Expertise

Research interests:

  • folk narrative in Ireland and Scotland
  • folklore in medieval Celtic literature
  • the international Child ballad and Gaelic song tradition
  • European narrative charms
  • gender and the articulation of women's space in folk narrative and song
  • the digitization of traditional folklore archives

Recent Projects:

  • Seanchas: The Global Gaelic Jukebox a collaborative research project that aims to facilitate access to ethnographic Irish and Scottish Gaelic sound and film recordings.
  • Oidhche Sheanchais ('A Night of Storytelling'): Robert Flaherty's 1934 Gaelic movie: Re-discovery, restoration and ethnographic background
  • Harvard Celtic Folklore Collection, web site of original folklore holdings at Harvard (ongoing collaborative project with the Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures).
Degrees
PhD, Harvard University, Celtic Languages and Literatures , 1997
MPhil, University College Dublin, Irish Studies, 1990
BA, Queen's University Belfast, Celtic and English, 1987