About The Center for Irish Studies at Villanova University Podcast Series
The Center for Irish Studies at Villanova University has been a leader for four decades in interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship on Ireland in a global framework. The Center connects students to local community organizations while also preparing them to become citizens equipped to take on the world’s most pressing challenges. Through liberal arts-focused academics across a range of nine disciplines, multi-disciplinary scholarship and key partnerships, the Center provides students with research, study abroad and employment opportunities.
Poets Niamh Twomey and Emma Devlin with 2026 Heimbold Chair Cauvery Madhavan on Community, Creativity, and Environmental Writing
This podcast features novelist and our 2026 Heimbold Chair Cauvery Madhavan speaking with two poets from Queens University's Seamus Heaney Centre - Niamh Twomey, and Emma Devlin. They discuss the importance of creative community, emphasizing that writing is not purely solitary but shaped by conversation, friendship, teaching, reading, and exchange.
A major focus is how environmental concerns and the climate crisis enter their work naturally rather than didactically. Devlin describes fiction shaped by transformation and ecological change, while Twomey discusses her eco-feminist reimagining of Irish myth through poetry. Together, the conversation highlights writing as a powerful way to respond to change, grief, imagination, and the natural world.
16 Mar 2026
UCC Historians John Borgonovo and Hiram Morgan on the Future of Irish Historical Scholarship
This episode features University College Cork historians John Borgonovo and Hiram Morgan discussing the future of Irish historical scholarship after Ireland’s recent “decade of centenaries,” which commemorated events like the Easter Rising and the Irish Civil War. As Irish history shifts from commemorating revolutionary milestones, it is moving towards addressing contemporary issues through historical perspective—such as immigration and multiculturalism in modern Ireland, environmental degradation and land use, the legacy of colonial economic systems, debates about Irish neutrality and European security, and the ongoing constitutional future of Northern Ireland.
In this conversation with Center Director Joseph Lennon, they explore the democratizing impact of digital archives like CELT (Corpus of Electronic Texts), the role of diaspora narratives in connecting Irish history to global migration stories, and the importance of humanities disciplines in an age of AI and digital information. They remind us that history is not only about the past but also a tool for interpreting present challenges and informing cultural, political, and ethical debates in contemporary society.
John Borgonovo is a Senior Lecturer in the School of History at University College Cork. He has published extensively on different aspects of Ireland’s First World War and Revolutionary experiences. He was a co-editor of the critically acclaimed Atlasof the Irish University which was made into a television series. An active public historian, John frequently appears on Irish television and radio.
Hiram Morgan (born Belfast, 1960) is a historian at University College Cork, where he has lectured since 1996. Educated at St Patrick’s College Knock and the University of Cambridge (BA–PhD), he is the author of Tyrone’s Rebellion (Royal Historical Society, 1993) and editor of several volumes including Political Ideology in Ireland (1999) and The Battle of Kinsale (2004). He co-founded History Ireland magazine and has published widely in peer-reviewed journals. Morgan currently directs CELT, the Corpus of Electronic Texts at UCC, one of the world’s largest digital resources for Irish studies.
10 Oct 2025
Psycological Historian Charles Strozier on the Miracle of the Good Friday Agreement and Lessons for Making a Lasting Peace
Charles Strozier is the author of Making Peace in Northern Ireland: The Miracle of the Good Friday Agreement. In this conversation with Center Director Joseph Lennjon, Strozier discusses his distinctive approach to history—one that blends psychoanalytic insight with political and cultural analysis—to understand how empathy and inner transformation shaped the peace process. Reflecting on decades of scholarship spanning Abraham Lincoln, 9/11, and apocalyptic thought, Strozier traces how his curiosity about the psychology of violence and reconciliation led him to study figures like John Hume, David Trimble, Ian Paisley, and John Alderdice, the key “dramatis personae” of the Good Friday Agreement.
Strozier explores the inner lives behind political change—how the painstaking act of listening across divides created what he calls “radical empathy,” making peace possible after generations of sectarian violence. The discussion ranges from the gendered dynamics of the talks to Northern Ireland’s shifting cultural identity in the post-Brexit era, concluding with Strozier’s reflections on hope, healing, and his current work on the psychology of idealization. It’s an illuminating look at how understanding human emotion and imagination can help explain not only history, but also the possibility of reconciliation in our own time.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 21 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
28
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
Contact The Center for Irish Studies at Villanova University Podcast Series
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of The Center for Irish Studies at Villanova University Podcast Series?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
