A WARM WELCOME TO THE WEBSITE OF THE IRISH ASSOCIATION FOR AMERICAN STUDIES!
Founded in 1970, the IAAS is an all-island scholarly association, driven by an ethos of enquiry, collaboration, and inclusiveness, and committed to excellence, equality and diversity.
The IAAS has always been dedicated to helping scholars in Ireland and Northern Ireland pursue American Studies across a number of levels and platforms, as well as to forging strong connections between Ireland and America. Now in our 50th year, we are expanding our engagements even further, to include a number of special anniversary events across the island, new international bursaries, and continued work with scholars and institutions who share our goals and our spirit.
Through a range of bursary schemes, we help fund the work of postgraduate and upcoming scholars in the diverse fields of American Studies and Latin American Studies. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in the United States and the Americas, and your nominal annual subscription directly supports new work in the field.
Whether your interest is history, film, literature, music, art, media, or politics, we hope you find what you are looking for on this site. If not, tell us about it, and we will include it next time.
Take care, and stay safe.
Catherine Gander, Chair of the IAAS
Founded in 1970, the IAAS is an all-island scholarly association, driven by an ethos of enquiry, collaboration, and inclusiveness, and committed to excellence, equality and diversity.
– Dr Catherine Gander
Our Team
Our dedicated team of American Studies scholars
HISTORY
The IAAS was founded in 1970 to promote American Studies in Ireland. The founding members included Alan Graham (Queen’s University Belfast), Denis Donoghue (University College Dublin; now New York University), Peggy O’Brien (Trinity College Dublin; now Professor Emerita at UMass Amherst), and Tony Emmerson (Ulster University).
Over the decades the IAAS has supported successive generations of students and scholars in the universities and colleges across the island and beyond, from their undergraduate years studying American subjects, through their postgraduate, postdoctoral, and further academic careers in American Studies.
We are a constituent member of the European Association for American Studies (EAAS) and our current EAAS board representative is Dr Philip McGowan (QUB). All of our members are automatically members of the EAAS, and are encouraged to attend the biennial EAAS Conference.
The IAAS continues to collaborate with other associations and organisations dedicated to the advancement of American Studies outside the United States, particularly the British Association for American Studies (BAAS), Fulbright Ireland, and the American Embassy, Ireland.
“Over the decades the IAAS has supported successive generations of students and scholars in the universities and colleges across the island and beyond, from their undergraduate years studying American subjects, through their postgraduate, postdoctoral, and further academic careers in American Studies.”