University College Dublin

This course is designed for students who already have an upper intermediate level of Spanish. Students develop communicative competence to a higher level of proficiency and accuracy and gain a deeper insight into Spanish life and culture. While the focus is on competence in the language skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing, there is a particular emphasis on oral communication and extending vocabulary. The course is based on a wide range of intercultural themes to prepare students to participate more actively in university, work, and social contexts in Spanish-speaking countries.

Drawing upon the work of anthropologists, archaeologists, evolutionary biologists, geographers, historians, philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, veterinary medics, wildlife conservationists, and zoologists, the course examines a range of topics in the field of human-animal studies. These include the human as animal; human/animal distinctions; human/animal boundaries; classification systems; the history and consequences of the domestication of animals; zoonotic diseases; human-wildlife conflicts; food and farming; working animals; pets and pet-keeping; animals in science and medicine; animals in education, entertainment, and sport; violence against animals; animal protection and animal rights movements; and the future of human-animal relationships.

This course addresses contemporary thought on child abuse, child sexual abuse, sexual violence, domestic violence, and prostitution in Ireland and includes an overview of the social and justice responses to these problems. The course explores social justice and human rights frameworks to critically appraise the key issues, and it draws on a range of empirical data, psychological and sociological theory, and practice experience to consider these issues in Ireland in an international context. The didactic lecture format is interspersed with guest lectures, given by a number of experienced practitioners providing services within the child abuse and domestic and sexual violence systems in Ireland.

This course assesses the impact of agricultural practices on the wider environment and agri-environmental policy responses towards the mitigation of such impacts at both national and EU level. Important environmental issues in Irish agriculture and related land uses are discussed from the perspective of the protection of natural resources (air, water, and soil quality), biodiversity, and natural and cultural heritage. The course provides both an understanding of the major environmental issues generated by Irish agriculture and the consequent responses of policy makers to address these issues.

In this course, students study exercise science. They learn how an acute bout of exercise alters the structure and function of the human body, and they examine the acute responses to exercise in the neuromuscular system, the cardio-respiratory system, together with the associated metabolic, neuro-endocrine, and thermoregulatory responses.

This course introduces students to the business of biotechnology and to how biotechnology firms capture and create value. The course starts with a case study in which the basic concepts used in the business of biotechnology are introduced. The first lecture is followed by lectures that address theoretical concepts that allow a structured study of the business of biotechnology. Students build a theory of the business (following Donaldson) and discuss theories of innovation (Rogers, Kano, Schumpeter, etc.), and the cognitive theory of the firm (Nooteboom). Students also discuss the products derived from industrial biotechnology research and development with a special focus on biotherapeutics and their development process.

This course offers a very broad introduction to the fundamental concepts and techniques of artificial intelligence, and provides students with the ability to assess and apply some of the basic techniques used in artificial intelligence (AI). Some of the topics include knowledge representation, problem solving & search, game playing, planning, machine learning and classification, genetic algorithms, neural networks, knowledge reasoning, and recommender systems. Please note any student taking this course must have their own laptop.

Historical sociologists study how social order changes through long periods of time. More specifically the focus is on the variety of social processes that have shaped human lives through history. In contrast to the conventional historical interpretations that aim to describe particular historical events (i.e. 1789 French Revolution or the origins of First World War) historical sociologists center on identifying and explaining general patterns of social action through time (why, when, and how revolutions and wars happen). This course introduces students to key concepts in historical sociology including the state, war and organized violence, revolution, nationalism, ideology, genocide, and empire among others.

The incursion of Europeans brought catastrophic change to the First Australians. This course examines how the project of creating colony and nation was affected by this founding injustice. Environmental history, migration history, and the history of Aboriginal Australia provide the conceptual framework for understanding how a modern nation shaped itself on this ancient land.