Emma Mincks, a Ph.D. candidate in British and Irish Literature, was awarded the Donald E. Jordan, Jr. – Willard C. Potts, Jr. Award for exceptional work by an emerging scholar at the annual meeting of the American Conference for Irish Studies West (ACIS-West), held in Denver, CO on September 23-25. The recipient is selected annually by a committee of ACIS-West members appointed by the President. Emma is the first scholar from UNM to receive this award.
Emma delivered a paper at the conference about contemporary Northern Irish activists fighting resource extraction and the solidarity ties between Lakota and Irish water protectors since Standing Rock. Their research employed Critical Indigenous Studies and Irish Studies theories, as well as personal experiences and interviews conducted during field research in summers 2019 and 2021. Emma is currently completing a dissertation on Victorian British and Irish literature, and they previously held UNM’s Joseph C. Gallagher Scholarship, which facilitated archival research in Ireland, England, and Scotland.
The Jordan-Potts Award was established in memory of co-founders and Past Presidents of ACIS-West, Professor Donald E. Jordan, Jr. (1945-2003), who taught Irish agrarian history at Menlo College in California, and Professor Willard C. Potts, Jr. (1925-2006), who taught the literature of James Joyce at Oregon State University. The Award is accompanied by an honorarium, thanks to the generosity of past and present ACIS-West members and private donors.
