This May 8th and 9th, the Sociological Association of Ireland Conference is being hosted by the Department of Sociology and Criminology at UCC. While we are running without a theme this year, we expect that discussion and debate at the conference will turn to pressing contemporary issues and challenges. 

How do sociologists make sense of these times? How does the contemporary climate shape the research that we do? Sociology is a means of clarification, mobilisation and change that addresses these times, and we hope to hear your contribution.

The conference will offer a welcoming and convivial space for the broad sociological community to assemble, discuss and problem-solve. We hope to see you there.

Conference Organising Committee

SAI Conference Officer: Adepeju Olaide Oti

UCC Local Organising Committee: John O’Brien, Brenda Mondragon Toledo, Julius Cezar Macarie, Myles Balfe, Des Fitzgerald, Tanya Watson, Amin Sharifi Isaloo, Billy Goodwin

This information and more can be found at https://sociology.ie/event/2025-annual-conference/ 

The one day interdisciplinary Symposium took place on April 1st 2025 in the CACSSS Seminar room, ORB.

Dr Con Wright from TED University, Turkey will give a talk entitled:

Families in Later Life: Intergenerational Family Ties and Exchanges of Support in Turkish and American Families

Time and location: Askive, G01, Tuesday 11th March, 12:00-13:00

Department graduates are current editors of the journal which was recently accepted by SCOPUS

The Women of the Borderlands research team would like to extend a warm invitation to the public to attend the project's official launch and presentation on February 19th, 2025, at 12 p.m. in the Pinewood Suite at the Carrickdale Hotel, Dundalk.

On February 19th, we invite you to join us as we formally unveil the Women of the Borderlands project to the public. Our team will speak about the project and its main findings and recommendations alongside a panel of speakers from partner organisations the Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network and Women’s Development and Resource Agency.

Please RSVP before February 12th: https://lnkd.in/gAvGfPfD

Please feel free to share the invitation with other interested persons or organisations.

Refreshments will be served.

Congratulations to Dr Mastoureh Fathi for organising this exciting symposium, and Department of Sociology & Criminology, UCC, and The Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century, UCC, for supporting it:

Belonging and Narrative Symposium,

Sept 20, 13.00-16.00 

ORB G027

Belonging & Narrative Symposium Programme

Congratulations to Professor Maggie O'Neill on being elected to the Royal Irish Academy (RIA), the highest academic honour in Ireland! All of us in the Department of Sociology & Criminology, UCC, are very proud of Maggie's success. This wonderful recognition comes a few months after the great news that Maggie is now the Director of UCC Futures - Collective Social Futures and incoming Director of ISS21 in July - The Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century.

Congratulations to Professor Louise Ryan, our Visiting Professor, who leads this special editon of Discover Society and Professor Maggie O'Neill who has an article in it - Migration & Hostile Environments, New Series, Volume 3, Issue 2, 3 April 2023.

This issue of Discover Society brings together discussions of groups who are often considered separately, in order to explore how anti-immigration policies and discourses operate across and within national and ethnic groups.  The authors are all leading researchers and thinkers in their field and use empirical evidence to bring novel insights into this timely and highly topical social issue.

Congratulations to Professor Maggie O'Neill, Department of Sociology & Criminology who is one of the 2023 Traveller Ally Award winners!

To mark Traveller Ethnicity Day, @corktravellerw1 & @tvgcorkclg  announced the winners of their annual Traveller Ally Awards recognising Cork based organisations & champions who have created welcoming spaces for Travellers & supported Traveller rights and culture.

The Department of Sociology & Criminology and Women's Studies, University College Cork are delighted to celebrate International Women's Day wth a book launch of a new book by Dr Red Washburn IRISH WOMEN’S PRISON WRITING. MOTHER IRELAND’S REBELS 1960s-2010s

The Graduate School 2023 Postgraduate blended Conference takes place on February 22nd and 23rd, papers presented online on the 22nd and in person on the 23rd of February.

We are delighted that PhD candidates from the Department of Sociology and Criminology will be presenting papers at both sessions.

Joanna Sarah Moore (Sociology), Doris Murphy (Sociology & Women’s Studies), Emily Phelan (Criminology), Pooja Priya (Sociology), Michael Rose (Sociology & Criminology), and Karla Santos Zambrano (Sociology & Criminology).

Dr Mastoureh Fathi, (Post Graduate Director, Department of Sociology and Criminology) will chair Panel Nine on February 23rd: Identities and Iterations of Exile, Displacement and Otherness

Some of our Academic staff were celebrating at the recent Celebrating Scholarship Ceremony as well as the celebrations for our 7 amazing undergraduate award winners!

The Department of Sociology & Criminology’s Celebrating Scholarship Ceremony 2022 took place in Askive on Wednesday, 30 November. We are very proud of the wonderful achievements of our students. Prizes were awarded because of outstanding academic performance in the previous academic year, 2021-2022. 

 Celebrating Scholarship Ceremony Programme

We’re delighted to announce the 2023 Economy & Society Summer School: April 11-14 in Dingle. A fully residential doctoral summer school with a wide-ranging line-up of international and Irish speakers – for details see: 

https://economyandsocietysummerschool.org/conference-2023/ 

Three members of the Sociology and Criminology Department, Drs Katharina Swirak, Theresa O'Keefe and James Cuffe, have successfully secured research funding of over 700,000 Euro for three innovative research projects!

This work is positioning the department as a leader in cutting-edge social scientific research both nationally and internationally.

Presented by the Department of Sociology and Criminology, UCC

October 12th at 5pm, Boole 1

Congratulations to Graham, Orla and James on the publication of this excellent book, The Desistance Journey: Into Recovery and Out of Chaos, which examines desistance from offending amongst men in County Cork.

It examines the bigger picture of desistance, namely how offending and recovery from addiction are inseparable processes. It draws on in-depth interviews with 40 men  who had engaged with the criminal justice system, from the hardships they endured as children through their recollection of their reckless teenage years into active addiction and their often numerous attempts at recovery and eventually, for most, full recovery. 

Professor Maggie O'Neill was co-director of The European Sociological Association Summer School 2022, titled 'Sociology Matters: Theory, Methods and Practices’, September 5-6 which was held in the marvellous UNESCO world heritage city of Dubrovnik on the Adriatic coast in the very south of Croatia, a city with rich history and cultural traditions, but also where contemporary trends are present. It was a perfect place to gather 24 PhD students from 17 countries across Europe. The event was conducted in a hybrid mode as 4 participants joined online, whereas 20 students were present in person at the Inter-University Centre in Dubrovnik. During a highly dense working two days schedule, the participants attended lectures by the Summer School instructors, the President of the ESA, Lígia Ferro (Portugal), the Chair of the Postgraduate Committee, the local organiser and Summer School Director, Krešimir Žažar (Croatia), and the members of the ESA Postgraduate Committee Ana-Cristina Santos (Portugal, Summer School Co-Director), Maggie O’Neill (Ireland, Summer School Co-Director), Ana Vidu (Spain/USA) and Nilay Kaya (Turkey).

Congratulations to our MA students Johanna Kirsch and Pamela Barrett on the publication of their articles in CULTIVATE The Feminist Journal of the Centre for Women's Studies, 4, September 2022!

Irish Network for Middle Eastern and North African Studies (INMENAS) and The Department of Sociology and Criminology University College Cork Presents:

We are very proud of our colleague, Dr. Ger Mullally, who won two awards last night, bringing to a total of four awards he received recently!

• Dingle Peninsula 2030 won the Engaged Research of the Year 2021 led by Prof. Brian Ó Gallachóir. Dr Ger Mullally, Dr Clare Watson and Dr Evan Boyle were part of the team from our Department.

• Imagining 2050 won the Presidents' Award for Research Impacting the Sustainable Development Goals 2021 led by Dr Ger Mullally.  Dr Evan Boyle was part of the team here as well.

• The other awards Ger received recently were the President's Award for Teaching Excellence 2020/2021 for the University Wide Module: Sustainability Teaching Team and Cork Environment Forum Lifetime Achievement Award 2021

The Department of Sociology & Criminology invites Postgraduate Students to come and take part in an Autobiography Workshop with Dr Jackie Goode, author of ''Clever Girls''

Location :   CACSSS seminar room, G27, O’Rahilly Building from 2-4pm Thursday May 26^th 2022 .

Places are Limited,  Please RSVP to gosulliva​n@ucc.ie  for this in-person Workshop .

The Department of Sociology and Criminology

In association with the Society, Economy and Culture Research Centre presents:

The launch of Criminal Women: Gender Matters with a seminar on 25^th May 2022. 2-4pm at the CACSSS Seminar Room (G27), O’ Rahilly Building, UCC.

UCC Department of Sociology and Criminology
together with Cork Alliance Centre
warmly welcome you to
Dr David Honeywell (Arden University, UK)

Life after prison: liminality, identity and who gets to decide how 'moving on' looks like

Public seminar followed by discussion, informal networking and light refreshments 

When: Thursday, 2nd of June, 16:00-17:30

Where: University College Cork, Student Hub 4^th Floor Dr. Dora Allman Room 

Please RSVP by Monday,30th of May 2022 to gemmamccarthy@ucc.ie

The Department of Sociology and Criminology Seminar Series presents:

a seminar with Professor Gary Craig entitled:

The Racist Tail Wags the Welfare Dog

We are delighted to welcome Diana Stypinska, NUIG as a guest lecturer to our Department Wednesday April 6 2022 5-6.30  (ORB 255 - seminar room).

The projects are 'TOGETHER - collaborating across prison walks and borders' and 'Women of the Borderlands: A Walking Biographical Study of Women's Everyday Life on the UK/Irish Border'

Convenors: Dr Tracey Skillington (Department of Sociology and Criminology, UCC) and Dr Annalisa Setti (Applied Psychology, UCC).

Funded by the EPA and Supported by UCC

This webinar, in association with Department of Sociology & Criminology UCC  and Fáilte Refugees Society, is on 5pm Tuesday 8 March 2022 on Zoom.

A discussion with:

Dr Naomi Masheti, director of Cork Migrant Centre

Amano Miura, Chair of UCC Fáilte Refugees Society

Dr Amin Sharifi Isaloo, UCC Lecturer in Sociology and Refugee

Fidaa Marouf, UCC Student and Refugee.

Department of Sociology & Criminology

Researching the Radical Right online: Stormfront and the Women's Forum

 Lorraine Bowman Grieve (Waterford Institute of Technology)

28 February 2022: Askive 01.

This seminar presents an overview of two research projects undertaken to gain a greater understanding of the Radical Right online, with a specific focus, in both projects, on the discourses created and constructed within the virtual community of Stormfront. 

This new project aims to forge greater links between academia, advocacy, and activism by focussing on the needs and voices of young people. Using participatory action research through the medium of theatre (Prof. Jools Gilson) and walking methods (Prof.Maggie O’Neill) the project explores the ways in which young people negotiate their experiences in Direct Provision while constructing and creating a sense of belonging to their communities. Congratulations and best wishes to all involved!

https://www.ucc.ie/en/cacsss/research/spotlight/participatoryartsforadvocacyactivismandtransformationaljusticewithyoungpeoplelivingindirectprovision/

We are delighted to announce two new awards from the Irish Research Council:

Participatory arts for advocacy, activism and transformational justice with young people living in Direct Provision

Clean Slate- Understanding the lived experiences of persons with criminal convictions of the harms resulting from barriers to employment, training, and education and how legislation, policy and practices can minimise these barriers

Congratulations to Professor Maggie O'Neill and Dr Katharina Swirak from all your colleagues! 

Congratulations to Elizabeth Kiely, Department of Applied Social Studies, UCC, and Katharina Swirak, Department of Sociology & Criminology, UCC, on the publication of their recent book!

The Criminalisation of Social Policy in Neoliberal Societies, published this month by Bristol University, is concerned with how diverse fields of social policy intersect with crime control in ways that they did in the past but also in new ways, which deploy very troubling strategies.

Congratulations to Arpad Szakolczai, our Emeritus Professor of Sociology on the publication of his latest book from all your colleagues!

This timely book will appeal to scholars of social theory, anthropology and sociology with interests in political thought and contemporary culture. It is widely asserted that we are now living in a post-truth society. What that means, this book argues, is that the contemporary global world is thoroughly infested not only with trickster figures but an entire and operational trickster logic; or, that we now live in a Trickster Land – an argument advanced by the claim that in modernity liminality has become permanent; or that modern life is patently absurd.

Professor Maggie O'Neill led a walk and talk tour in Cork city on 'Walking as Critical Pedagogy: A feminist walk in Cork' on Friday 12 November 2021 2-4pm 

The thematic focus: celebrating the contribution of women to art, culture and the city; exploring the role of women in addressing sexual and social inequalities, and building fairer, safer communities

Video

The walk was created in discussion with MA Women's Studies, Sociology & Criminology students, Dr Naomi Masheti and Dr Amin Sharifi Isaloo. 

Congratulations to Finch McKee and Rebeckah McCarthy, pictured here with Professor Maggie O'Neill and Professor Kieran Keohane, at the recent Conferring Ceremonies at UCC.

Finch received two awards, Outstanding Sociology Student of the Year 2021 and was a Joint Recipient of the Active Citizenship Award in the Graduating Sociology Class of 2021.

Rebeckah was a Joint Recipient of the Active Citizenship Award in the Graduating Sociology Class of 2021.

Congratulations to Callum McGuire and Edith Busteed, pictured here with Professor Maggie O'Neill, Kevin Hosford, Dr Katharina Swirak and Dr Kevin Sweeney at the recent Conferrings Ceremonies at UCC.

Callum received two awards, Best Final Year Criminology Dissertation 2021 and Outstanding Criminology Student of the Year 2021. The title of his dissertation is ‘Fatal Resistance: Exploring Male Inmate Suicide as “Resistant Deathwork”’ and Professor Maggie O'Neill was his supervisor.

 Edith received the Best Final Year Sociology Dissertation 2021. The title of her dissertation is 'The impact gender has on environmental attitudes and behaviour' and Dr. Ger Mullally was her supervisor.

The Walking Publics/Walking Arts research project (Dee Hedden and Harry Wilson, University of Glasgow, Maggie O'Neill University College Cork, Morag Rose University of Liverpool and Clare Qualman University of East London)  launched the online gallery of walking artworks made during COVID-19, with guest speaker Stephanie Springgay, McMaster University, Canada.

Congratulations Maggie and all associated with the project!

On November 5^th, our colleague Dr. Tracey Skillington will participate in a UNFCC COP26 side-event in Glasgow, co-hosted by the University of Cambridge and Strathclyde University, as an invited speaker.

Dr. Skillington will participate in the expert panel ‘Rising Temperatures, Expanding Human Rights and the Obligations of States and Private Actors for Global Climate Justice’ on the day along with fellow speakers Rt Hon Lord Robert Carnwath (former UK Supreme Court Justice / Hon Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge / Hon Professor, UCL), Dr Kim Bouwer (Durham Law School); Dr Joana Setzer (Grantham Research Institute GRI, LSE); Adv Lucy Maxwell & Adv Sarah Mead (Legal Counsels, Urgenda Foundation). 

Congratulations to Dr Kevin Sweeney and Kevin Hosford on the publication of chapters in the timely book - Cybercrime in Action: An International Approach to Cybercrime - from all your colleagues!

Kevin Sweeney's chapter is entitled 'Policing Cyberspace' and Kevin Hosford's chapter is 'Hacker Generations, Subcultures & Hat Colours. A More Practical Approach to Classification'.

Congratulations to Professor Maggie O'Neill who gave the Keynote at this fascinating conference recently from all your colleagues!

In turbulent geo-political, social and technological times attention to the role of im|mobilities is important. This is both true in relation to mobilities as a diverse area of academic enquiry, but also in terms of what it means to make art related to mobilities and movement. The exhibition includes many different approaches to the arts in mobilities research, including art as research method, art and illustration as methods of understanding research and communicating outcomes, and practice led research by artists. It is often in the combination of these approaches that we find new understandings and insights into the turbulent and problematic circumstances that lead to or are caused by im|mobilities.

This is a very interesting article just published -  paper presents sociological and anthropological theories to examine the linkages between conflict and development, particularly the world power structures and interests which contribute to the continuation of violence within and between countries. Concentrating on the international relations, the purpose of this paper is to advance an understanding of global development in phases of conflicts and to discuss how conflicts affect development. In other words, a particular focus on the international tension is taken to illustrate destabilisation of global development by powerful states which leads the world into an uncertain future. Congratulations Amin from all your colleagues!

Many congratulations to Dr. Tom Boland (UCC) and Dr. Ray Griffin (WIT) on the publication of their latest book 'The Reform of Welfare'. Drawing on ideas from economic theology, this provocative book uncovers deep-rooted religious concepts and shows how they continue to influence contemporary views of work and unemployment: Jobcentres resemble purgatory where the unemployed attempt to redeem themselves, jobseeking is a form of pilgrimage in hope of salvation, and the economy appears as providence, whereby trials and tribulations test each individual. This book will be essential reading for those interested in the sociology and anthropology of modern economic life.

Congratulations to Dr. Tom Boland on the recent publication of his article on contemporary welfare processes!

Dr. Tom Boland, UCC and Dr. Ray Griffin, WIT have written a timely article for the Sociological Review about Jobseeking.

Congratulations to Brenda Mondragon and Theresa O'Keefe on the publication of the article  'Cultural appropriation in fashion: Critiquing the dispossession of Mayan Culture in Guatemala' in the International Journal of Fashion Studies in April 2021 - Volume 8, Number 1, April 2021, pp. 131-138(8)

Congratulations to our colleague, Dr. Kevin Sweeney on the publication of his latest article 'Understanding emotion as a strategy in policing' in The Police Journal: Theory, Practice & Principles

Brenda Mondragon Toledo and Doris Murphy, postgraduates from our Department, are among those organising this conference to be held on May 19-20, 2-4.30pm. Congratulations and best wishes from all of us!

Many congratulations to Dr. Ger Mullally from all your colleagues!

The Deliberative Futures Toolkit Launch held on 21st April 2021 was a well-attended and very interesting event. The Guest Speaker was Dr. Oliver Escobar with Imagining2050 team co-chaired by Dr. Ger Mullally and Dr. Clodagh Harris.

"As we emerge from the pandemic, we need to recover from it. Given the multiple potential benefits of walking, including enjoyment and pleasure, we think that anything that supports more people, and more diverse people, to walk and keep walking, will be vital. Walking is not just something you do on foot. Those using wheelchairs and other mobility aids go for walks and we want to hear about their experiences over the last year too" said Professor Maggie O'Neill, Head of Department of Sociology & Criminology, UCC. about the launch of this timely project.

Walking Publics/Walking Arts: walking, wellbeing and community during COVID-19 is a new research project which will also look at the role of creativity – or creative walking - in those experiences. The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of the UK Research and Innovation rapid response to COVID-19.

Professor Deirdre Heddon, University of Glasgow, is leading the walking project in collaboration with academics from University College Cork, University of Liverpool and the University of East London.  

Congratulations to James Windle and Paul Murphy on the publication of their article in the journal 'Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy.

Congratulations to Dr. Amin Sharifi Isaloo (Liminality and Modern Racism) and Dr. Egle Gusciute (Míle fáilte? Discrimination in the Irish rental housing market towards Black applicants) on the publication of both articles recently.

Egle Gusciute, Peter Muhlau and Richard Layte, have an interesting article published in the Ethnic and Racial Studies. It's an article on anti-immigration sentiment in Ireland. Congratulations Egle from all your colleagues!

Dr Amin Sharifi Isaloo has sent a video of his talk on discrimination to EDI for the Equality week. It will be on the UCC EDI website during Equality week. It will be one of the Podcasts

Podcasts:
Dr Amin Sharifi Isaloo speaks on discrimination
Dr Caroline Schroeter reflects on Douglasss Week 2021

At the book launch of 'Direct Provision: Asylum, The Academy and Activism' on 25 February 2021, Dr. Amin Sharifi Isaloo read an extract from his article in the book. Congratulations Amin from all your colleagues.

Congratulations to Dr. Amin Sharifi Isaloo on being awarded a PG Diploma in Teaching & Learning (CIRTL) recently! The ceremony was online for the first time this year and Amin remembers attending the ceremony for the PG Certificate in Teaching & Learning in the Aula Maxima last year, live and face-to-face.

We are delighted to announce that our Professor, Maggie O'Neill, has been conferred as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences!

Professor Roger Goodman FAcSS, President, Academy of Social Sciences, says that Fellows are selected for the excellence of their research, impact, leadership,and the practical application of social science to real world problems. Professor Maggie O'Neill certainly meets this criteria. Congratulations from all your colleagues!

Congratulations to Dr Egle Gusciute, who along with Professor Peter Mulhau and Professor Richard Layte has a very interesting paper in International Migration. Using the 7th round of the European Social Survey and linking it to other data sources, this paper examines whether threat hypotheses can explain anti‐Muslim sentiment in Europe. The study finds that opposition to Muslims is significantly higher than opposition to migrants in general, particularly in Eastern and Central Europe. The threat hypothesis is not supported on a country level as counties with higher “stock” of Muslim population and higher number of Islamic terrorist attacks are more welcoming towards further Muslim immigration. Furthermore, the study finds that women are more opposed to Muslim immigration than men. The wider implications of these findings and alternative explanations are discussed.

Congratulations to Dr. Theresa O'Keefe on the publication of an excellent article 'Bridge-builder feminism: the feminist movement and conflict in Northern Ireland' in the journal Irish Political Studies, Feb 2021.

It's part of a special edition to mark the retirement of Professor Jennifer Todd from UCD.

A timely essay from Professor Kieran Keohane in Constellations, December 2020 articulates two general theoretical paradigms to help us account for both the bad (violent) and good (collaborative) manifestations of the current Covid‐19 pandemic crisis by drawing on theories of René Girard and Marcel Mauss.

Exciting news from Dr Tom Boland and all at the Economy & Society Research Centre that this year's Summer School will be a virtual Lecture Series with the first lecture on 23rd February called 'Ideas lying around'.

Journal of Political Power, October 2020, contains an interesting paper by Professor Kieran Keohane which looks to attune to the musical theme in Hartmut Rosa’s Resonance, not in the sense of singing from the same sheet but in a spirit of jamming and improvising, developing a fugue.

Congratulations to Dr Tom Boland who will be guest speaker with Laurent Thevenot at a 3 day symposium organised by Roskilde University. The course will be online via electronically supported formats.

The focus of this excellent Ph.D. course is set on how we can analyse and understand how actors live with, shape, and sometimes question and fight modern forms of power and government. Current challenges in welfare societies, such as developments of rising inequality in wealth and health, technological trends of artificial intelligence and automation, health, climate and biodiversity crises as well as the challenge to democracies that form populist and authoritarian currents, re-actualize the old but still highly relevant and interrelated questions of what is, and ought to be, critical research and what is the role and forms of critique in contemporary societies.

 Professor Louise Ryan, Director of the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre, London Metropolitan University. and our Visiting Professor will chair the next webinar fromThe Global Diversities & Inequalities Research Centre.

The title is 'Exclusion & belonging in super-diverse contexts'. The Speakers are Dr Julius Elster, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Professions, London Metropolitan University and Professor Susanne Wessendorf is a Professor of Social Anthropology at Coventry University’s Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (UK).

Congratulations to Professor Arpad Szakolczai who retired at the end of January.

Frontiers in Time Research edited by Professor Elisabeth Schilling University of Police and Public Administration of North Rhine-Westphalia in Bielefeld and Professor Maggie O'Neill University College Cork is now available in paperback.

Professor Maggie O'Neill (UCC) with Dr Sharron Fitzgerald (University of Munich) and Dr Gillian Wylie (Trinity College Dublin) edit a special thematic issue in the current Irish  Journal of Sociology - 'Advancing Social Justice for Sex Workers'

Congratulations to our colleagues Dr Orla Lynch, Yasmine Ahmed, Helen Russell and Kevin Hosford on the publication of their edited book Conversations with Criminologists which is published by Palgrave. 

The book examines how Criminology has developed as a discrete subject area in the Irish context, with unique insights for an international audience Explores the future trajectories of Criminology It also looks at how Criminology intersects with policy and practice.

One of the conversations is with Professor Maggie O'Neill, Head of Department, Department of Sociology & Criminology, UCC.

Professor Maggie O'Neill spoke alongside Dr Erin Sanders McDonagh at the Between the Edges and Margins Seminar Series 21st January on Exploring Sensory Methodologies. This was very interesting and brought many questions from an attentive audience.

Congratulations to Brenda Mondragón Toledo on the publication of her article on Life of a Mexican Student in Ireland

Brenda is from Puebla City and moved to Cork in 2017. She studied a Masters in Sociology of Globalisation and Development at UCC for which she was awarded the Government of Ireland International Scholarship. Afterwards, she loved Ireland so much that she decided to stay and she is currently doing a PhD at UCC in the Department of Sociology & Criminology, and the Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies Department.

Brenda's Master's research was on the problematization of collective intellectual property of indigenous textiles in Guatemala and her current research is a comparative study between Mexico and Ireland in terms of gender violence, using textiles through Participatory Arts Research.

On December 10^th our colleague, Dr. Tracey Skillington, participated as a panelist in a lively debate on the intergenerational divide at the British Library in London, in collaboration with the Alan Turing Institute. Chair of the event was Timandra Harkness of BBC4 Radio.

The debate was recorded and will be made available later for public listening.   

Congratulations to Dr. Egle Gusciute, Dr. Peter Muhlau and Professor Richard Layte on the publication of the paper 'Discrimination in the rental housing market: a field experiment in Ireland'.

This investigation was carried out by Maria Delaney of Noteworthy. She interviewed Dr Theresa O'Keefe on her research, carried out with Dr Aline Courtois, on gender and precarity in employment. Their research is discussed in these three readings. 

We are delighted to announce our next webinar 'Migration, Race and Ethnicity' on 24 November 2020 1 - 2.30pm

 Register here for the webinar

Congratulations to Dr. Amin Sharifi Shaloo who will present his paper on Power, liminality and development in the Middle East, at the InMenas (The Irish network for Middle Eastern and North Africa Studies) conference this November.

Amin, who is one of the organisers of this conference, will also chair a panel.

Dr. Amin Sharifi Isaloo has been invited by The CARe project (Career Advancement for Refugee Researchers in Europe), hosted by ACA and DAAD, to give a talk on 'Succeeding as a Researcher in Ireland' on Tuesday November 17th, 11am.

Congratulations Amin from all your colleagues!

We are delighted to announce that Professor Louise Ryan is Visiting Research Professor with us this academic year. She is the Centre Director of the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre, and is Senior Professor in the School of Social Professions at London Metropolitan University.

We are delighted to announce that Professor David Wall is a visiting Professor with us for the academic year.  David is Professor of Criminology at the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies in the School of Law, University of Leeds.

Following on from the London Met GDIR Centre launch on 22 September 2020, their first seminar event, Thinking and practice on violence against women in the Global South, will take place on 28 October at 2-4pm. 

Prof. Liz Kelly (Director of the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit at London Met) will review how the Latin American feminists use the framework of human rights to address violence against women; and  Dr María E. López (Deputy Director of the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre, London Metropolitan University) will present her research work on the crimes against women at the Mexican border. 

Following from our successful Seminar Series last College Year, we are delighted to be collaborating with UCC Criminology Society @UCCCrimSoc for the first in our WEBINAR Series on 8th October 2020. 12.00-1.00pm with Prof Ursula Kilkelly (School of Law UCC) who is Chair of the Board of Management of Oberstown.

Respondents: Dr Egle Gusciute and Dr Katharina Swirak (Department of Sociology & Criminology, UCC)

Chaired by Callum Francis McGuire (UCC Crim Soc) and Prof. Maggie O’Neill (Head of Department of Sociology & Criminology, UCC)

Organising Team: Dr Amin Sharifi Isaloo, Callum Francis McGuire and Kevin Hosford.

View webinar here

Congratulations to Professor Maggie O'Neill, who with Dr. Alison Jobe has a chapter in the fifth edition of this best-selling textbook that provides a comprehensive overview of key issues and debates in gender and feminist theory. 

'introducing gender and women's studies' by Diane Richardson and Victoria Robinson is just published and Maggie and Alison's chapter is 'Gender and Migration'. 

Congratulations to Maggie for chairing this timely and informative webinar with excellent speakers Kayleigh Garthwaite, Tracey Herrington, Shahid Islam, Ruth Patrick and Maddy Power on researching poverty in the  pandemic. 

Click to connect to the webinar: youtu.be/GmAQgtJBJ_A

 Professor Maggie O'Neill is an advisor to the Covid Realities Project.

Covid Realities is a research project looking into the experiences of parents and carers on low incomes during the pandemic. 

The disruption caused by Covid-19 means Ireland is likely to enter a severe economic recession. A relatively small body of international research shows that drug consumption and dealing have previously increased during recessions and economic downturns, although there are important variations across national and local markets. 

An article by Dr James Windle, a lecturer in Criminology and Director of the BA Criminology Degree at UCC; Dr Sinéad Drew, a Senior Clinical Psychologist at CAMHS (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service) at the HSE and James Leonard, a Youth Support Officer with the Cork Education and Training Board and a Masters in Criminology at UCC, has been published by RTE Brainstorm.

Congratulations to Professor Maggie O'Neill (University College Cork, Ireland), Ruth Penfold-Mounce
(University of York, UK), David Honeywell (University of Hull, UK; The University of Manchester, UK), Matt Coward-Gibbs (University of York, UK), Harriet Crowder (University of York, UK), Ivan Hill (Independent Scholar, UK) on this interesting and informative paper. It is built upon research that combines walking as a research method alongside participatory and biographical research to teach criminology and generate criminological knowledge and understanding in sensory and corporeal ways. They argue for a mobile criminology
that attends to space, place, and time to analyse theories and concepts in criminology, as well
as to undertake and apply research.

Congratulations and best wishes to Dr. Orla Lynch from all her colleagues at the Department of Sociology & Criminology, UCC! This award is under the H2020 SC6 Governance for the Future call (RIA action) and Dr. Orla Lynch has been awarded 249,000 euros funding for her role in this project.  

The project is called PARTICIPATION and is a consortium of 9 European Partners.

Congratulations to James Windle and James Leonard on the publication of this paper that explores how people who formerly used drugs problematically view Irish drug policy and alternative policies.

Congratulations Egle on your recent article!

In this article, Egle looks at how the measures taken to protect those deemed vulnerable have not been extended to include some 7700 international protection applicants living in Direct Provision centres. She reflects on how asylum seekers, one of the most vulnerable groups in Irish society, have been left behind during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Congratulations to Theresa and Katharina on the publication of this article!

Critical Sociology and Criminology highlight the importance of asking questions about the nature of policing, its purpose, and its relationship to power and conceptions of justice. Michel Foucault’s work on the origins of the modern prison institution in 18th century France provides a good foundation for thinking critically about what we often leave unquestioned.

Congratulations to Dr. Theresa O'Keefe and Dr. Aline Courtois! 

As long-term precarious workers, they founded Third Level Workplace Watch in 2013, a collective of precarious academics who came together to resist casualisation in Irish higher education institutions. Their joint publications on academic precarity can be read here (open access) and here (paywalled). 

Great event on Monday 6th July 2020, 2-4.30pm.

Dr. Kieran Keohane from our Department is among those speaking about 'Re-Imagining Political Economy'

Congratulations to the Sociological Association of Ireland's President, Dr. John O'Brien, on the publication of the first issue of the Sociological Observer. This issue - titled 'Covid-19 Pandemic: Sociological Reflections' has sections called Risk and Trust, Inequalities, Health Policy and Expertise, Social Practice. 

Dr. Kieran Keohane, Conor Cashman and Melissa Meyer from our Department, have articles in this issue.

Congratulations to Ian Hughes and Kieran Keohane on this timely article about Covid-19 and society!

This stimulating and thought-provoking article brings together René Girard's "scapegoating" and "gift exchange" of  Marcel Mauss to view our present society. "COVID-19 is a crisis in the original medical sense of the word, for ‘crisis’ means a turning point in an illness: either things get worse and the patient dies - with society deteriorating further towards authoritarian neoliberalism - or they get better and the ‘patient’ lives by rallying around a renewed social solidarity."

Congratulations to our colleague, Dr. Theresa O'Keefe, who organised this very successful event as part of UCC EQUALITY WEEK

Professor Arpad Szakolczai has written a series of articles that reflect on the world in Covid_19.

 https://voegelinview.com/the-end-of-kantianism-the-current-pandemic-madness-part-one/

https://voegelinview.com/the-end-of-kantianism-the-tricks-of-economic-theory-part-two/

https://voegelinview.com/the-end-of-kantianism-the-tricks-of-economic-theory-corruption-creative-destruction-and-existential-corruptness-part-iii/

https://voegelinview.com/the-end-of-kantianism-fairground-economy-police-states-and-the-permanent-apocalyptic-sacrificial-carnival/

Prof. Jan Haaken presented an advance screening of her latest film, Necessity: Oil, Water & Climate Resistance. It was shown on Wednesday 11 March 2020 at 6pm in the lecture theatre at St. John’s Central College, Cork. 

There was a Q&A session afterwards with Prof. Jan Haaken, Dr. Tracey Skillington, and Dr. Paul Bolger. Dr. Skillington, the author of Climate Justice & Human Rights and Climate Change and Intergenerational Justice, is a lecturer at Department of Sociology & Criminology, UCC. Dr. Bolger is manager of Environmental Research Institute at University College Cork.

This event was collaboration between Women Producing Media; Department of Sociology & Criminology, UCC; Environment Research Institute UCC, and St. John’s Central College, Cork.

Call for Papers.  Submission deadline: March 20th 2020

The ninth international conference on The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilizations again explores the nature of contemporary malaises, diseases, illnesses and syndromes in their relation to cultural pathologies of the social. This time, however we are focusing explicitly on counter developments to these pathologies and their ambivalences.

Keynote speakers: Beverley Skeggs (Lancaster University), Céline Cantat (Central European University), Máté Zombory (Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Arpad Szakolczai (University College Cork)

As previously, we welcome contributions from various disciplines attempting to answer these questions

Congratulations to Agnes Horvath, Arpad Szakolczai, and Manussos Marangudakis on the publication of their edited book: Modern Leaders: In between charisma and trickery.

This is a timely book that considers the current striking rise of ‘outsider’ political leaders, catapulted, apparently, from nowhere, to take charge of a nation. It offers studies of contemporary political figures from the world stage - including Presidents Macron, Tsipras and Bolsonaro, among others - to examine the ways in which charismatic and trickster modalities can become intertwined, especially under the impact of theatrical public media.

Congratulations to Dr. Kieran Keohane, whose article "Modern culture and well being: how we may treat the social pathologies of contemporary civilisation" was recently published in Modern Culture and Well-Being: Towards A Sustainable Future compiled and edited by Dr Catherine Conlon.

Professor Maggie O'Neill, Professor Arpad Szakolczai, Dr. Ger Mullally and some Postgraduates from our Department, in collaboration with the Dingle Creativity and Innovation Hub https://dinglehub.com are hosting a walking symposium 6th and 7th March in Dingle! 

2020.02.28PM Dingle Hub weekend

Women's Studies and Department of Sociology & Criminology are delighted to invite you to a screening of the award-winning film 'OUR BODIES OUR DOCTORS' followed by a panel discussion with the director, Professor Janice Haaken,  Emily Waszak (Migrants & Ethnic-minorities for Reproductive Justice, MERJ) and Dr. Joan McCarthy (Healthcare Ethics, School of Nursing & Midwifery UCC) in honour of International Women's Day 2020.

Thursday March 5th 2020

5 - 7 pm

Geography Lecture Theatre (C_GG_LT), Donovan's Road, UCC.

(Please join us for refreshments afterwards)

Political Alchemy - Creative Destruction is the title of International Political Anthropology Summer School 2020. This is the 11th year of this successful Summer School which is held in Italy for one week in June.

 Congratulations Shane! Final Year Undergraduate 2018-2019, Shane Moriarty, Regional Winner for his essay for the Island of Ireland in the category of Social Science: Sociology and Social Policy! Shane contacted his supervisor, Dr. Amin Sharifi Isaloo, to thank him and all lecturers in Department of Sociiology And Criminology.

Read his story below:

Professor Arpad Szakolczai, Department of Sociology and Criminology, UCC, had a rapt audience for his seminar on Tuesday 28th January.

The event runs from the 11-15th of May at picturesque Blackwater Castle, Co.Cork, Ireland. The Economy + Society Summer School is a week-long residential symposium, oriented to doctoral candidates in disciplines ranging from sociology and economics to anthropology, philosophy, aesthetics and business subjects.

In the context of an ageing society, there is increasing attention on how people navigate and make sense of particular places through the ageing process.

Congratulations Tracey! We are delighted to announce that our colleague, Dr. Tracey Skillington, will lead UCC Research for the Horizon 2020 project JUSTNORTH. This is an exciting 15 partner project focused on developing a new evaluation framework to assess how principles of democratic justice for the Arctic region are best combined with those of sustainable development.

We were treated to a very interesting seminar from Tom as he joins us here in UCC!

Dr. Annie Cummins presented a paper that draws on findings from her ethnographic study of children's experience of play in after-school settings in Ireland.

ACE Sanctuary Scholars Welcome Day was held on 19th November 2019 in Aula Maxima, UCC. Dr. Amin Sharifi Isaloo @AminsharifiT from Department of Sociology and Criminology @UCCSOC, gave a fascinating presentation on his experience and journey as an asylum seeker to now being an academic.

It is with great pleasure that we congratulate Blazej and Richard, the latest new Doctors from the Department of Sociology and Criminology!

This was a key public event of UCC's Community week, Professor Maggie O'Neill was one of the panel who joined Jim Carroll of RTE Brainstorm hosted a public roundtable discussion onDepartment  inclusive communities.

We held the first of our seminars in the Department of Sociology and Criminology's new Seminar Series on Thursday, 10th October, 2019.

We were delighted to welcome Professor Phillip R.Dyer and Professor Susan Clutter and ten of their YSU Criminal Justice and Forensic Science students to UCC recently.

Best Final Year Project 2017-18.

‘Walking into the Void: A Historical Sociology and Political Anthropology of Walking’ by Agnes Horvath & Arpad Szakolczai

‘Power, Legitimacy and the Public Sphere: The Iranian Ta’ziyeh Theatre Ritual’ by Amin Sharifi Isaloo (PhD, UCC), part time lecturer and tutor in Sociology, UCC

‘Home The Foundations of Belonging’ by Paul O’Connor (PhD, UCC), in absentia, Assistant Professor, United Arab Emirates University

‘The Spectacle of Critique: From Philosophy to Cacophony’ by Tom Boland (PhD, UCC), Lecturer at Waterford Institute of Technology

Recovering a Sense of Coherence: Salutogenesis and Meaningfulness - November 2nd. & 3rd. at UCC.

Speakers include: Alan Blum, Sabine Flick, Ivan Perry, Chris Rojek and Arpad Szakolczai plus others.....

It is with great pleasure that we congratulate Trish McGrath on her recent graduation. Trish obtained her PhD from UCC recently.

The death has occurred of Professor Damian Hannan, who was the Professor of Social Theory and Institutions at UCC from 1971 - 1976.

Professor Maggie O'Neill and staff at the Department of Sociology & Criminology wish all our students  a Happy Christmas 2020!