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Staff Spotlight: Dr. Tracy Fahey

Title::
Head of Department in Fine Art
Program:
Study Abroad at the Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest
Dr. Tracy Fahey is Head of Department in Fine Art and Head of Centre of Postgraduate Studies in Limerick School of Art and Design (LSAD). In 2013 she established the LSAD research centre ACADEMY where she also acts as principal investigator. Her primary research area is the Gothic, with chapters on this subject in The Gothic Compass (Routledge), The Gothic and the Everyday Gothic: Living Gothic (Palgrave), International Gothic in the Neo-Liberal Age (Manchester University Press), Lost Souls (McFarland) and Imagining Irish Suburbia (Cork University Press).

She has also published on medical Gothic, contemporary art, transgressive art and pedagogy. In 2010 she founded the art collaborative, Gothicise, who create site-specific performances that interrogate the relationship between site and narrative. Her short fiction has been published in thirteen anthologies.

Meet Tracy at LIT

What position do you hold at Uversity? What has been your career path so far?

I currently run the Department of Fine Art, the Centre for Postgraduate Studies and our research centre, ACADEMY at LIT. I’ve previously worked as Head of Faculty of Design, Griffith College Dublin and Head of Humanities at Institute of Technology, Carlow. I hold a BA in History of Art and English, a Masters in Education and a PhD in the Gothic.

I’ve been the President of the Institute of Designers in Ireland and served on the Board of Design Ireland and the Institute for Design and Disability. I currently sit on advisory boards for the Centre for Studies in Otherness, Denmark and the Centre for Popular Culture, New Zealand.

What country have you always wanted to visit?

At the top of my list at the moment is Iceland; I’m fascinated by the unique scenery and love Icelandic novels. I think everyone is drawn toward specific locales. I have a passion for Scandinavian culture that dates from the 1990’s when I started to work with several Norwegian colleges to create pathways between Norwegian diploma courses in interior design and Irish degrees in interior architecture. Travelling around Oslo and Bergen gave me an interest in further exploration, which was followed by a stint on an Erasmus teaching visit to Finland, and several trips to Sweden.

What was your favorite traveling experience?

Probably any trip I’ve taken to East Asia. I worked on a linkage with Guilin University which involved a memorable trip to Guilin and Bejing during which I walked part of the Great Wall and explored the Forbidden City. I’ve also visited Hong Kong and Tokyo, and would love to return to Japan for a longer stay; the contemporary cultural scene there is fascinating.

What unique qualities does your university possess?

Limerick School of Art and Design (LSAD) at the Limerick Institute of Technology is a unique art school – founded as part of the Arts and Crafts Movement in the 1850’s, it has continued to grow and develop in new and exciting directions.

Over the last five years, the School has expanded to include new undergraduate programmes in fine art and design, a research centre and a number of new postgraduate opportunities through taught MA programmes and research pathways to MA and PhD awards in art, design and curatorial studies. We have a strong network of research and education partners and currently run several European projects that support emerging artists.