The Silesian Centre for the Study of Regional and Transborder Memory is happy to extend an invitation to all the members of our academic community and those not affiliated with our university to an open seminar that will inaugurate the Centre’s activities at the University of Silesia.
Our guest speaker will be Dr. Frank Ferguson from Ulster University in Belfast, and the topic of his presentation will be the current situation in Northern Ireland in the context of disputes over the status of the Irish border post Brexit. The entire seminar (lecture + discussion) will be held in English, and will be attended by representatives of our partner institutions in Germany and Spain.
Due to the limited number of available seats, to confirm your participation please send a message with your name and email to: memboreg@us.edu.pl
The seminar will take place in Katowice at 4 Uniwersytecka Street (room B1.18 1st floor).
Dr Frank Ferguson, Ulster University
Borders and Other Fine Margins: Northern Ireland in the Balance, Again
In his presentation dr Ferguson will explore the apparently positive situation of contemporary Northern Ireland as it emerges from a long period of stasis with agreement now reached on Brexit and the Border and as its devolved assembly has settled back to work with its first ever Republican First Minister. As ever, it seems beset with unprecedented destabilizing forces as demographic shifts have occurred that now make northern Unionists a minority and have intensified calls for Irish unification; the largest Unionist party is beset by uncertainty after its leader is charged with historic sex offences; and new legislation on Troubles Legacy and Language comes into force with much debate and controversy. One view would suggest that great change has taken place and much is now different. Other voices suggest that this will still not be enough to really affect the status quo.
Dr Ferguson will argue that Northern Ireland is very much a quantum state, where two opposite effects can be witnessed at the same time, all the time. Taking language and contemporary literature as his focus, he will suggest that despite the intertwining of political and cultural debates some intriguing possibilities have arisen from the culture wars and that today real opportunity exists for reconciliation, understanding and perhaps even real peace.
Dr Frank Ferguson, Ulster University