Ciarán Drinnon

is a historian, writer, and designer
based in Johnson City, TN, USA.

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Ciarán Drinnon / Curriculum Vitae

Bio

Ciarán Wright Drinnon is a historian, graduate student, writer, and designer from East Tennessee. Their areas of interest include polar, maritime, and exploration histories; histories of science and medicine; information and archival studies; and historiography. They are strongly committed to furthering the cause of academic inclusivity and have dedicated their career thus far to promoting the accessibility of the skills, tools, and resources needed for those who have been traditionally excluded from academia to engage in learning and research.

Education

MA History, Southern New Hampshire University

2024 - (in progress) | American History concentration

BA Political Science, East Tennessee State University

2015-2019 | Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies minor

Projects

The New Polar Times

Founder & Editor-in-Chief | 2024 -

An upcoming hybrid research-and-arts publication geared toward independent and early-career researchers with an interest in the history of the "Heroic Age" of polar exploration. Our first volume is in the works, with an anticipated release in spring 2026.

Polar Archival Network Project Group

Volunteer, Design & Outreach | 2025 -

A group of academics and archivists working on a proposal that would establish a global network of archives - physical and digital - across the polar humanities discipline.

Arcana Poli

Co-Founder and Designer | 2025

A wiki project that seeks to establish a jumping-off point for enthusiasts and amateur researchers in polar history, increasing accessibility of information by taking a fandom-inspired approach.

Achievements

Bob Burton Icebreaker Award

For "Charles Francis Hall: America's Weirdest Polar Explorer"
2025 Shackleton Autumn School | Shackleton Experience Museum, Athy, IE

Ongoing Research

Examining new evidence in the suspicious 1873 death of Charles Francis Hall
Evaluating the scientific contributions of ordinary seamen on Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition
Assessing the legacies of PO Edgar Evans and Capt. Lawrence Oates vis-à-vis rhetorics of disability and blame in the aftermath of Scott's Antarctic tragedy
Exploring the fata morgana atmospheric phenomenon and its ties, through Robert Peary's "Crocker Land" and John Ross's "Croker's Mountains," to the flawed ideal of the Arctic colonial utopia in the 19th and early-20th century Britain and America

Past Research

Drinnon, C. W. “Emotional Labor, Propaganda, and Surveillance Capitalism in Post-Truth Online Discourse” [Paper presentation]. SEWSA 2021, virtual.Drinnon, C. W. “Safety and Inclusivity in Physical Spaces at ETSU and LGBTQ+ Mental Health on Campus” [Paper presentation]. 2020 MALS Design Thinking Symposium, virtual.Fiuza, F., Kappel, L., Drinnon, C. W., Soto, S., Ramos Chapuz, M., and Rodriguez, D. “Ardis Nelson’s Legacy: How the Language and Culture Resource Center is Changing East Tennessee” [Paper presentation]. 2020 Avancemos Juntos Latinx Higher Education Conference, Gallatin, TN.Drinnon, C. W. and Lyons, N. “A Feminist and Disability-Inclusive Approach to Combating the Opioid Crisis” [Paper presentation]. SEWSA 2019, Oxford, MS, USA.

Employment information & teaching experience available upon request