WHERE WERE YOU BEFORE RECEIVING THIS AWARD?
Prior to receiving this award, I was coming to the end of an independent three-year Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Humanities and Social Sciences on the topic: ‘Alcohol, Medicine and Irish Society, c. 1890-1970’ at the School of History. During that time, I had begun developing a new major research project for which I planned to apply for a European Research Council Starting Grant. However, I did not have the time and resources required to develop this application as I needed to focus on the outstanding outputs for my current postdoctoral project.
YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT IN LAY TERMS
Drawing on existing models in the health sciences and medical humanities, the project aimed to record, analyse and transmit the voice of a discrete ‘patient’ group – those who have experienced alcohol addiction in Ireland. It covered a broad period from the 1960s to present day. The interdisciplinary research activity comprised two strands. The first involved one-on-one oral interviews with addiction services patients at the St John of God Hospital, Stillorgan. Questionnaires were also circulated among the patients. The second strand involved close analysis of published material, including memoirs and autobiographies, fictional writings, and other creative outputs by those who have experienced alcohol addiction. Through academic outputs, public engagement and outreach, the study aimed to (i) raise awareness and reduce stigma around alcohol addiction; and (ii) significantly contribute towards developing inpatient/outpatient alcohol addiction services by responding to patient feedback.
HOW HAS ISSF HELPED YOUR RESEARCH CAREER?
The ISSF scheme gave me the much needed time and space to devise a developed and competitive European Research Council grant application. During the period of my ISSF award, I conducted new research activities, produced new published outputs and carried out scoping of major archival material for my next research project. The award allowed me to foster crucial professional development skills as well as interdisciplinary collaborations with UCD’s School of Medicine and Medical Sciences. It also enabled me to engage with dedicated grant writing support, which has greatly boosted my ability to write successful grant applications.
TANGIBLE OUTPUTS AS A RESULT OF RECEIVING THE AWARD
Funding Leveraged
- Principal Investigator: ERC Starting Grant 2021 (2022-2027) (€1,417,818)
- Co-Investigator: College of Arts & Humanities Research Strands Seed Funding (2020-2021) (€2,200)
- Principal Investigator: Enterprise Ireland ERC Proposal Preparation Support (2020-2021) (€14,138)
Publications
- Alice Mauger, ‘Didactic or Obscene?: Personal Accounts of Alcoholism in Contemporary Writing”, Cultural and Social History (2021)
- Alice Mauger, ‘From “Pledge” to “Public Health”: Medical Responses to Ireland’s Drinking Culture, c. 1890-2018’, in Geoffrey Hunt, Tamar M.J. Antin and Vibeke Asmussen Frank (eds), Routledge Handbook on Intoxication (Routledge, forthcoming 2022)(revised manuscript submitted August 2021)
- Peder Clark and Alice Mauger (eds), Special Issue: Cultural Representations of Intoxication, Cultural and Social History (forthcoming 2022)(in preparation)
Podcasts
- Co-writer and co-presenter: “The Demon Drink” four-part podcast series, September 2021
Academic Presentations
- Humanities Institute Lunchtime Seminar Series, University College Dublin, 23 November 2021 (invited speaker)
- School of Humanities Seminar Series (online seminar) University of Strathclyde, 10 November 2021 (invited speaker)
- Society for the Social History of Medicine 2021 (online seminar), Swansea University, 25 June 2021
- Research Seminar in Contemporary Irish History, Trinity College Dublin, 9 December 2020 (invited speaker)
- Centre for the History of Medicine in Ireland Seminar Series, University College Dublin, 19 November 2020 (invited speaker)
WHAT DID THE AWARD MEAN TO YOU PERSONALLY?
I was extremely grateful for this award, which made all the difference both to my career prospects and on a personal level. My project began in March 2020, just weeks before Ireland went into its first national lockdown. In spite of the very challenging circumstances created by the Covid-19 pandemic, the security of having an ISSF award, together with the flexibility and understanding of the ISSF team, meant that I was able to continue in my employment and adapt my research plans to the changing landscape. During this time I was able to finish off outputs from my previous postdoctoral fellowship, publish and present new research findings from the ISSF project and develop a major funding application. Having recently been awarded an ERC Starting Grant, I can honestly say that the ISSF award has changed my life.