English

This course examines the theory of systems of ordinary differential equations. The emphasis will not be on finding explicit solutions, but instead on the qualitative features of these systems, such as stability, instability and oscillatory behavior. The applications are from biology, physics, chemistry, and engineering, including population dynamics, epidemics, chemical reactions, and simple mechanical systems.

Over the course of the last four years societies have witnessed one of the most dramatic returns of state interventionism since the Second World War. Governments have sought to mitigate the consequences of multiple crises – be that the 2008 financial crash, the COVID-19 pandemic, or the inflationary shock post the Ukrainian war – through a raft of new policy measures be that financial regulation, price controls, lockdowns, furlough programs, basic income packages, and infrastructure initiatives. However, it is often very hard to say with confidence what the consequences of these polices were. Using this crisis context as an overarching frame, this course introduces quantitative methods employed in evaluating the efficacy of public policy. The course begins with a focus on the basics of working with data, emphasizing the importance of how data is designed (longitudinal or cross-section) as well as the level of data collection (ecological or individual). Then, the focus turns to empirical methodology: how researchers design natural experiments to estimate the average treatment effect of a policy. Beginning with simple OLS regression, the course advances to studying three basic approaches: difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity design, and instrumental-variables regression. Finally, the course concentrates on examples of applied research and examines how researchers connect these methods with important debates in public policy and social theory. Throughout the course there is a strong emphasis on adopting a hands on approach, using the R programming language. This course develops the basic tools to be able to: manipulate and clean data, perform simple analyses both descriptive and analytical, as well as visualize their results in an aesthetically pleasing way. But more than that, this course builds the confidence to explore R on one's own, understanding that programming is a skill which scholars develop over many years through persistent practice. This class expects students to have a certain mathematical confidence but does not expect students to know anything about econometrics.

This course examines ancient myth in literature (poetry, drama, historiography, and other genres) and art. It explores different ways of interpreting myths and seek to understand the meaning of myths in their contexts. Prominent themes include creation, gods, heroes, sex/gender, violence, and civilization.

This course examines the role of media in cases of modern conflict, genocide, and peace processes. It covers media structure, content, framing and psychological responses during times of conflict and peace-making, and how media informs audiences and either foments or quells conflict.

This course examines some of the leading theories of justice in contemporary political thought and their implications for designing political institutions and public policies. Questions include: What is a fair distribution of society’s resources? Should parents be entitled to pass on their wealth to their children? Should offensive speech be regulated? Should our public policies treat every citizen the same or allow for gender and cultural differences? Can historical injustices be rectified? What does environmental justice look like? Are animals entitled to justice? In pursuing these questions, students explore topics such as rights, distributive justice, gender equality and multiculturalism, historical injustice and reconciliation, and pluralism and the clash of values. 

This course examines roles and skills needed for the management of productions, companies and other organizations in the performing-arts, specifically drama, but also dance, music and other performance art. Skills discussed include planning and creating schedules and budgets, procuring and managing resources, arts organization infrastructure and liaison, donor and benefactor development, social marketing and networking, crowdfunding, and outcome reporting.

This course explores the concept of democratic representation in multi-level systems, examining both theoretical foundations and practical case studies. It begins with an overview of key theories on democratic representation, exploring both the demand for representation by the public and the supply of representation by elected officials and institutions. In the latter half, case studies from various multi-level political systems illustrate how these theories apply in practice and how representation is shaped by institutional design.

The 20th century was marked by the clash of ideologies—fascism, Nazism, communism—and unprecedented violence. Its literary history, in turn, was shaped by bold formal experimentation (modernism) and the emergence of voices from regions and groups previously underrepresented. Through literature, particularly the novel, the course examines how writers grappled with this apocalyptic century. The novel, with its focus on individual experience and narrative complexity, provides a unique, non-ideological lens to engage with reality and history. It studies it through works by Dostoevsky, Conrad, Virginia Woolf, Kafka, Kundera, Garcia Marquez, Achebe and others.

Why study criminology? It deals with one of the major social issues of our time- crime and punishment. The study of criminology introduces students to some key elements and thinkers of the Western intellectual tradition. Philosophers and sociologists have informed the development of various theories on criminology and why people commit crime. Familiarity with such theories and thinkers is an important part of one’s general legal education. The materials for the course are sociological in nature. There are no cases or statutes to be studied or analyzed. However, the criminological theories examined are related back to the Irish criminal justice system to determine the relevance of these theories to crime in Ireland.

This course examines feature film and the main traditions of film criticism. A series of significant films, from 1915 to the present, are explored in detail. The aim is to develop a historical perspective, an awareness of film-making as an art and an interest in the relationship between films and society, including debates about race, gender, censorship.