Notre Dame Dublin and Nanovic Institute announce new Emerging Scholar Graduate Fellow

Joey Speicher (ND ‘22, TCD ‘23) has been announced as the inaugural Emerging Scholar Graduate Fellow, a new initiative between the Nanovic Institute for European Studies and Notre Dame Dublin where post-graduate research scholars take up residency at the Dublin Global Gateway for one year.

“My time in Dublin has been incredibly enriching and meaningful, and I am so invigorated to spend another year here conducting serious research and working with passionate and pathbreaking people,” said Joey Speicher upon accepting the fellowship offer. “Notre Dame Dublin and the Nanovic Institute have extended their characteristic generosity once again, offering me this wonderful opportunity to deepen my expertise as an emerging scholar and to be a part of this exciting new venture.”

Speicher graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and English literature and a minor in European studies. As an undergraduate, Speicher worked extensively with the Nanovic Institute, undertaking interdisciplinary research projects on topics such as the European response to the 2020 US presidential election and the prospect of the Western Balkans joining the European Union.

In 2021, he was awarded a Nanovic Fall Break Research Grant to conduct research in Berlin and Leipzig, contributing to his senior thesis on the connection between soccer and far-right political movements in East Germany. He was awarded the Guillermo O’Donnell Award for Best Thesis in Comparative Politics upon graduation.

“Joey Speicher is a true European Studies ambassador who has worked intensely with the Nanovic Institute as a Notre Dame undergraduate student,” said Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute. “This is a great example of a win/win situation for us: Joey can advance his academic profile and skill set, and the Nanovic Institute can benefit from his research skills for our focal research areas. The Nanovic Institute is happy to partner with Notre Dame Dublin on this promising new project."

While the pandemic scuppered many opportunities to research or study abroad while at Notre Dame, Speicher finally found himself in Ireland after graduation, undertaking a master of science in international politics at Trinity College Dublin. His master’s dissertation focused on the domestic politics of hosting major sporting events and how these ramifications vary according to the host country’s level of state capacity.

Speicher will spend the next year in residence at the Notre Dame Dublin Global Gateway continuing his political science research in Ireland, guided by Nanovic faculty members and Irish university faculty partners.

"Can sport be a bridge or a barrier on a partitioned island?"

Speicher plans to explore the relationship between sports, political cleavages, and Irish identities as it relates to the intensifying unification debate, focusing on whether sport can be effective in fostering inclusive communities.

Sport, long a divisive factor in Ireland’s politics, has renewed potential to affect and be affected by shifting dynamics in the island of Ireland’s political evolution. Building on existing scholarship, Speicher’s work will provide a contemporary analysis of the state of play and how that impacts the reunification debate.

“Sport plays a seminal role in community life and in national identities on the island of Ireland. Its political resonance has never been more resonant as the reunification debate intensifies and starts to consider pragmatic issues with a fresh eye,” explained Kevin Whelan, director of the Dublin Global Gateway, of the importance of Speicher's research topic. “We are delighted to partner with the Nanovic Institute on this groundbreaking research, and we warmly welcome the emerging scholar Joey Speicher to our intellectual community in Dublin.”