“We try to help them get their courses up to par. They come from all types of schools, we try for great diversity,” he says, adding that teachers from a broad range of schools have responded very positively to incorporating Celtic subjects into their curricula.

“My hope is their students will go to college and ask for the [Celtic] courses, demand them,” Ford says. “I’m hoping for a grass-roots swell of interest.”

Obstacles to creating strong departments present themselves in the Celtic countries as well in the U.S.

Deane says that Celtic studies are “not so popular” at the University of Ulster where she teaches, since it is difficult to attract loyalty the way other single-discipline departments can.

“It’s a cross-discipline, mixing medieval history, linguistics, literature. You don’t have the same melding together as you have in English departments,” Deane says.

Still, she, like Ford, is positive about the potential of events like the Celtic Colloquium and growing student interest to promote the expansion of Celtic studies at institutions of higher education.

“There is a familial camaraderie, a sense of belonging to a chosen group that at the same time has a great deal of scope,” she says, noting that she hopes this close-knit yet diverse atmosphere will continue to attract students to join the field in the future.

—Staff writer Margaretta E. Homsey can be reached at homesy@fas.harvard.edu.