“Waking The Feminists,” which was held at the Lincoln Center campus on Feb. 28, followed similar events in Ireland protesting the decision of the Abbey Theatre—the country’s national theater company—to mark the centenary of Ireland’s independence with a program that included just one play written by a woman, and just three directed by a woman.

Keri Walsh, PhD, assistant professor of English, said the gathering was about signaling to Irish women in the arts that their voices are being heard in New York, and that their  campaign is sending a galvanizing message to theatre makers here. The day’s events consisted of scholar’s panel and a practitioners’ panel and were well timed, falling on the same night as the Oscars, she said.

“The problem is not just an Irish problem, but also an American one; not just a problem in theater, but also in film and television, and not just a problem for women, but also for people of color, working class people, and anyone who hasn’t been traditionally included in storytelling on all of our various kinds of stages,” she said.

The eight member practitioners’ panel included a paper by Lucy McDiarmid discussing the subtle ways that Lady Gregory, who co-founded the Abbey with William Butler Yeats, was and was not a feminist. It also included remarks by Elizabeth Brewer Redwine about the life and work of Sara Allgood, an actor whose success took her all the way to Hollywood in the 1930s.

Clair Wills, PhD, the Leonard L. Milberg Professor of Irish Letters at Princeton University, said that protests against the exclusion of women from Irish theater are depressingly familiar. Similar protests erupted as recently as the early 1990s, when the first three volumes of the Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing (W. W. Norton & Company, 1991) were released with little female representation.

“We need to reflect on the fact that this kind of feminist protest appears to have so little purchase that there is little memory of previous iterations. [That] is partly what allows the persistent ignorance of women’s work and women’s representations to continue,” she said. Wills said that when she helped edit follow-up volumes, she and her co-editors took on the task of rectifying the glaring errors.

The Feb. 28 event was sponsored by Fordham’s Institute of Irish Studies and supported by Mary Brautigam, TMC ‘74, and Richard Brautigam, FCRH ’73.

Richard Brautigam said the couple, both of whom are Irish citizens, hopes to bring to Fordham the sort of scholarship and open inquiry that can be found at NYU’s Irish House, where they are members. Brautigam noted that Fordham’s history is steeped in Irish history as its founder, Archbishop John Hughes, hailed from the Emerald Isle.

“He was the greatest defender if the Irish in New York, and it’s because of him that we’ve been able for the last 150 years to proudly raise our heads above the parapet,” he said.

Mary Brautigam likewise credited Fordham with helping her build a future in the United States. She was the first of her family to be born here, and the first to graduate from college, thanks to generous financial aid she received.

“Fordham is hugely important to a great number of Irish Americans in giving them a chance for an education,” she said.

“We thought Fordham, with its legacy, would be a great place to expand the offerings in New York City of Irish culture.”

John P. Harrington, PhD, director of the institute and Dean of Arts and Sciences Faculty, said that thanks in part to the Brautigam’s generosity, Irish studies is enjoying a resurgence of interest at Fordham, as the country’s history is intertwined with not only the history of the University, but also the Catholic Church and New York City.

In addition to Waking the Feminists, the Institute will be hosting three more events this year, including a night of music and dance with the band the Narrowbacks on March 10, a presentation by Man Booker Prize-winner Anne Enright on Sunday, April 17, and an event featuring Peter Quinn and Terry Golway on Friday, May 6.

“There is a real interest in Ireland and contemporary events, because its about how small countries function in the European union, its about asylum issues; it’s a great introduction to global conflicts and issues,” he said. “It’s not just of interest to people of Irish heritage.”

John P. Harrington, Ph.D., has been named dean of the faculty of arts and sciences at Fordham.

The appointment of Harrington, currently dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and professor of humanities at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., was announced by Stephen Freedman, Ph.D., senior vice president/chief academic officer at Fordham.

“Scholarship, academic leadership and research experience are the three key qualities we were looking for in a new dean of faculty of arts and sciences,” Freedman said. “Dr. Harrington is abundantly qualified in those areas, and is a excellent choice to help nurture faculty as Fordham comes into its own as a top-tier university.”

Harrington, whose appointment is effective July 1, began his academic career in 1985 as assistant professor of English and director of composition at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City. He was professor of humanities at the Cooper Union, where he served as the founding director of the Center for Writing and Speaking, founder and director of the Humanities Gallery, director of the Cooper Union Library, chair of Academic Council, and dean of the faculty of humanities and social sciences from 1992 to 2002.

Harrington is the author of The Life of the Neighborhood Playhouse on Grand Street (Syracuse University Press, 2008), which was nominated for the American Theatre Book of the Year by the Theatre Historical Society of America.

He has edited several volumes on Irish theatre, and co-edited The Future of Irish Studies: Report from the Irish Forum Florence 2005 (Prague: Center for Irish Studies, Charles University, 2006) andPolitics and Performance in Contemporary Northern Ireland (University of Massachusetts Press, 1999). He has also published numerous scholarly essays and reviews and has given many presentations and invited lectures.

“The chance to join Fordham is a fantastic opportunity for me,” Harrington said. “My New York history and also my family history have always made me very aware of Fordham’s great faculty and academic strengths. I think Fordham is extraordinarily well-poised to achieve the very ambitious goals so well articulated in the ‘Toward 2016’ strategic plan. It is a privilege to be invited to join the effort to complete that plan.”

Since 2002, Harrington has worked to develop new graduate and undergraduate degree programs with the deans and faculty at Rensselaer, where the number of humanities and social science degrees granted tripled between 2000 and 2008. Rensselaer increased admitted students 20 percent per year from 2002 to 2006, and increased and diversified the undergraduate population and portfolio of majors during his tenure there.

“It is no secret that change is coming to academia, and with that change comes the opportunity for growth and renewal,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “Therefore it is fitting that we appoint as dean of the arts and sciences faculty someone who is adept at managing change, and whose scholarly and leadership experience give him the skills to help guide our faculty and our University into a position of preeminence.”

“Scholarship, academic leadership and research experience are the three key qualities we were looking for in a new dean of faculty of arts and sciences,” Freedman said. “Dr. Harrington is abundantly qualified in those areas, and is a excellent choice to help nurture faculty as Fordham comes into its own as a top tier university.”

Harrington, whose appointment is effective July 1, 2009, began his academic career as assistant professor of English and director of composition at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, in 1985. He was professor of humanities at the Cooper Union, and served as the founding director of the Center for Writing and Speaking; founder and director of the Humanities Gallery; director of the Cooper Union Library; chair of Academic Council, and dean of the faculty of humanities and social sciences from 1992 to 2002.

Harrington is the author of The Life of the Neighborhood Playhouse on Grand Street (Syracuse University Press, 2008), which was nominated for the American Theatre Book of the Year by the Theatre Historical Society of America. He edited several volumes on Irish theater including Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama, the 2008 Norton Critical Edition anthology, and Irish Theater in America, the third annual collection of essays from the Irish Theatrical Diaspora Project (Syracuse University Press, 2008).  Harrington co-edited The Future of Irish Studies:  Report from the Irish Forum Florence 2005 (Prague: Center for Irish Studies, Charles University, 2006), and Politics and Performance in Contemporary Northern Ireland (University of Massachusetts Press, 1999).  He has also published numerous scholarly essays and reviews and has given many presentations and invited lectures nationally and internationally.

“The chance to join Fordham is a fantastic opportunity for me,” Harrington said.   “My New York history and also my family history have always made me very aware of Fordham’s great faculty and academic strengths. I think Fordham is extraordinarily well-poised to achieve the very ambitious goals so well articulated in the ‘Toward 2016’ strategic plan.  It is a privilege to be invited to join the effort to complete that plan.”

Since 2002, Harrington worked with deans and faculty at Rensselaer to develop new graduate and undergraduate degree programs, where the number of humanities and social science degrees granted tripled between 2000 and 2008. Rensselaer increased admitted students 20 percent per year from 2002 to 2006, and increased and diversified the undergraduate population and portfolio of majors during his tenure there.

“It is no secret that change is coming to academia, and with that change comes the opportunity for growth and renewal,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “Therefore it is fitting that we appoint as dean of the arts and sciences faculty someone who is adept at managing change, and whose scholarly and leadership experience give him the skills to help guide our faculty and our University into a position of preeminence.”