UCC’s annual Atlantic Anthropological Workshop opens in Dingle

4 Apr 2025

• International workshop for postgraduate students, researchers, and speakers to explore contemporary issues in global society.

Creative practices, digital affordances, and political extremism are among the topics which will be explored at the Atlantic Anthropological Workshop, led by University College Cork (UCC) and Queen’s University Belfast.

Hosted by Sacred Heart University in Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland, the workshop brings together postgraduate anthropology students, scholars and invited speakers to engage on key topics within anthropology, while encouraging discussion, creativity, and community-building.

Now in its fourth year, the workshop features contributions from internationally recognised researchers and practitioners including:

• Professor Rosana Pinheiro-Machado, University College Dublin, Director of the Digital Economy and Extreme Politics Lab (DeepLab) and ERC recipient, who contributes to work promoting the international mobility of Black and Indigenous Brazilian candidates
• Professor Dominic Bryan, Queen's University Belfast, whose work had significant impact on parade disputes in Northern Ireland and the setting up of the Parades Commission,
• Professor Tríona Ní Shíocháin, University of Galway, who specialises in Irish traditional music, sean-nós singing, Irish-language song composers, oral theory, oral composition and transmission.
• Professor Billy Mag Fhloinn of Sacred Heart University, a folklorist, archaeologist, and performer who recently rediscovered the lost Altóir na Gréine (the sun altar) a 4000 year old megalithic wedge tomb on the Dingle Peninsula.

The Atlantic Anthropological Workshop was founded in 2022 by Dr James Cuffe (UCC) and Dr Fiona Murphy (DCU) in response to the need for renewed engagement and connection in academic life following the Covid-19 pandemic. The workshop runs an innovative pedagogical model where student development is encouraged and rewarded and this year it gains a new co-director in Morgan Mattingly (QUB), a one-time student of the workshop.

Dr James Cuffe, anthropologist at UCC School of Society, Politics and Ethics, said: “The Atlantic Anthropological initiative began as a way to reconnect students and faculty after a period of isolation and uncertainty. It has grown each year, thanks to the enthusiasm and generosity of everyone involved. Our aim is to create a space where learning is informed by cutting edge research, free discussion, creativity unbounded, and shared experience.”

“This year, the mission of the Atlantic Anthropological initiative is more important than ever given current global division, global insecurity and increasing political and ideological extremism,” Dr Cuffe said.

This year’s programme is facilitated by Dr Sam Rumé, Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship, in the CyberSocial Research Lab at UCC.

Learn more about the Atlantic Anthropological Workshop at https://atlanthro.org/

Masters in Anthropology

The Atlantic Anthropological Workshop is just one dimension to the experience UCC offers for studying anthropology at BA, MA and PHD levels. Anthropology at University College Cork provides focused and rigorous training that integrates practical ethnographic training with critical analysis of cultural, political, and social theory provided by research active and award-winning faculty.

The programme is structured around active participation in international summer schools, academic colloquia, and classroom-based seminars, alongside hands-on fieldwork. At postgraduate level students are supported to conduct ethnographic research in a range of international settings, including Latin America, India, and multiple locations across Europe and Ireland. PhD level includes dedicated supervision in technology, semiotics, religions, environment, and wide geographic expertise from Brazil to China.

Learn more about Anthropology in UCC , the BA in Anthropology and MA in Anthropology.