University College Cork

This course introduces students to a discussion of philosophical concerns that refuses to identify the human experience with the male experience. Writing from a variety of perspectives, feminist philosophers challenge several areas of traditional philosophy. Students explore some of these areas and their respective feminist challenges.

This course introduces students to the theory of options, the time value of money, rate of return of an investment cash-flow sequence, and the arbitrage theorem. Students calculate probabilities and expectations of events and random variables associated to finite probability spaces and to standard variants of Brownian motion using conditioning and independence techniques; carry out calculations based on present-value analysis and arbitrage arguments; calculate the price of European call and put options using the multiperiod model; derive and apply the Black-Scholes formula for option pricing; and estimate volatility of shares from price history data.

Topics in this course include: vectors, dot products, conics and quadrics, matrices, determinants, and linear equations. Students solve systems of linear equations; prove theorems and identities using induction; discuss terms including determinant, eigenvalue, eigenvector, invertibility, kernel, image, and spectrum; find the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of a square matrix; find the determinant and inverse of a 3 x 3 matrix, and solve associated linear equations; deduce the solvability of a system of linear equations, without finding the solutions, via Gaussian elimination; deduce whether one vector is a linear combination of others, and by the same method deduce the dimension of the kernel and image of any matrix, using Gaussian elimination and examining pivots; and prove the equivalence of the dozen invertibility criteria of Strang's nutshell using the main theorems of linear algebra.

This course gives an overview of the history of European unity and enlargement and focuses on the elaboration of EU foreign policy. Attention is given to issues such as the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the Common Security and Defence Policy, foreign aid, human rights, and terrorism.

This course reviews theory and research in social and organizational psychology with a view to developing research-informed appreciation of connections between the field of psychology and everyday life. The social psychology aspect of the course explores in detail social influence, social relations, and social thinking. It applies social psychology to understand how people perceive themselves and others, how people relate to one another, and how social psychological knowledge can be used to make a difference in people's lives. The second part of the course introduces the area of organizational psychology. The course introduces some key models for understanding organizational behavior; it considers important dimensions of how people make sense of themselves and their "fit" within work groups, to particular jobs, and to the organization itself; it explores real world implications of "fit" for career decision making, workplace socialization, workplace teams, etc.; and the course addresses issues of workplace stress and instances of deviance at work.

This course critically evaluates the concepts and the research that underpin positive psychology, and their application to coaching. This course examines the theory and practice of positive psychology, its application to coaching and the paradigm shift from pathology to strength based psychology, as well as exploring the nature of human strengths and virtues which contribute towards individuals and communities thriving. In addition students are given opportunities to apply positive psychology practices to their lives.

In this course, students explore the techniques used in environmental risk assessment and auditing. Topics include environmental and health risk assessment (background, techniques, and case studies); integrated risk assessment; definition and purpose of environmental audits; and procedures for undertaking an audit.

The word folklore did not exist when University College Cork was built in 1845—this course examines where or what was folklore before this 19th-century neologism was coined and what has happened to it since. Students examine why it has left a lasting impression on Irish identity and culture. The course introduces these questions and more to examine and explore the intellectual and historical background of folklore and ethnology in Ireland and Europe in general. The idea itself is discussed as is the emergence of the discipline and the main influences and aspects associated with these. Assessment is based fully on a final written essay.

In this course, students examine the relationship between marketing and society. Topics include marketing ethics, marketing and the environment, marketing and sustainability, marketing and social responsibility, and marketing and gender.