Dr Eilish Dillon

International Development

Lecturer
Lecturer / Assistant Professor

Education House
3.3.3
(01) 474 7347

Biography

Dr. Eilish Dillon is Assistant Professor at the Maynooth University Department of International Development. Eilish has been actively engaged in global and development education in Ireland for over 30 years. She has 10 years second-level teaching experience and 20 years’ experience in programme design, curriculum development, co-ordination and teaching in higher education. She has been an active contributor to civil society global development and education projects during this time through work with Comhlámh, Amnesty International, Banúlacht and the Irish Development Education Association (IDEA). She completed doctoral research in adult and higher education in 2017. Her thesis explored critical approaches to development education among educators in Ireland – https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/9558/ . Eilish has published widely on global and development education and communications in peer reviewed journals and books, and her recent research (published in 2021 and conducted in collaboration with Dóchas, the network of international NGDOs in Ireland) focused on global development communications among NGDOs in Ireland - https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/14972/). She has led the development of a new Maynooth University level 9 certificate programme for educators in lobal citizenship education, a joint initiative with five departments at the university, launched in 2022. She has engaged in supporting ethical global development communications in Ireland for many years, acting as an advisor to Dóchas on its working groups on the Dóchas Code of Conduct on Images and Messages (2010 - 2016) and on its Worldview Research Project (2020 - 2021). 

Research Projects

Title Role Description Start date End date Amount
NF/2019/15780363-Communicating International Development for Public Engagement PI 01/05/2020 31/10/2021 10238

Book Chapter

Year Publication
2016 Eilish Dillon (2016) 'Development Education in Third Level Education' In: Development Education in Theory and Practice: An Educator's Resource. EU : UNIDEV NGO Support Centre (Cyrpus), Pontis Foundation (Slovakia), Kimmage DSC (Dublin).
2009 Eilish Dillon (2009) 'Youth and Community Work in Ireland in the Context of Globalisation: Towards a Politics of Transformation' In: Youth and Community Work in Ireland: Critical Perspectives. UK : Blackhall Publishing.
2003 Eilish Dillon (2003) 'Development Studies and Development Education: Some Questions in the Light of Post-Development Theory' In: Teaching Social Justice: Intercultural and Development Education Perspectives on Education's Context, Content and Methods. Limerick : Centre for Educational Disadvantage Research, MIC and Irish Aid.

Peer Reviewed Journal

Year Publication
2022 Dillon, E (2022) 'Making Connections in Challenging Times-The Transformative Potential of Poetry for Critical Global Education'. Journal of Transformative Education, . [DOI]
2021 Eilish Dillon (2021) 'Why Opposites Don't Always Attract: Reflections on Binaries and Their Implications for Decolonising Development Communications and Education'. POLICY AND PRACTICE - A DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION REVIEW, 33 (Autumn):73-89. [Link] [Full-Text]
2020 Eilish Dillon (2020) 'Book Review: The Development Dictionary - A Guide to Knowledge as Power'. Community Development Journal, . [Full-Text]
2020 Eilish Dillon (2020) 'Poetry and Development Education'. POLICY AND PRACTICE - A DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION REVIEW, . [Link]
2019 Dillon, E (2019) 'CONNECTING THE PERSONAL AND THE POLITICAL: FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES ON DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION'. POLICY AND PRACTICE - A DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION REVIEW, :11-30. [Full-Text]
2018 Eilish Dillon (2018) 'Critical History Matters: Understanding Development Education in Ireland Today through the Lens of the Past'. International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning, 10 (2):14-36. [Link] [Full-Text]
2018 Eilish Dillon (2018) 'How Critical is the Global? Discursive Shifts in Development Education in Ireland'. International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning, (10):163-176. [Link] https://doi.org/10.18546/IJDEGL.10.2.05 [Full-Text]
2015 Eilish Dillon (2015) 'What Questions are we Asking? Challenges for Development Education from a Discourse analysis of National Surveys on Attitudes to Development in Ireland'. POLICY AND PRACTICE - A DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION REVIEW, 20 :37-72. [Link]

Other Journal

Year Publication
2003 Eilish Dillon (2003) 'Accountabilities and Power in Development Relationships' Trócaire Development Review, 2003/2004 :105-117. [Link]

Conference Contribution

Year Publication
2022 Eilish Dillon (2022) Development Studies Association of Ireland Annual Conference This conference focused on critical perspectives on sustainable development University of Limerick, 16/11/2022-17/11/2022.
2021 Eilish Dillon (2021) Academic Network on Global Education and Learning Annual Conference Invited paper presentation - 'Learning to Change the Focus - Perspectives from Critical Global Education for International Development NGO Communications' Online, .
2021 Eilish Dillon (2021) Development Studies Association of Ireland Annual Conference Paper: 'Creating a Climate for Ethical Global Development Communications - a focus on the case of NGDOs in Ireland' Online, 11/11/2021-.
2021 Eilish Dillon (2021) Conversations on Freire's Influence on Global Development Practice Title of Paper: 'The Relevance of Paulo Freire's Work for Higher Education Today: Towards a Critical Pedagogy of Global Connection' Maynooth University Department of International Development - Online, 28/10/2021-.
2020 Eilish Dillon (2020) Launch of World View Project, Dóchas, October 2020 Public Engagement in the Context of COVID-19 Online, .
2020 Eilish Dillon (2020) Seminar on Development Education and Gender, Centre for Global Education and Maynooth Univeristy Input: Connecting the Personal and the Political: Feminist Perspectives on Development Education Maynooth Univeristy, .
2020 Eilish Dillon (2020) Opportunities and Challenges of Designing and Delivering Online and Blended Postgraduate Programmes Input on: the Online experience of the Department of International Development Maynooth Univeristy, .
2020 Eilish Dillon (2020) A just transition: how do we tackle heat need and greed? Contribution: From Just Transitions to Just Transformations Maynooth Univeristy, .
2019 Eilish Dillon (2019) Ubuntu Assembly Meeting From Mainstreaming to Criticality: Addressing Questions of Relevance in Development Education in Formal Education Portlaoise, .
2018 Eilish Dillon (2018) How Critical is Development Education in Ireland? Seminar organised to explore my Doctoral Research on Discourses of Development Education in Ireland Kimmage Development Studies Centre, .
2018 Eilish Dillon (2018) Irish Development Education Association Conversation Circle How Can we make Development Education more Relevant? National University of Ireland, Galway, .
2015 Eilish Dillon (2015) Development Education Conference for Development Educators in Slovakia Paper presented 'Why Development Education is Necessary in Today's World' Bratislava, .
2015 Eilish Dillon (2015) Second 'Thinkery' on the Commons Exploration of commoning and transformative processes with Sylvia Federici University College Cork, .
2014 Eilish Dillon (2014) Development Studies Association of Ireland Annual Conference Paper presented 'Attitudes to Global Developm ent in Ireland: Challenges for Development Educators and Activists' Dublin, .
2014 Eilish Dillon (2014) First 'Thinkery on the Commons' Exploration of commoning and transformative processes with Gustavo Esteva Kimmage Development Studies Centre, .
2013 Eilish Dillon (2013) Mission Today and Tomorrow Paper presented 'What Role do Faith-Basesd Values Play in the Development Process?' Dublin, .
2011 Eilish Dillon (2011) Clare DEAL Conference on Development Education and Adult Learning Paper presented 'De-mystifying Development Education - Making Local and Global Links in Adult Learning' Limerick, .
2011 Eilish Dillon (2011) MS-TCDC International Seminar on Social Movements Paper presented 'Social Movements: Catalysts for Participatory Democracy and Poverty Eradication' Arusha, Tanzania, .

Published Report

Year Publication
2021 Eilish Dillon (2021) Shifting the Lens on Ethical Communications in Global Development - A Focus on NGDOs in Ireland. Maynooth University, . [Link]

Blog

Year Publication
2022 Eilish Dillon (2022) Time and Crisis Responses: Towards a Long-Term View. [Blog] [Link]
2021 Eilish Dillon (2021) Daring to Hope - Some Reflections at the End of this Second COVID Year. [Blog] [Link]
2021 Eilish Dillon (2021) Reflections on Feminisms for International Women's Day 2021. [Blog] [Link]
2020 Eilish Dillon (2020) Rethinking International Development Communications. [Blog] [Link]
2020 Eilish Dillon (2020) Some Reflections on Learning at the End of this COVID Year. [Blog] [Link]
2018 Eilish Dillon (2018) Before we can think about changing our narratives, we have to understand them. [Blog] [Link]

Invited papers

Year Publication
2022 Eilish Dillon (2022) Supporting Critical and Hopeful GCE in Schools - Worldwise Global Schools School Management Symposium. [Invited papers]

Invited Seminars

Year Publication
2019 Eilish Dillon (2019) Critical History Matters - Understanding Development Education. [Invited Seminars]

Manual

Year Publication
2001 Eilish Dillon (2001) Act Now: A Manual for Campaigning on Development Issues. Cork: [Manual]

Seminar

Year Publication
2022 Eilish Dillon (2022) From North-South to the Global in Global Citizenship Education. [Seminar]
2021 Eilish Dillon (2021) Reflections on Postgraduate Research Teaching, Supervision and Practice in light of COVID - DID and University of Makeni Seminar. [Seminar]

Thesis

Year Publication
2017 Eilish Dillon (2017) How Critical is Talk? Discourses of Development Education among Facilitators in Ireland. Maynooth: [Thesis] [Link]

Podcast

Year Publication
2020 Eilish Dillon (2020) How Can Poetry Connect Us?. [Podcast] [Link]
2019 Eilish Dillon (2019) Rethinking the Divide between International and Community Development. Dublin: [Podcast]
2019 Eilish Dillon and Conor McCabe (2019) Conor McCabe Talks About his Book 'Money'. Dublin: [Podcast] [Link]

Recording

Year Publication
2019 Eilish Dillon (2019) The Future of Education is Critical and Connected. [Recording] [Link]
Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2023) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.