In May 2025, Professor of Performance, Play, and Design Patty Gallagher and Professor of Music Ben Leeds Carson brought their acclaimed production of An Iliad to the School of Arts, English and Languages at Queen’s University Belfast for the play’s first international performance.
Associate Professor of Literature Renée Fox also joined and met with Queen’s University Belfast counterparts to explore future academic collaborations. Fox was invited to give a talk in the English department on her research and the work of The Dickens Project and The Center for Monster Studies, both of which Fox serves as co-director.
“This visit was a wonderful opportunity to deepen connections between UC Santa Cruz and Queen’s University Belfast, not only by sharing my work on 19th-century British and Irish literature with QUB faculty whose research intersects with mine, but also by enabling us to discuss future co-sponsored conferences, research collaborations, and grant applications,” said Fox.
The trip follows a UC Santa Cruz delegation’s visit to Queen’s University Belfast in April 2024, when faculty participated in the UK Faculty Seminar Away to explore new possibilities for academic and research collaborations across a range of disciplines. Reciprocal visits to UC Santa Cruz by Queen’s University Belfast faculty and administrators in fall 2024 and spring 2025 helped to strengthen the partnership.
An Iliad, which debuted at UC Santa Cruz in May 2024, offers a contemporary retelling of Homer’s classic epic, exploring themes of war, rage, and humanity’s enduring cycles of conflict. In the play, Gallagher portrays The Poet – a timeless storyteller who has witnessed millennia of human strife. Her compelling solo performance has been lauded for its depth and resonance, capturing audiences in various venues.
Complementing Gallagher’s narration was original music composed and performed by Carson. His compositions serve as The Muse, enriching the storytelling experience and adding emotional layers to the narrative.
“Our visit to Queen’s University Belfast was rewarding and inspiring. This version of An Iliad was deepened and enriched due to the brilliant efforts of our QUB artistic collaborators. We are already planning future projects, on both sides of the Atlantic,” said Gallagher.
Broadening and deepening institutional partnerships with universities abroad is key to the UC Santa Cruz Strategic Plan for Internationalization.