Dr Noel O’Connell
Dr Noel O’Connell is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University College Cork where he is working on a project entitled, “A hidden minority amongst the majority: CODA: An ethnographic study of children of deaf adults and the negotiation of threatened social identities.” The CODA project is funded under the SFI-IRC Pathway Programme 2022. Dr O’Connell has previously been awarded an IRC DOROTHY COFUND Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship (2023) to conduct an ethnographic study of deaf people’s experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland and the United Kingdom and a GOI Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Irish Research Council (2015) to publish his doctoral research results. Author of over 20 publications, Dr O’Connell has an educational background that boasts a BA in English Literature, MSc in Literature & Cultural Politics, and MPhil in Deaf Studies (social science) and PhD in Deaf Education (sociology). His doctoral endeavours specifically focused on a critical auto-ethnographic exploration of Deaf individuals' experiences within the spheres of education, society, and culture in Ireland. He has a keen interest in social justice matters pertaining to deaf people particularly where they concern education, employment, identity politics, Deaf studies and privilege studies.