Playwright Sam Shepard and Campaigner Christine Buckley were conferred with Honorary Degrees
Posted on: 07 December 2012
The American playwright, Sam Shepard and campaigner for the rights of abuse victims, Christine Buckley were among those conferred with honorary degrees at Trinity College Dublin today (December 7th).
Playwright, actor and director Sam Shepard was conferred with a Doctor in Letters (Litt.D.) He is a significant figure in world drama, with an extraordinary body of work to his name which has inspired a generation of writers, filmmakers and theatre practitioners the world over. A relentless experimenter with form and structure, few American playwrights have exerted as much influence on the contemporary stage. Not only a playwright, but also a screenwriter and author of short stories, he is the recipient of many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child. He also has a deep connection to Irish theatre, expressed recently in an intensive artistic collaboration with the Abbey Theatre.
Campaigner and former resident of Goldenbridge Institution Christine Buckley was conferred with a Doctor in Laws (LL.D). She was one of the first to go public on her experiences. For more than 25 years she has campaigned tirelessly on behalf of other victims of institutional abuse. She is a co-founder and director of the Aislinn Centre in Dublin which provides educational and support services for survivors. Former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, described her as a woman who has changed the course of history through her voluntary effort. In 2010 she was selected as Irish Volunteer of the Year and went on to be awarded the title ‘European Volunteer of the Year’.
Dame Lynne Brindley who was conferred with a Doctor in Letters (Litt.D.) has had an illustrious career in British university libraries . She is currently visiting Professor of Knowledge Management in the University of Leeds and previous to that she was chief executive of the British Library. She has been instrumental in transforming the concept of a library from a passive archive to a dynamic contributor to research and the wider education environment, realising the potential of digital formats. Her contributions were recognised in 2008 by the award of the DBE. She has offered continuing support for the College Library’s role as a Legal Deposit Library for the UK. It is particularly fitting to award an honorary degree to this distinguished librarian in 2012, the year that the Old Libraryis celebrating its Tercentenary.
Valerie Coghlan who was conferred with a Doctor in Education (D.Ed.) has become the recognisable face of Irish expertise and innovation on the international children’s literature circuit. She has been a founder member of and held high office in most of the important professional bodies pertaining to children’s literature, both nationally and internationally. She has published widely in her own area of expertise, and has played a key role as facilitator and promoter of children’s authors and illustrators. Recently retired as librarian and lecturer in the Church of Ireland College of Education, she played the key role in building up and archiving their collection, and in developing the relationship between this collection and our own Pollard collection and cognate collections internationally.