In December 2019 Dr Seán Hewitt from the School of English and Digital Humanities in the College received the IRC’ s prestigious Maurice J Bric Medal of Excellence for being the top-ranked AHSS postdoctoral researcher to the 2019 IRC Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship call.

Dr Hewitts’s postodtoctoral fellowship research project (Acts of Enchantment) examines natural history in British and Irish writings between 1870 and 1930. In focusing on the post-Darwinian period (as opposed to the Romantic era) Dr Hewitt’s research explores the impact that Darwinist theories and developments in natural history had on literature at a time of enormous scientific and religious change.

In comments after the award Dr Hewitt noted:

Being awarded the Maurice J. Bric Medal of Excellence is a real privilege, and a huge vote of confidence and encouragement. It’s always nice to know that others across various disciplines have found something valuable and exciting in your work, even in its early stages. For a new, interdisciplinary project, that confidence is even more of a boost. 

Attending and representing the College at the annual IRC awards in the Royal Irish Academy CACSSS Vice Head of Research and Innovation Dr Helena Buffery said

It was fantastic to be there at the Royal Irish Academy to celebrate Dr Seán Hewitt's achievements. As the only awardee in the Humanities, we should be immensely proud to have him representing the CACSSS research community at such a prestigious event. His exploration of the place of natural history in British and Irish literature between 1870 and 1930 will contribute to a growing track record of excellence in environmental humanities at UCC

Dr Hewitt joined the School of English and Digital Humanities in CACSSS in October 2019 as an IRC funded postdoctoral fellow. Previous to this he was a Leverhulme Fellow in Trinity College Dublin having been awarded a Phd in Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool in 2017.  He has completed a monograph, J.M. Synge: Nature, Politics, Modernism (forthcoming from Oxford University Press) and his debut collection of poetry, Tongues of Fire, will be published by Jonathan Cape in 2020.

A profile of Dr Hewitt and all postdoctoral researchers in the College can be viewed on the College Research website.

The Photograph above shows From left to right: President Michael D. Higgins, Prof Jane Ohlmeyer Chair Irish Research Council & Dr Sean Hewitt, School of English and Digital Humanities CACSSS at the IRC Researcher of the Year Award ceremony in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin 4^th December 2019.