English

This course explores, for students with and without a science background, the linkages between forests, climate (change), and carbon (as well as other greenhouse gases). Topics include forest types, tree species; environmental factors determining tree growth/health; impacts of forests on climate and ecosystems; climate predictions, expected consequences and dendro-climatology; mitigation: carbon sequestration, biomass, renewable energy, product lifecycle, conservation of existing forests and forest expansion, land-use change and context of forestry among other land-use types e.g. agricultural systems; adaptation: forest management and sustainability, forest conversion/transformation, species selection, silvicultural systems; carbon trading: reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD); international cooperation (Kyoto, Copenhagen, Madrid, Cancun, Paris etc.) and current position for Ireland. Course includes a compulsory one-day fieldtrip.

The course offers an overview of Western philosophy and analyses the questions treated in its main branches. This course studies the Greeks as the founders of the Western philosophical tradition, key texts, and ideas relating to Presocratic philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, emphasizing on metaphysical questions about the nature of reality and of the soul.  The course covers the medieval era through the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, emphasizing on his use of an Aristotelian approach to metaphysical notions of substance and soul, as well as his arguments for the existence of God. The study of modern philosophy focuses on Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Wittgenstein. In this part of the course, students explore the views of these thinkers on questions like: What is knowledge, and is it possible? How is the mind related to the body? What is meant by virtue ethics? What is the relation between language and the world?

This course provides an overview of Islamic history. It presents and discusses Islamic scriptures, doctrines, and rituals. The course demonstrates the significance and development within Islam of concepts such as prophethood, revelation, jihad, theology, law, and gender. Students develop an understanding of the contribution of Islamic civilization to human culture and examine various scholarly approaches to the study of Islam. 

This course explores, giving them voice, how aboriginal Americans (also named First Nations, Tribal groups, Indigenous People, or Native-Americans) relentlessly attempted to “unsettle” their land and exposed the connectedness between violence to the earth and violence towards them. Far from feeding the trope of the “Indians in harmony with nature,” this course examines how their demand to preserve the ecological integrity of the land has been an act of political resistance. It develops a historical perspective on the specificity of Indigenous environmentalism in the United States, for the “healing” of land, non-human life and natural resources has been inherently tied to the ongoing land grabbing and exploitation of their territories. Ranging from History to Anthropology, Native-American Studies and Environmental History, this class historicize indigenous vulnerabilities to extreme weather, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and pollution from manufacturing and resource extraction. It engages in weekly conversations to unpack the ongoing struggle that indigenous and black communities have fought for the preservation of the right to bury their dead, breathe, and survive.

Based in the metal and wood workshops, this course will guide students in the exploration of materials and construction processes. 

This course examines surfing's history, culture, and science with a unique practical immersion. Students will uncover the multifaceted nature of surfing in Australia, which will include examining surfing’s Polynesian roots in the First Nations cultures, its development by the modern surfing industry, as well as delving into the science that shapes the perfect wave. Students will examine the distinct surfing culture which has emerged and is still evolving through Australian music, film and literature. Students will also examine the effects of large businesses such as Billabong and Rip Curl on Australia’s surfing culture. 

This course examines  the history and foundational institutions and principles that underpin the Australian legal system. It covers current legal issues in Australia, and explores these in critical and comparative perspectives. 

This course examines the psychological principles behind persuasion to change behavior and then looking at how advertisers use each technique. It first discusses how to define and then understand the dynamics of behavior change, before looking at how to change behavior using a variety of techniques. 

The course provides instruction in agile development methodologies and promotes close collaboration between team members. The development of the project is structured as two product releases as part of the development cycle. Each week, the current state of progress is reported and discussed, both in the lectures and in the group meetings. A project mentor meets with each team weekly and will advise on setting up the team structure including the assignment of roles and responsibilities within the team and on reporting systems both internally and externally. Weekly peer code and design reviews are a core component of the delivery of the course. These are to encourage a team approach to learning and introduce the practicalities of software quality control. 

This course offers students the opportunity for an extensive study of one of the most important writers of the 20th century: George Orwell. Students study the representative sample of Orwell’s writing across a variety of forms and subjects, looking at Orwell as a novelist, a journalist, a memoirist, a social theorist, a political thinker and writer, and an essayist and cultural critic.