Ireland

This course covers Cuban cinema since the creation of the film institute (ICAIC) in 1959. The course considers films by Cuban directors, and representations of Cuba by foreign filmmakers and Cuban filmmakers in exile, thus focusing on screenings of Cuba and Cuban topics from multiple viewpoints. Specific aesthetics are studied to contextualize applications of Cuban theoretical texts in relation to imperfect cinema, and the viewer's dialectics. Students explore the effects of non-chronological sequencing and distancing in film; black humor, subjectivity, and alterity; allegorical interpretations leading to censorship; the self and the State, with particular attention to gender and sexuality in relation to law; film autobiography as a genre; auteur cinema; revolution and the creation of the "new man"; revolutionary national identity and marginality; and diaspora, exile and inner exile, among other topics. Overall, the course studies film as a political medium across modern and postmodern contexts, using theoretical texts and key films to illustrate pivotal turning points in socio-historical contexts specific to Cuba and the impact of its 1959 revolution on all aspects of public and private life.

The course is mostly focused on self-directed learning through the completion of weekly 2-hour lab with a number of exercises. In addition, there is one lecture per week. Notes and videos are available to progress through the course via blackboard. Students should be able to create 3D models of complex engineering components using CAD software; build engineering assemblies of components using CAD software; interpret manufacturing engineering drawings; construct manufacturing drawings of components and assemblies using CAD software; and analyze engineering components using simulations techniques.

This course examines the history of folkloristics and the documentation of popular tradition and folklore in Ireland and abroad, with reference to the various movements and interests which have shaped their development. Particular attention is paid to early collecting work in Ireland, and to the work of pioneers in the field. The evolution of collecting methodology in this country, and some of the more important approaches to the study of folklore, are examined and traced from the late 18th century to the present. The course makes reference to the National Folklore Collection's unique archive holdings at UCD, and to the library in the UCD Delargy Centre for Irish Folklore with its comprehensive collection of 18th and 19th century writings and publications.

The cell is the basic building block of eukaryotic organisms, and understanding how cells develop and their physiological responses to the environment are key to our understanding of plant growth and development. This course expands on basic cell biology by using the stomatal guard cell as the system to understand plant cell biology. Lectures explore the genetic and molecular regulation of stomatal development and how stomatal guard cells respond to internal and external signals through changes in ion transport to effect changes in stomatal guard cell turgor. Practical components of this course include demonstrations of (i) advanced microscopy techniques (including laser scanning confocal microscopy), (ii) biolistic transformation, and (iii) techniques to assay for stomatal function and stomatal development.

What will the city of the future look like? To what extent are our models of city-making sustainable? Is the road that we are taking leading us towards an environmental utopia in which societies will grow in balance with nature, or are we paving the way for the collapse of our civilization? These are the key questions that will drive students' exploration of the different ways through which, today, sustainable urban development is understood and practiced across the world. Students use the tools of geography to examine the most critical socio-environmental issues faced by cities (climate change, consumption, happiness, environmental degradation, etc.), and discuss both the theory and practice of urban sustainability.
 

This course introduces students to a variety of sociological debates that surround human body. It explores various theoretical perspectives of how we experience and live in our bodies , including theories by Foucault, Elias, Goffman, Judith Butler, and others. It focuses on the roles our bodies are prescribed to, or play in our everyday interactions, how they are socially constructed. The main topics of this course range from exploring the mind/body relationship, the historical accounts of how attitudes to our bodies have been changing, the politics of the body, including gender and racial inequalities, disabilities, medicalization, and commodification of bodies. Processes behind sexualization, ageing, and dying are also discussed.

The course considers such matters as the iconography of major religious and mythological subjects, issues of style and the functions of works of art and architecture. Art works are considered in the context of influential factors such as historical period, geographic location, inter-cultural influences and the prevailing social, political and religious environments. This course offers a survey of art and architecture up to the end of 17th century, with a focus primarily, although not exclusively, on the Western world. It provides an introduction to the critical analysis of artworks, including painting, mosaic, fine metalwork, manuscripts, sculpture and building types.

This course examines finance and climate justice, and the links between them. As the worsening climate chaos threatens the very existence of humanity, it is increasingly clear that a climate justice approach is needed for both climate change mitigation and adaptation. Climate justice approaches emphasize the need for a fundamental transformation of society and the economy, while applying the principles of social justice and economic equity. However, there is a growing realization that such a socio-economic transformation is not possible without radical changes in the sphere of finance. Going beyond the proposition that finance needs to be mobilized to fund "green" transition, this course examines the view that the entire global financial architecture must be transformed to safeguard a better, healthier, more stable, and a more just future for all. Special attention is given to central banks and their role in the financialized economic system, their relation to climate change and their role in hampering and/or promoting climate justice. Alternative economic and financial models, including de-growth and post-growth approaches, are examined. The course also highlights a critical role of geography in understanding both the climate justice issues and the operation of finance in capitalist economies.

This course helps students appreciate the philosophical foundations for conducting qualitative research and to understand why and how qualitative research is carried out in psychology. A sample of current qualitative methodologies and examples of how qualitative methods may be applied in psychological settings are provided. The student is introduced to the processes involved in making sense of qualitative data and how qualitative data can and should be analyzed. Designing qualitative research reports is also covered.

Students learn to read and translate basic classical Old Irish. They describe the orthography of Old Irish and how it differs from its modern counterpart, learn to analyze the grammatical structure of basic Old Irish sentences with the appropriate terminology, and to describe the concept of the "paradigm" and apply it to the grammatical analysis. The course teaches students how to recognize and explain the main differences between Old and Modern Irish, how to apply the skills of grammatical analysis acquired in the study of Old Irish to any other language, and how to use textual glossaries competently.