Keynote Speakers
Professor Tom Inglis was born and raised in Dublin and went to UCD and graduated with a BSocSc. He married Aileen shortly afterwards. They have three children, Arron, Olwen and Luke (who died tragically at nine months). In 2002, Aileen was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died in 2005. He worked for six years for the Catholic Church as a social researcher during which time he did his Masters degree learning a good deal of sociology from Don Bennett. In 1979, he went with Aileen and I went to Southern Illinois University to work with Charles Lemert and Tom Burger. He returned to UCD in 1984 for three years and published Moral Monopoly. In 1987, he became Director of AONTAS, the National Association of Adult Education. In 1991, he rejoined the Department of Sociology in UCD. His interest in Catholic Ireland broadened to looking at sexuality and the media and published in 1998 a bigger and better 2nd edition of Moral Monopoly, as well as Lessons in Irish Sexuality. Two years later, he co-edited Religion and Politics. Truth, Power and Lies (2003), a sociological examination of the case of the Case of the Kerry Babies. Global Ireland: Same Difference was published in 2008. He teaches courses on Contemporary Irish Society, Body and Soul, Sociological Theory and Cultural Theory and Analysis. President of the Sociological Association of Ireland and a former editor of the Irish Journal of Sociology he was co-director of the Identity, Diversity and Citizenship research project in the Geary Institute. Hismain areas of research are identity, cultural globalisation and secularisation.
Dr. Gary Mc Darby has a background in Technology and Biomedical engineering with a specific focus on Neuroscience. He has a particular interest in how technology can facilitate and enhance human learning. He was formally a principal investigator in MIT Media Lab Europe managing the MindGames group and is now managing director and a founder of ICE - a philanthropic organisation focusing on technological innovations serving society. He is also a director of Camara (an organisation that refurbishes computers and distributes them to schools in Africa) and a strategic advisor to the Computer Clubhouse (an organisation facilitating learning for vulnerable children using state of the art technology and expert volunteer mentors). He has a 12 year old son who is his inspiration for everything.
Prof Eamonn Conway was awarded his doctorate in theology in 1991 and taught Systematic Theology for seven years at All Hallows College, Dublin. He was appointed Head of Theology and Religious Studies at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick in 1999 and in 2000 he also became co-director of the Centre for Culture, Technology & Values at Mary Immaculate College (see http://cctv.mic.ul.ie). A Catholic priest of the Tuam diocese since 1987, he is author of The anonymous Christian - a relativised Christianity? An evaluation of Hans Urs von Balthasar's criticisms of Karl Rahner's theory of the anonymous Christian (Peter Lang, 1993), and has edited five other books. He has several publications in international journals, and has lectured in Europe, Australia and the USA, and most recently in Singapore and Cambodia. He serves on Irish Government's Information Society Commission and the Futures Ireland Advisory Panel of the Irish National Economic and Social Development Office (see www.futuresireland.ie). He was elected to the Board of Directors of Concilium: International Review for Theology in 2006 and as Vice-President/President-elect of the European Society for Catholic Theology (www.eurotheo.net) in 2007.
