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Fáilte chuig clár cinn pearsanta Anthony McCann

Rugadh i Machaire Fíolta, Condae Dhoire mé i 1972, ach ní raibh an scéal leath chomh simplí ina dhiaidh sin. Sna seachtóidí tógadh sa Nua Shéalainn mé mar go raibh post ag m'athair thíos ansin. Thángamar ar ais go hÉirinn i 1980, ochtar sa teaghlach againn, agus faoi dheireadh lonnaíomar i Rinn Mhic Ghiolla Rua sa Tuaisceart, taobh leis an teorainn. Níl ord nó eagar ar an mhéid Gaeilge ata ar fail ar an suíomh seo. Saolaíodh an suíomh as a raibh ar siúl agam i mBéarla, ach déanfaidh mé iarracht anois is arís níos mó Gaeilge a chur ar fáil daoibh.

Welcome to the personal website of Anthony McCann

Anthony McCann grew up in Devonport (Auckland), New Zealand, and Warrenpoint, Co. Down, Northern Ireland. He now lives in Artigarvan, Co. Tyrone.

Anthony is the Founder and Director of the non-profit Crafting Gentleness. He is an experienced researcher and educator who has held positions at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University, and the University of Ulster (current position). He has graduated from Queen's University Belfast (B.A. Celtic Studies and Spanish), University College Galway (M.Phil. in Irish Studies), and the University of Limerick (Ph.D., Ethnomusicology). In 1999 he was assistant co-ordinator of a UNESCO/ Smithsonian World Conference in Washington DC entitled 'A Global Assessment of the 1989 UNESCO Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore: Local Empowerment and International Cooperation'. He later undertook postdoctoral research in cultural policy at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC in 2001-02, where he was part of the team that drafted the working text of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention.

Anthony has given talks and seminars at the US Library of Congress, the University of Chicago, the University of California Los Angeles, Indiana University, and the University of Western Sydney, among other places. His awards include the Charles Seeger Prize of the Society for Ethnomusicology, a Fulbright Award, and a Government of Ireland Scholarship. He has served as an advisor for the Ulster Museum ('Troubles Gallery'), among others, and as a consultant for Editorial Solutions Ltd., and Pròiseact nan Ealan/The Gaelic Arts Agency.

Among Anthony's current research interests are: the politics of gentleness; emotional climate; social theory; pedagogy; personal and political dynamics of enclosure; Irish traditions; critical legal studies/anthropology of law; music, copyright, and intellectual property. Anthony considers himself primarily a Social Ecologist, although he has also worked in the disciplines of Celtic Studies, Spanish, Irish Studies, Ethnomusicology, Anthropology, Media Studies, Visual Culture, Cultural Policy and Management, and Museum and Heritage Studies.

In past years, Anthony has also worked as a translator, journalist, and radio broadcaster. He remains a keen singer, songwriter, and bodhrán player. He is known to come up with bad puns on a regular basis. A television addict since age 4, he particularly enjoys science fiction, and Josh Whedon's work, and has been rumoured to still shed random solitary tears at the passing of The West Wing. He's also a frustrated wannabe film and theatre director, who hopes that there are enough years left to do something about that. He once received Special Mention for acting in a youth drama competition. He was also listed for an "outstanding" game in a local newspaper following an U-16 hurling match in 1988. Don't give him sugar. Please, no sugar.

Curriculum Vitae

LinkedIn Public Profile for Anthony McCann

Academic research:

"Crafting Gentleness: The Political Possibilities of Gentleness in Folkloristics and Ethnology" (PDF) This is the annotated transcript of a talk presented in Estonia in 2007 (with commentary).

"In search of 'tradition': what might we like our kids to learn about life?" (PDF) This article was based on presentations given at the University of Tartu, Summer 2010. It is to be published in the Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics, as part of a special issue 'Cultural Heritage: Entanglements of Knowledge and Property'.

"A Tale of Two Rivers: Riverdance, A River of Sound, and the Ambiguities of 'Tradition'" (.doc) This article is to be published in Ethnologie Francaise in 2010.

Enclosure, He(d)gemony, and the Politics of Gentleness (real media format)
This is a guest lecture given by Anthony McCann at the Dept. of Folklore and Ethnology of University College, Cork, in February 2007. It lasts for about 57 minutes, including some open discussion at the end. There is an MS Word bibliography to accompany the talk. The talk is aimed at an academic audience, but attempts to deal with some theoretical issues in straightforward language where possible.

Enclosure Without and Within The Commons. This article was published in Information and Communications Technology Law 14(3):217-240 in 2005.

Beyond The Commons: The Expansion of the Irish Music Rights Organisation, the Elimination of Uncertainty, and the Politics of Enclosure. This is my Ph.D. dissertation, finished in 2002. This is more or less where all the work on gentleness and enclosure really started. The heart of my current theoretical work on is in this dissertation somewhere, if you lift up the words and look underneath them.

All That Is Not Given Is Lost: Irish Traditional Music, Copyright, and Common Property. This paper was awarded the 1998 Charles Seeger Prize for student ethnomusicology. It's an example of using a resource-management approach to analysis issues of enclosure and the commons. In my current work I critique this way of approaching these issues (see 'Enclosure Without and Within' above).

Feel free to follow the links below ...

Crafting Gentleness Weblog

Crafting Gentleness