English

The course analyzes the main historical, political, and institutional developments in the evolution of the European Community/European Union from 1945 to circa 2000. Topics include the unique nature of the European Union polity, the origins & developments of European Integration from 1945 to circa 2000, the evolving role of key EC/EU institutions, key EU treaties, the enlargement process, and Ireland's membership of the EU. 

In the past two decades, social media has drastically shaped our understanding and practice of health. This course provides an overview of theories and methods intersecting with social media and health. Following the historical development of social media, the course covers health citizen engagement (information behaviors), contents (user-generated messages), platform governance (digital surveillance and resistance), and other aspects of social media related to health and healthcare. The course materials draw on interdisciplinary perspectives from public health, communication studies, and science and technology studies. Students will learn how the use and design of social media might reinforce health inequality while critically evaluating different stakeholders’ standpoints. Students will also have a chance to analyze health campaigns and select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors. Overall, the course aims to provide students with theoretical lenses and practical tools to engage in meaningful health intervention. The course design also seeks to enhance students’ digital health literacy.   

This course covers the recognition of instruments, traditional roles, ranges, and capabilities; the scoring for strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and voice; the history of the Western Orchestra; conducting and conductors; and orchestral techniques. Aspects covered include texture, intersectional blends, balance, influence of dynamics and selection of instruments. Selections covered include Baroque, classical, Romantic and 20th century models, and a critical review of ensembles of African instruments.

This course introduces concepts and theories related to the international business environment and constructs strategies to compete with others and to work with people from different backgrounds. The course reviews renowned analysis tools developed to help managerial decisions for multinational firms.

To improve understanding of the theories, concepts, and analysis tools, the course features real world case studies (mostly Harvard Business cases) and team discussions. 

This course provides an introduction to astronomy, from the earliest theories through to the most current scientific knowledge of the universe. Topics include the solar system, extrasolar planets, the sun, stars and their evolution, black holes, gravitational waves and the Big Bang. There is an emphasis on the role of space-based technology in our understanding of the formation and evolution of the universe and its contents. This course is not highly mathematical or quantitative and is probably not appealing to students seeking a rigorous mathematical introduction to the subject.

This course provides an introduction into epidemiological and public health perspectives on mental health and wellbeing. The course focuses on theoretical and empirical accounts of how wellbeing and common mental health problems (including symptoms of anxiety and depression, weight/eating problems, conduct problems, alcohol and other drug use) are understood in an epidemiological and public health perspective. Cultural, individual differences, and lifespan approaches to mental health and wellbeing are an integrated part of the course.

This course provides an overview of the field of microbiology, with a focus on terrestrial diversity. The course mainly covers prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbiology, with a focus on their metabolism, environmental methods, and diagnostics.

This course introduces students to critical scholarship in Irish popular music, drawing on writings in ethnomusicology, cultural geography, popular music studies, and Irish studies. Particular emphasis is given to histories of popular music styles and performances from 1960 to the 21st century examining key canonical figures within Irish popular music and significant recordings/events heralding new Irish identities. Topics for discussion include regional and transnational Irish music scenes; musical hybridity; gender and Irish popular music; Irish popular music and LGBT; Irish popular music in literature and visual media; and marginalized ethnic voices in Irish popular music. 

Liberalism aspires to the greatest possible freedom constrained only by a system of mutually compatible individual rights and the intrinsic value of individuals. Thus its core value is freedom, and its outlook individualist. Recently, liberalism has been challenged by a left-leaning “identity politics” that gives precedence to groups (especially understood in terms of race, religion, and sex/“gender”) over individuals; to “safe spaces” and the protection against alleged “psychological harms” and “offense” over freedom of speech; and to equality of outcome over equality of opportunity. The latter point is due to the fact that “identity politics” can only conceive of significant statistical group differences in terms of achievements in certain fields as the result of one group ”discriminating” against the other instead of as the natural effect of culturally (let alone biologically) mediated differences in average preferences and abilities playing themselves out in a free society. This course will critically evaluate the relative philosophical, moral, and political merits of liberalism as compared to “identity politics.”

Equality is a value that commands wide support and it is commonly guaranteed by national constitutions and human rights instruments. Yet differences emerge over the appropriate role for law in combating discrimination and when equality demands the same treatment or recognition of diversity. The enduring salience of equality has been reflected in social movements, such as MeToo or Black Lives Matter. Students examine Equality Law from a national, international, and comparative perspective. The course introduces students to the legal framework on equality found in Irish Law and European Law (EU and ECHR). It examines key topics, such as the prohibited grounds of discrimination, the forms of discrimination prohibited by the law, and the role for law in promoting equality.