University College Dublin

This course focuses on understanding the basic methodological principles of the science of Economics. It starts with an introduction to the history of the notion of Economics, and then it specializes in the basic economic thought throughout the centuries. The second part of the course focuses in the general philosophy of science with an interest in the philosophy of social sciences. The course discusses in depth the basic methodological principles of the major Economic theories and the philosophers/scientists who evolved these theories (i.e. Rousseau, Hume, Locke, Hobbes, Mill, Proudhon, Smith, Ricardo, Marx).

This course explores key issues within the sociology of family. In particular, it focuses on how perceptions and experiences of family shift over space and time. Students develop an understanding of key sociological perspectives on the role of the family in society. The course explores the social construction of family, and how the definition of it developed over time. This understanding of diverse family and household structures include topics such as same-sex parents, lone-parents, divorced/step families, adoption and reproductive rights of Irish women. It considers how these changes impact individual and family relationships.

This course focuses on the finance and macroeconomics of international financial flows. It covers the history of post-War financial arrangements, from Bretton Woods to the modern globalized financial system. Other topics covered include the determinants of the balance of payments, relationships between currency arrangements and capital flows and between trade and financial flows, the role played by capital inflows and outflows in financial crisis, the determinants and financing of foreign direct investment, the role of the IMF in the global economy and the case for a global tax on financial transactions.

This course gives an overview of the early history of the Celtic-speaking peoples in Britain. After outlining what is known of Late Iron Age Britain, the course studies the wide-ranging changes caused by Roman Conquest, and examines what can be learned from various types of evidence about aspects of daily life, art and religion. When the Romans left it considers what was their enduring legacy, and what the newly independent Britain was once again like before the arrival of a new external threat with the coming of Germanic speakers, the ancestors of the English. These are the 'Dark Ages' in terms of scanty direct textual documentations, when traditions associated with the enigmatic but influential figure of Arthur developed. The course also examines the emergence of new kingdoms and sees how Christianity spread over the whole land. Finally it looks at the languages and written culture of late antique and early medieval Britain, starting with the earliest evidence of the British Celtic languages such as curse tablets and burial stones, but focusing on medieval Welsh literature, such as the heroic poems and the magical Mabinogion narratives, which are read in translation.

The course covers the integration of European countries through the lens of economic theory and policy. It uses microeconomic and macroeconomic tools to examine the motivation for and development of core EU policies. First it examines the origins of economic and later European integration, through to the Single Market. The course covers core policies such as trade, agriculture, and competition with microeconomic tools, examining economic efficiency. Then it discusses fiscal and monetary policies of the EU, including the common currency. Two crises that highlight the triumphs and pitfalls of European integration are studied in-depth: Brexit and the Financial Crisis. Using the economic policy analysis tools developed in class, students pursue research, independently and with classmates, on other EU policies such as the environment and social protection.