NUI Galway has confirmed that Professor Terry Eagleton, a staunch defender of Marxist theory and one of the best known living literary critics, has been appointed Adjunct Professor of Cultural Theory in the university.
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 ).
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 10 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.”
Professor Eagleton will deliver his inaugural lecture at NUI Galway on December 10 entitled ‘The Death of Criticism’.
