School of English and Digital Humanities | Future Humanities Institute
University College Cork, Ireland
18-19 February 2026
As a convenient way to organise knowledge — to describe a historical period, to address questions of cultural style, to open up comparative debates — romanticism remains a useful term. But what does it mean to think about romanticism as useful? What kinds of knowledge, in which languages and from what places, does the term collect and organise?
What work does romanticism do in the present and can its critical utility outlast our growing understanding of its alliance with historical injustices? The symposium will consider the relevance of romanticism for a discussion of literature created in a range of British, Irish and imperial locations and consider the extent to which use itself is a concept that is imprinted by colonialism.
The poet and critic Maureen McLane will open events with a reading on the evening of the 18th February.
On the 19th February, papers will be presented by: Prof Mary-Ann Constantine (University of Wales Trinity St David), Dr Elisa Cozzi (University of Notre Dame), Prof Porscha Fermanis (University College Dublin), Prof Penny Fielding (University of Edinburgh), Prof Nigel Leask (Glasgow University), Prof Omar Miranda (University of San Francisco), Dr Jane Moore (Cardiff University), Prof Tina Morin (University of Limerick), Prof Tríona Ní Shíocháin (University of Galway), Dr Peadar Ó Muircheartaigh (University of Edinburgh), Prof Diego Saglia (Università degli studi di Parma), Dr Brandon Yen (Independent Scholar).
Responses from: James Chandler (University of Chicago), Clíona Ó Gallchoir, Pádraig Ó Macháin, Mary O’Connell (UCC).
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Claire Connolly