Tiber Falzett

Tiber Falzett is a Lecturer in the School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore at University College Dublin, where he also serves as School Officer for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and School Officer for Global Engagement. He previously held academic positions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Prince Edward Island, and St. Francis Xavier University, contributing significantly to folklore, ethnology, and Scottish Gaelic studies across North America and Ireland.

• BA (Hons), St. Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia, Canada
• MScR with Distinction, Scottish Ethnology, University of Edinburgh
• PhD, Celtic and Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh

Dr. Falzett's research explores the interplay between language, music, and community identity among Scottish Gaelic speakers in the Atlantic diaspora, particularly in Cape Breton Island and the Outer Hebrides. His work emphasizes embodied knowledge, sensory metaphor, and seanchas-based narratives in communal aesthetics. He investigates how oral traditions sustain cultural identity and how grassroots engagement supports language renewal in endangered linguistic communities.

His recent publications and conference presentations focus on Gaelic folklore, narrative transmission, digital archiving, and the reclamation of cultural practices through digital media. Themes in his scholarly output include folk hymnody, women’s vernacular verse, transgressive humor, and the phylogenetic analysis of folktale types such as ATU 400, 425, and 503.

Dr. Falzett leads the UKRI-AHRC & IRC-funded project "Decoding Hidden Heritages of Gaelic Narrative," which integrates archival digitization with computational analysis to study Irish and Scottish Gaelic folktales. This interdisciplinary initiative involves collaboration with the Canadian Museum of History, Memorial University, and the National Folklore Collection at UCD.

• Member, Coiste, An Cumann le Béaloideas Éireann (2023)
• Member of Executive, Society for Folk Life Studies (2021)
• Editor, Folk Life (2021–present)
• International Advisory Board, Rev. Daniel J. Murphy Archive Project, NUI Galway (2020–present)

He has coordinated numerous teaching modules including Folklife & Ethnology, Storytelling, Collectors of Music & Song, and Identity and Ethnography, emphasizing experiential learning and fieldwork. His teaching philosophy centers on oral expression and lived cultural experience, especially in marginalized communities. He also contributes as a reviewer for Scottish Studies: Journal of the School of Scottish Studies and participates in public engagement, such as the "Scottish Island Futures" workshop.

His research is supported by major grants and conducted in collaboration with international institutions, focusing on digital access, machine translation of Gaelic texts, and the preservation of endangered narratives through innovative technological frameworks.