"James' desire to understand how history makes and shapes us, not always in conditions of our choosing, is central in all that he does." -- Anthony Purvis, PhD
Select publications in History
Cronin, J. "Disarming discourse: Thomas Merton's Breakthrough to Peace, October 1961 - September 1962" in preparation for the "Merton on Thursdays" webinar organised by the Thomas Merton Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 7 July 2022, read the working paper here, view webinar here.
_____. “A brief history of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).” The Merton Journal 27 no. 1 (2020), pp. 47-49.
_____. “Een Beknopte Historische Schets van de SCLC.” Contactblad Mertonvrienden 34, no. 3 (2020), pp. 44-47.
_____. "Burn His Books: American Catholic Opposition to Thomas Merton in 1968," The Merton Journal 25, no. 2 (2018): 16-25.
_____. “Sąd Nad Narodem. Thomas Merton, Frank Kowalski I Modlitwa o Pokój w Kongresie Stanów Zjednoczonych [A Nation Under Judgment: Thomas Merton, Frank Kowalski and the Congressional Peace Prayer].” Świat i Słowo Filogia Natuki Spoteczne Filozofia Teologia 2, no. 31, (2018), pp. 197-209.
_____. “Fear Thy Neighbour: Merton and the 1961 Shelter Scare.” The Merton Journal 24, no. 2 (2017), pp. 61-68.
_____. “The Poetics of History: Thomas Merton’s Use of the Past to Imagine Possible Futures” The Merton Journal, 22, no. 2 (2016), pp. 46-52.
_____. "Thomas Merton's Social Conscience in Formation – Correspondences with Czesław Miłosz, 1958-1962," The Merton Journal 22, no. 1 (2015) pp. 23-33.
_____. “A Design for Life: A Consideration of the Learning Legacy of P.H. Pearse's The Murder Machine” The Irish Journal of Adult and Community Education: The Adult Learner (2016), pp.100-104.
_____. “A Nation Under Judgment: Thomas Merton, Frank Kowalski and the Congressional Peace Prayer.” The Merton Annual 28 (2015) pp. 30-39.
_____. “‘No such thing as innocent by-standing’: the bystander motif in the social writings of Thomas Merton” in Fiona Gardner, Keith Griffin and Peter Ellis (eds). Universal Vision: A Centenary Celebration of Thomas Merton. Huddersfield: Riley, Dunn & Wilson 2014, pp. 72-84.
_____. “An ‘island’ of cosmopolitan culture: Anson’s Voyage Around the World and the library of Bowen’s Court, Co. Cork” History Island September/October (2011), pp. 18-21.
_____. “The evangelist symbols as pictorial exegesis” in Cormac Bourke (ed.), From the Isles of the North: Early Medieval Art in Ireland and Britain: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Insular Art held in the Ulster Museum, Belfast, 7-11 April 1994. Belfast: Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO), 1995, pp. 111-117. Cited by Ó Cróinín, D. A New History of Ireland, Volume 1: Prehistoric and Early Ireland. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. and for educational use in “The Book of Kells: Exploring an Irish Medieval Masterpiece,” Trinity College Dublin for FutureLearn [Online] https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/book-of-kells.
Letters
Cronin, J. Comment on historical context of nuclear proliferation as caution against presentism, “Thomas Merton can still teach us a lot about nuclear war” by Gregory Hillis, America (New York) (8 April 2022).
_____. “Bombing will not solve Syria Crisis.” The Tablet (London) (22 April 2017), p. 16.
_____. “Falklands history.” The Times (London) (7 March 2012), p. 25.
Dissertation
Cronin, J. "A reluctant pacifist: Thomas Merton and the Cold War Letters, October 1961-April 1962" [doctoral]. Cork, Ireland: University College Cork, 2021.
Reviews
Cronin, J. "Merton's Contentious Catholic Vision: a review essay of Man of Dialogue: Thomas Merton's Catholic Vision by Gregory K. Hillis, Orbis, Maryknoll, NY, 2021 and Signs of Hope: Thomas Merton's Letters on Peace, Race, and Ecology by Gordon Oyer, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 2021." The Merton Journal 29 no. 2 (2022), pp. 29-34.
______. "Review of Day of a Stranger [film] by Cassidy Hall." The Merton Journal 28 no. 2 (2021), pp. 13-15.
_____. "Review of The Way of St. Benedict by Rowan Williams. London: Bloomsbury, 2020. The Merton Journal 28 no. 1 (2021), pp. 58-62
_____. “Review of Writing Straight with Crooked Lines by Jim Forest. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2020.” The Merton Journal 27, no. 2 (2020), pp. 36-39.
_____. “Review of War: An Enquiry by A.C. Grayling. Yale, NH, Yale University Press, 2017.” Reviews in History [Online] https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/2206. Extract of review selected by Yale for paperback edition.
_____. “Review of Subversive Peacemakers: War Resistance 1914-1918, an Anglican Perspective by Clive Barrett. Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2014.” Reviews in History.
_____. “Review of Silence: A Christian History by Diarmaid MacCulloch. London: Allen Lane, 2013.” Reviews in History. Extract of review selected by Penguin for paperback edition.
_____. “Review of The Wonderbox: Curious Histories of How to Live by Roman Krznaric. London, Profile Books, 2011.” Reviews in History.
_____. “Review of Beyond the Finite: the Sublime in Art and Science, edited by Roald Hoffmann and Iain Boyd Whyte. England/USA: Oxford University Press, 2011.” Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 37, no. 4 (2012), pp. 372-76.
_____. “Review of Alternative and Activist New Media. Digital Media and Society Series by Leah A. Lievrouw. USA/England, Polity Press, 2011.” Scholarly and Research Communication 2, no. 2 (2011).
_____. “Review of The Secret Laboratory: notebooks and narratives.” ER (Enclave Review) 1, no. 4 (2011), pp. 1-2.
_____. “Review of Digital Images for the Information Professional by Melissa M. Terras.” Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 35 no. 1 (2010), p. 387.
_____. “Review of The Arts & Crafts movements in Dublin and Edinburgh 1885-1925 by Nicola Gordon Bowe & Elizabeth Cumming. Dublin, Irish Academic Press, 1998.” History Ireland, 7, no. 3 (1999), p. 53.
Selected presentations and publications in teaching & learning enhancement
McCarthy, M. and James G.R. Cronin, “From Remediation to Investigation: milestone in the history of SoTL at University College Cork” [Poster] ISSOTL24, French Lick, Indiana, USA, 26 October 2024. https://virtual.oxfordabstracts.com/event/64364/submission/105
McCarthy, M. and James G.R. Cronin, “Making thinking visible: visual critiques and methods for teaching & learning” [Workshop] ISSOTL24, French Lick, Indiana, USA, 29 October 2024. https://virtual.oxfordabstracts.com/event/64364/submission/109
Cronin, J. and Katharina Swirak, “‘Learning for liberation’?: opportunities and limits of using emancipatory pedagogical practices to reduce spatial distance between two civic institutions: prisons and universities.” ISS21 and UCC Future Humanities seminar, 18 October 2024. http://casilac.ie/portfolio-item/learning-for-liberation/
Cronin, J. "Redemption scripts: supporting artist-teachers to use SoTL to educate for desistance in the context of incarceration." ISSOTL 2023, Context Matters, Railway Museum, Utrecht University, 8-11 November 2023.
Supple, Briony, and James G. R. Cronin. “A Pedagogy of Slow: Integrating Experiences of Physical and Virtual Gallery Spaces to Foster Critical Engagement in SoTL”. Teaching and Learning Inquiry 11 (January 2023). https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.11.2.
Supple, Briony and James G.R. Cronin, "A Pedagogy of Slow: Integrating Experiences of Physical and Virtual Gallery Spaces to Foster Critical Engagement in SoTL." Teaching and Learning Inquiry blog. Retrieved 29 January 2023 from https://issotl.com/2023/01/26/a-pedagogy-of-slow-integrating-experiences-of-physical-and-virtual-gallery-spaces-to-foster-critical-engagement-in-sotl/
McNaull, Gillian, Katharina Swirak, Kathleen White, Shadd Maruna, Maggie O’Neill and James Cronin "Emancipatory Pedagogy in Prison: Participatory Action Research and Prison/ University Partnerships." Irish Probation Journal, volume 20 (October 2023): 95-129. https://www.pbni.org.uk/files/pbni/2023-11/06%20IPJ%20Vol%2020%20Emancipatory%20Pedagogy%20in%20Prison.pdf
Huijser, Henk, Janel Seeley and James Cronin, "International Collaborative Writing Groups and Public SoTL [blog post]. International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL)." Retrieved on 12 January 2023 from https://issotl.com/2023/01/11/international-collaborative-writing-groups-and-public-sotl/.
Cooper, Therese and James Cronin, Visual Thinking for Convivial Learning in Cork Prison. Cork: Print Shark, 2022.
Cronin, J. Lessons of The Cell: Reflections of a Student Inmate, Cork Prison, Ireland. The Merton Journal, Vol. 29, No.1 (Eastertide, 2022), pp. 20-23.
_____. “Unlocking the Potential of Prison Education,” OVPLT eNEWS no. 17 (Spring, 2021), p. 10.
Cooper. T. and James Cronin “The Art of Visible Thinking in the style of the Project Zero Classroom.” Short Guide #2. Education Unit, Cork Prison, 2021.
Cronin, J. "Conviviality for Creativity: visual arts as a transformative pedagogy in prison education" ISSOTLConnect21.
_____. “Scaffolding Learning (Resources for Emergency Teaching in the Coronavirus Pandemic).” CIRTL Short Guides #2., 2020.
_____. “UCC enters Cork Prison: Transformative pedagogy through arts education.” In Briony Supple and Tom Delahunty (eds.) Learning Connections: Spaces, People, Practice, Cork: University College Cork, 2019, pp. 85-91.
_____. “El silencio como presencia. Integrando las practicas metacognitivas en los estudios visuals” in Daniel Blackshields, James Cronin, Bettie Higgs, Shane Kilcommins, Marian McCarthy, Anthony Ryan (eds.) Aprendizaje integrado: Investigaciones internacionales y casos prácticos. Madrid: Narcea 2016, pp. 107-116.
_____. “Silence as presence: integrating meta-cognitive practices in visual studies” in Daniel Blackshields, James Cronin, Bettie Higgs, Shane Kilcommins, Marian McCarthy and Anthony Ryan (eds.), Integrative Learning International Research and Practice London: Routledge, 2014, pp. 96-106.
_____. “‘Doing’ history: what may liminal space and transition time expose during the process” in Catherine O’Mahony, Avril Buchanan, Mary O’Rourke and Bettie Higgs (eds.), Threshold Concepts: From Personal Practice to Communities of Practice. Proceedings of the National Academy’s Sixth Annual Conference and the Fourth Biennial Threshold Concepts Conference Trinity College Dublin. Cork: NAIRTL, 2014, pp. 38-43.
Eady, Michelle J., Green, C., Akenson, A., Supple, B., McCarthy, M., Cronin, J. and Mckeon, J. "Supporting Writing Collaborations through Synchronous Technologies: Singing Our ssong about Working Together at a Distance." In: Nicola Simmons and Ann Singh (eds). Critical Collaborative Communities. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2019, pp. 186-199.
Higgs, B. and James Cronin “Threshold concepts: informing the curriculum” in Ciara O'Farrell and Alison Farrell, eds. Emerging Issues in Higher Education III: From Capacity Building to Sustainability. Belfast: EDIN 2013, pp. 161-177.
Ryan, D., James Cronin, Michael Cullinane Research-led Teaching and Learning Competencies. Graduate School, CACSSS (Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences), University College Cork funded by the National Academy for the Integration of Research Teaching and Learning. Cork: NAIRTL, 2011.
Cronin, J. “Beyond Wikipedia and Google: web-based literacies and student learning.” in Bettie Higgs, Shane Kilcommins and Tony Ryan (eds.) Making Connections: Intentional Teaching for Integrative Learning. Cork: NAIRTL 2010, pp. 91-105.
_____. “Too much information: why facilitate information and media literacy?” in Paul S Ell, Kirsti Bohata and Susan Schreibman (eds.), Digital Resources in the Humanities and the Arts special edition. International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing, 4 nos. 1-2 (2010), pp. 151-165.
Cronin, J., John Paul McMahon, Michael Waldron “Critical survey of information technology use in higher education -- blended classrooms” in Carla R. Payne (ed.) Information Technology and Constructivism in Higher Education: Progressive Learning Frameworks. New York: Information Science Reference, pp. 203-215. This publication is cited by Woolard, J. Psychology for the Classroom: E-Learning. London: Routledge 2009, pp. 13, 28-30.
_____. “Digital Utopia or Dystopia: can educators assume ICT literacy?” in Bettie Higgs and Jennifer Murphy (eds.) Challenging Assumptions, 2nd Annual Conference, National Academy for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland. Cork: NAIRTL, 2009, pp.127-134.
_____. “Scaffolding the learner: Teaching for Understanding (TfU) and the adult learning experience, University College Cork” in Norma Ryan (ed.), International perspectives on teaching and learning in higher education. NAIRTL (National Academy for Integrating Research & Teaching & Learning) conference proceedings, November 2007 Waterford Institute of Technology. Cork: NAIRTL, 2008, pp. 86-87.
Doolan, D., Xiaoye Dai, James Cronin “Building a virtual exhibition: the Honan Collection Online.” Digitising Ethnography Symposium, University College Cork, 2006 [Online] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274372808_Building_a_Virtual_Exhibition_The_Honan_Collection_Online.
Cronin, J. and Grant Young Using digital images in an art history department: the experience of University College, Cork. A still images case study, JISC Digital Media, 2005.