November 2008 Professor Terry Eagleton Appointed Adjunct Professor at NUI Galway

NUI Galway is delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Terry Eagleton as Adjunct Professor of Cultural Theory based at the Moore's Institute for Research in the Humanities and Social Studies. Professor Eagleton, who is of Irish descent, is regarded by many as arguably Britain's most influential living literary critic. His specialities are literary and cultural theory and the English-language literature and culture of Ireland, on which he has recently completed a trilogy of works. Eagleton's books of literary criticism include Literary Theory: an Introduction (1983) and After Theory (2003). He is also the author of the novel Saints and Scholars (1987) and The Gatekeeper: a Memoir (2001). His latest books are How to Read a Poem (2006); The Meaning of Life (2007); and Trouble with Strangers: a Study of Ethics (2008). Announcing the appointment, Professor Kevin Barry, Dean of the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Celtic Studies at NUI Galway, said: "We warmly welcome Terry Eagleton to the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Celtic Studies where he will join the Moore Institute for Research in the Humanities and Social Studies. Eagleton, as adjunct Professor of Cultural Theory, will provide each semester master-classes for doctoral students and junior staff, in addition to open lectures and seminars on modern literature". "Without doubt Terry Eagleton is one of the most distinguished and recalcitrant public intellectuals of his time. He has on many occasions been a celebrated visitor to Galway, receiving an Honorary Doctorate from this University some ten years ago. He has continued, whether in his writings on culture, critical thinking, economic inequality, or the politics of terror, to rough up the edges of the mainstream , as he calls it. He remains (and his time may have come again) a defender of Marx's analysis of power and its discontents. He is a famous and fabulous communicator and one of the rare articulate, persuasive critics of contemporary liberalism. His presence on campus will bring exciting benefits to our students, and we are delighted he will be sharing with them his time and the energy of his arguments." Terry Eagleton was recently appointed to a Chair in English Literature at the Department of English and Creative Writing at Lancaster University and has previously held the positions of Thomas Wharton Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford (1992-2001), and until recently the John Edward Taylor Professor of English Literature at the University of Manchester. Eagleton commented on his appointment to NUI Galway: "I am delighted to be appointed to a chair in the most beautiful of all the Irish campuses, a college which honoured me with a Degree of Doctor of Letters some years ago. Coming to Galway is particularly exciting for me since I have many old friends in the town and college. In fact, the Eagletons come from Headford and Shrule and there are still members of my family in the borderlines of Co. Galway and Co. Mayo. I am particularly grateful to Professor Kevin Barry who took the initiative to bring me to Galway and I look forward to meeting the students very soon". Professor Eagleton will deliver his Inaugural Lecture at NUI Galway on 10 December entitled 'The Death of Criticism'. -Ends-