English

This course explores the cultural impact which selected high-profile true crime narratives have had upon works of literature, non-fiction, popular literature and film. It explores the various ways in which certain real life crimes have inspired a range of cultural responses. The course incorporates weeks on classic non-fiction true crime texts as well as works of memoir, film, literary fiction and popular fiction which have been inspired by real-life cases. Additionally, students engage with the current true-crime podcasting landscape and other true crime media. 

This course enables students to explore various aspects of Irish culture and identity in an interdisciplinary and interactive manner, focusing specifically on society, literature and language. Students are introduced to key themes, debates, texts, influences and events that help to provide a greater understanding of how Ireland evolved into the country it is today. The course examines how the language of place and space relates to society; Ireland's Celtic influences; the evolution from manuscript to print culture; the tradition of oral narrative; and literary representations of Ireland in both the English and Irish languages, from early modern sources through to twentieth and twenty-first century texts.

The course provides an introduction to the essentials of computer game development. The process of development by small independents, even single individuals, shares important features with development by large companies: innovation, creativity, storyboarding, software development, testing, deployment, and (sometimes) marketing. Topics include the economic importance of the computer game industry; common genres of games; the development of game software using specialized tools which promote rapid development through their integration of numerous prepackaged components; techniques for representing objects in 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional space, and determining whether they collide; techniques for equipping non-player characters with AI; techniques for producing special effects; gamification, that is, the provision of enjoyably game-like experience to promote education or customer loyalty or other purposes. 

This course explores the complex interplay between environmental issues, politics, and social change in the Arab world. It examines how natural resources, such as water, oil, and land, shape regional power dynamics and influence political conflicts. Through case studies, the course analyzes the impact of colonial legacies, globalization, and climate change on ecological and social systems in the region. The course also highlights grassroots movements and policy responses that address environmental justice and sustainability challenges. By engaging with interdisciplinary perspectives, students gain critical insights into the environmental dimensions of political struggles in the Arab world.

This course examines conceptual, methodological, and ethical issues at the center of current debates in the field of cognitive neuroscience. It explores how brain-behavior relationships are identified and used to inform models of cognition; methods of measuring and influencing cerebral activity; the neural mechanisms underlying a wide range of mental processes, such as attention, perception, and memory; and the implications of advances in our knowledge of the brain for psychiatric and neurological populations and society at large.

This course considers both the theoretical and practical questions which arise in this evolving area of the law. Initially, the course examines the role of the media in a constitutional democracy. The constitutional protection of the media in Ireland is compared with similar regimes in other jurisdictions with particular emphasis on the jurisprudence of the European Convention of Human Rights. The course addresses a number of specific areas of media law. Lectures deal with topics such as privacy, contempt of court, the protection of journalistic sources, obscenity, blasphemy, and the regulatory regimes in Ireland and in the EU. Throughout the course, lectures explore the issues raised by the rise of new media forms like the internet.
 

This course examines the legal framework and regulatory systems which underlie all business activity and the legal implications of commercial conduct. It covers the Australian legal system and key areas of substantive business law including contracts, torts (in particular negligence and privacy), property and securities, white collar crime, intellectual property, competition and consumer law (in particular advertising, product liability and unfair contracts), business structures and operations, misleading and unconscionable conduct and dispute resolution.

This course explores the counter-revolutionary movements, ideas and actions that shaped European history from the Enlightenment to the end of World War II. It reflects on the political, social, and intellectual history of the counter-revolution, examining the forces resisting revolutionary change — monarchies, religious institutions, conservative thinkers, rural communities — and their response to key upheavals, including, of course, the French Revolution, the rise of socialism, and the emergence of authoritarian nationalism in the first half of the 20th century. The course engages with methodological and historiographical debates surrounding the counter-revolution. It critically assesses how the concept of counter-revolution interrogates the notions of conservative and far-right politics and explores how counter-revolutionary movements contributed to the construction of political modernity in Europe.

This course examines historical and contemporary drivers of design as a maker of socio-cultural meaning. Students will learn fundamental design principles used for communication and sense-making, applied across a variety of mediums and technologies. Students will be introduced to tikanga Māori and to the main ethical, socio-cultural, economic and environmental propellants of design.

This course provides a theoretical examination of government regulations exploring their necessity in the context of market and government failures. It delves into the various types of regulations, how they function, and their impact across different sectors. Additionally, the course discusses the role of government-market interactions in national development. 

Students will gain insight into the foundations of regulatory frameworks and the government's function within them; comprehend the economic principles and theories that underpin government regulations; recognize various forms of market and government failures along with appropriate remedial actions; explore different categories of economic and social regulations, examining real-life cases both domestically and internationally; conduct in-depth analyses of regulatory instances, discerning their impacts and challenges based on these evaluations.