities at Aberdeen. We’re also lucky enough to benefit from the participation and input of postgraduate researchers from both LLMVC and DHPA.
Our Academic Advisory Board includes scholars from Aberdeen and the wider scholarly community who help to steer our work.
What do you do?
RIISS promotes research into the languages, histories and literatures of Ireland and Scotland, and of their global diasporic communities.
Here at the institute, we have an annual calendar of events. We host a research seminar series in the spring that brings noted scholars from outside Aberdeen to campus, and an ever-changing programme of other workshops, webinars and lectures across the year. Many of these events are open to the University community and the wider public.
Staff from RIISS are active participants in the activities of Aberdeen University Press, including editors for the Press’s open-access journals the Journal of Scottish Thought and the Journal of Irish and Scottish Studies.
We aim to encourage studies that consider the relationship between Ireland and Scotland. However, RIISS has always supported high-quality single-discipline research, as well as comparative and interdisciplinary projects.
We support colleagues to produce exciting new research whether that is by helping to host seminars and conferences, providing opportunities to share ideas and form collaborations at our research events, or by providing seed funding for larger future projects.
Why is it important?
RIISS was founded in 1999. Our creation was inspired by the changes instigated in the governance of the islands by the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement of 1998 and the establishment of the Scottish Parliament the year after. Our mission has continued importance as both countries experience changes like Brexit. We are one of a very small number of research centres whose central aim is to bring Scottish studies into dialogue with our close neighbours. We’re invested in exploring the interlocking nature of Ireland and Scotland’s languages as well as historical and literary connections.
More broadly, we aim to champion and platform the Arts and Humanities. It is important that we continue to draw attention to the importance of heritage and culture at a time when these areas of study have come under significant pressure.
What are some of your big projects right now?
RIISS is fortunate enough to be a collaborator in an array of major projects at Aberdeen, some long-standing and others very new. We’ve been a partner in the highly successful Aberdeen Burgh Records Project since its inception in 2012. More recently we supported colleagues in LLMVC in their application for Royal Society of Edinburgh funding for the project Towards a New Companion to Scottish Literature.
We work extensively with institutions and organisations beyond Aberdeen. We’ve formally partnered with the Jacobite Studies Trust for our Jacobite World Project. Meanwhile the Teaching Politics in an Age of Revolution: Scottish Universities and the Shaping of Citizens, 1775-1815 combines expertise from Aberdeen with colleagues at the University of Stirling and the Open University.
Beyond these research themes we're also very interested in supporting the ongoing health of the field as a whole. Our New Voices in Irish and Scottish Studies initiative is focused on supporting researchers in the early stages of their careers. It comprises of a flagship Autumn webinar series, which is open to the public, alongside a biannual writing retreat and journal special issue. We’re hoping to have the opportunity to host postdoctoral researchers as part of this scheme in the future.
We’re continuing to build projects with local community groups and have some more exciting potential projects on the horizon. Stay tuned!
What’s the best thing about being part of your team?
At the core of what makes RIISS special is the experience of coming together to share research. We're all passionate about our field and being part of the institute means meeting scholars from around the world and seeing new ideas and connections develop in real time.
You can keep up with what we're doing via our website or by following us on Twitter. We hope to see you at a RIISS event soon.