Trinity College Dublin

Social Neuroscience is one of the newest fields in psychology and explores the neural systems underlying social behavior. The course outline the theoretical origins of the field, basic neuroanatomy, and core methodologies including brain imaging techniques and behavioral paradigms. In addition, areas covered include how the brain enables the processing of faces, emotions, theory of mind, prejudice and stereotypes, moral judgments and economic decision making. The course also considers some of the ethical implications associated with our growing understanding of the neural determinants of interpersonal behavior and the impact this knowledge can have on our notion of free will and responsibility.

This course consists of a series of lectures, tutorials, and laboratory sessions that deals with a range of developmental topics emphasizing a molecular approach to understanding the principles of animal development. A number of animal model systems is dealt with and the contribution of each to our overall understanding of development discussed. Specific topics include: developmental genetics: the identification of genes that regulate development in Drosophila and vertebrates; positional determination: how the body plan of the embryo is laid down including the role of homeo-box genes; induction: the role of cell and tissue interactions and signaling cascades; developmental neurobiology: positional determination within the vertebrate central nervous system, neuronal diversity and axonal guidance, and neural crest cells and development of the peripheral nervous system. Other topics include limb development, organogenesis, and evolutionary developmental biology.

In this course, students examine the development of Jewish life across Europe. Topics include emancipation and integration; Jewish life in the Russian empire and in Eastern Europe; the emergence of different forms of Judaism; antisemitism; mass migration; and radical politics, gender issues, and varieties of Jewish national politics.

This course provides an introduction to monstrosity as an important part of Victorian culture. Students examine versions of the monstrous which emerged in the Victorian period in a broad historical and cultural context. Students are offered a critical introduction to the various ways in which significant theoretical developments have influenced interpretations of the Gothic, and are encouraged to use and challenge important critical terms and ideas within their own analyses.

This course examines cultural highpoints in the arts of Japan from the 14th to the 19th centuries. Artefacts in all media - painting, ceramics, lacquer, and textiles - are examined in the context of the influence of China on Japan, the creation of the Shogun Court, the rise of the merchant classes and the establishment of the pleasure districts in burgeoning Tokyo. Particular attention is paid to lacquer ware created for the domestic and European market, the arts associated with the tea ceremony and traditional Japanese theatre. Themes of Japonisme are explored, particularly in 19th-century Ireland as Japan emerged after 250 years of self-imposed isolation from the outside world.