The 2025 Celtic Studies Association of North America Annual Conference will take place on the U of A campus April 3-5. Registration is free and open to the public.

This will be the first time the university hosts the conference.

Past conferences have been hosted by, among others, Virginia Tech, Harvard University, University of Toronto, University of Notre Dame and St. Francis Xavier University (Nova Scotia).

Keynote speakers will be David Callander and Rebecca Thomas, from Cardiff University (Wales), both of whom specialize in medieval Welsh literature.

A workshop will also be offered by Amy Mulligan, from the Department of Irish Language and Literature at the University of Notre Dame, who researches "cultural and literary exchange among the Irish, Welsh, English and Scandinavian peoples in the medieval North Atlantic."

Joshua Byron Smith, associate professor of English at the U of A and current president of the Celtic Studies Association of North America, is the main organizer of this year's conference. Smith focuses upon the multilingual literary culture of high medieval Britain, with particular attention to Latin, Anglo-Norman French, Old and Middle English, and Welsh.

One goal of the conference is to provide participants the opportunity to share their scholarship and to network with others working in the area of Celtic studies. Another objective is to make the Celtic Studies Association of North America aware of what all the campus and Northwest Arkansas have to offer.

"Honestly, I'm looking forward to introducing my colleagues to Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas," Smith said.

Support for the conference is being provided by the following departments and offices on campus: Dean’s Office of Fulbright College; Department of English; Department of History; Medieval & Renaissance Studies Program; U of A Humanities Center; Department of World Languages, Literatures & Cultures.

Trish Starks, professor of history and director of the U of A Humanities Center, expressed excitement for the UAHC's helping to sponsor the conference, which, she noted, will attract international scholars to the state.

"The lectures will enrich opportunities for faculty, students and the region," Starks said.

For further information about the conference, please contact jbs016@uark.edu.