English

There is little disagreement that far-reaching societal, technological, political, and economic transformations are required if we are to avoid the worst effects of global, anthropogenic environmental change. What form these transformations should take and who should take responsibility for them are, however, far from settled. This course considers some of the key conceptual debates and environmental conflicts arising in this context. Examination of these debates and conflicts demonstrate the contested and uneven nature of environmental change and the measures sought to address these changes. The course helps students develop a more nuanced, critical, and multi-disciplinary understanding of environmental change and the different, often contested, ways of responding to such changes. The course consists of weekly interactive lectures/seminars, guest lectures, and set readings. Lectures introduces students to key concepts and perspectives drawn from the broad field of political ecology. Each week part of the class is set aside for students to develop their research projects. These projects focus on a key area of environmental contestation in Ireland through a political ecology lens.

This course discusses fundamental concepts in instrumentation and measurements. Topics include: multimeter, signal generator, and oscilloscope; vector network analyzer; lock-in amplifier; interfacing sensors and digital systems; data acquisition equipment and virtual instrumentation; sensors; analog signal conditioning circuits; noise and signal-to-noise ratio; modulation techniques and circuit components; signal sampling and processing; analog to digital and digital to analog converters; digital signal processing.  

Prerequisites: Signals, Systems and Circuits; Electronic Engineering Fundamentals.

This course examines the basics of nuclear and particle physics. The first part of the course covers nuclear physics and the second part covers particle physics.

The course is an introduction to social theories in Artificial Intelligence (AI). The course draws reflections and theoretical comparisons between how humans engage in meaningful interactions with other humans and with social robots. The course begins with an overview of the standard and contrasting accounts of social cognition and its development, spanning from the Theory of Mind, embodied and situated approaches, and neural mirroring theories. Mainstream research paradigms to investigate human-robot interactions will be also presented. Finally, the course advances some current psychological and philosophical critical issues related to ethical, relational, and functional issues of using social robots as partners in human daily interactions.

Drawing on influences from theater and the visual arts, Live Art does not conform to any single form of making but is rather wildly interdisciplinary, experimental and provocative. Concerned with experience and the potential of live encounter for public intervention, radical politics and formal innovation, this course introduces the Idea of Live Art and its artistic, social and political ambitions. Exploring examples of experimental practice by key practitioners –  indicatively Marina Abramović, Franko B, Chris Burden, Song Dong, Tehching Hsieh, Yves Klein, Santiago Sierra, Valie Export and others – this course also engages with contemporary events happening in London simultaneously with seminars. Students explore institutions, including the Live Art Development Agency (LADA) and the Institute for Contemporary Arts (London), which have framed, supported and made space for Live Art, and make the most of opportunities offered by the Department’s three-year partnership with Tate Modern. Students explore key ideas for theater and performance to do with liveness, embodiment, spectatorship, duration, ephemerality and documentation, and investigate how live art has embraced, challenged, and extended debates regarding the representation of ideas and identities, as well as what might count as performance.

Problems in philosophical aesthetics, both historical and contemporary, are treated in this course. They may be approached as purely philosophical questions or as questions that arise in the meeting of philosophy with the arts. For example: What is beauty and what is its place among other things in the world? What is art and what is its place among other things and other activities? How is aesthetic quality judged? Texts and focus in the course vary.