Ireland

This course examines the historical study of emotion through a focus on Old English literature. Students look at a series of short readings, which are provided both in the original language and in translation, to consider some specifics of Anglo-Saxon emotional culture, methodologies for study, and our own response. Topics include the highly personal use of THE WANDERER by W.H. Auden; the emotions of shame and love; affective piety; performative concepts of emotion; the problem of vocabulary (do modern English words match up with Old English ones?); and the Anglo-Saxon concept of the Mod, which encompasses both emotion and thought. The course focuses mostly on texts that modern readers typically find engaging, such as the elegies, but also considers texts we may find disconcerting or repellent, such as THE BATTLE OF BRUNANBURH, or that belong to unfamiliar genres such as the saint’s life.

This course focuses on comparative public policy and is divided into two parts. The first part deals with a range of theoretical issues involved in the comparative analysis of public policy. The second part of the course deals with a number of specific policy areas, exploring similarities and differences in how these have been handled in different national contexts.

The course examines the core themes within Marx's work through a detailed textual examination of his major publications. The last three seminars explore critical views of Marx's work from Weberian, feminist, and environmentalist positions. The seminars are devoted to further exploration of the implications of Marx's work, and its impact in academic circles. The course also examines the political ramifications of his writings, and their reception through the past century.

This course introduces students to the outstanding record of classical art and architecture and to an understanding of the principles, the techniques, and the process of cultural diversity and assimilation that characterized the period of classical antiquity. The course begins with an overview of early beginnings in the Aegean before considering the geometric and archaic periods that led in turn to the classical period during the 5th century BC in Athens. The course also considers the achievements of the Hellenistic age, with a particular focus on monumental sculpture, public architecture, and town planning. The rise of Rome is next considered in the context of Etruscan influences. There follows a detailed examination of the art and architecture of Republican and Imperial Rome. The manner in which Roman art was consciously fashioned on Greek models and myths and the distinct achievements of the Roman period are highlighted. This includes a study of how Roman art and spectacle reflected the patronage and power of the lives and personalities of the emperors who reigned from the time of Augustus to the fall of Rome. In addition, it includes a select appreciation of Roman portraiture, the Roman house and villa, Roman wall painting, and Roman decorative arts.

This team-taught course introduces students to a range of texts, authors, and issues in Irish writing. Students work across genres and forms, encountering canonical and less often studied works. This is an innately comparative course which proposes and encourages various ways of thinking about Irish texts, while at the same time providing a sound knowledge of the social, cultural, and political conditions in which these texts were written and read.

This course explores contemporary Irish theater, with specific reference to its representation and evaluation across a variety of media platforms. The course focuses on the discourses and practices of the media. Students engage with contemporary theater practice in the form of print reviews, articles, blogs, vlogs, social media platforms, and panel discussions.

This course provides students with an opportunity to identify and develop the skills and resources which will maximize their success at university. The course facilitates students in achieving the highest grades possible across their courses in the BA. Students develop an understanding of university expectations, enhance academic skills, and develop an understanding of the different learning and assessment practices used in a university. Specific topics include critical thinking, academic writing skills, effective reading and note-taking, and experiential use of the UCD online classroom, Blackboard. A number of short written and online assignments are completed throughout the course. No special computer skills are needed, just a basic familiarity with computers and a willingness to use them.

In this course, students explore religion in modernity; secularization revisited; civilizational analysis; religion and the civilizing process; the rise of new religious movements; traditionalism and fundamentalism in contemporary religious movements; and varieties of religious experiences.