University of Galway

This course introduces students to the quantitative treatment of chemical processes in aquatic systems. It includes a brief review of chemical thermodynamics and photochemistry as it applies to natural waters. Specific topics covered include acid-base chemistry, precipitation-dissolution, coordination, and redox reactions. Emphasis is on equilibrium calculations as a tool for understanding the variables that govern the chemical composition of aquatic systems and the fate of pollutants.

The theme of ‘community’ is not one that can be pinned down in any straightforward and simplistic way but requires attention to multiple dimensions. This course uses empirical studies and perspectives from a range of international studies to examine the nature of change and significance through which communities and ‘community’ can be read. The experience of changing community life will analyze some enduring themes such as: belonging, identity, mobility, construction of community, and social ties. Another key objective of this course is to explore historical and contemporary attempts to engage communities (community sector) through policies of development and support.

This course explores the relation between art and activism as a way of engaging critically with issues such as coloniality, gender inequality, xenophobia, and exploitative labour practices. Students study the work of leading practitioners and theorists in the field of politically-engaged art, with a focus on how dialogue and provocation afford a variety of ways of calling power relations into question through participatory practice and/or collaboration as a process of co-creation.

This course teaches students about the wide range of ways in which archaeologists go about researching the past. Students learn about the nature of the archaeological record (formation processes, preservation conditions, etc.), different types of data collection and analyses used by archaeologists, including isotope analysis and ancient DNA analysis, dating methods, and different research foci with accompanying case-studies. Students are also given hands-on introductions to topographical and geophysical surveying equipment.

King Arthur and the legends surrounding him are known from medieval times throughout Western Europe, but his origin is as a Welsh folk hero. This course traces the earliest development of the Arthurian legend from its Welsh beginnings. The Celtic origin of the theme of the Holy Grail is examined also, as well as the Welsh origin of the character of Merlin. Original sources in translation form the basis of study for all these topics. Apart from one essential book, the necessary study resources are provided in class.

This course provides a forum for students to develop their own creative voices through the medium of writing. Students write their own creative pieces (short stories, novel extracts, poems, personal essays) and discuss them, along with the work of others, in an encouraging space. Grounded in a philosophy that to write well is to read well, the course also discusses a number of fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry texts. By engaging in close reading, editing, and writing exercises, students develop and hone creative skills applicable to a broad range of disciplines, both in academia and the creative arts.

The Irish landscape as we know today is governed by what has happened in the past. Both climate change and anthropogenic factors have played significant roles in shaping the development of the landscape. The objective of this course is to introduce the student to paleoenvironmental methods, in particular pollen analysis, as a means of interpreting the past 15,000 years of vegetation and environmental change in Ireland.