Most international students take courses in the Irish Studies program. Students are also welcome to take courses in any of the six colleges—Business, Education, Engineering, Humanities, Science and Computer Science (informatics and electronics). Students may be interested in some of the unique offerings the University provides. It is the only Irish university to offer these subjects at the undergraduate level:
Aeronautical Engineering
Equine Science
Insurance
Physical Education and Sports Science
Public Administration
Equine Science, for example, incorporates essential elements of equine science, equitation and business management. Scientific disciplines and management practices underlying the healthcare and well-being of horses are emphasized. Students visit centers of expertise, participate in seminars, handle and ride horses—a fitting introduction for pre-vet students. Students wishing to take Equine classes should meet with the Equine Course Leader upon arrival at the University. This meeting is arranged for you by the International Education Division to determine if you are eligible to enroll for particular riding classes.
A wide range of courses are open to international students, including:
College of Business
Accounting and Finance, Communications, Economics, Insurance, Management and Marketing
Faculty of Education
Education, Engineering and Physical Education
College of Engineering
Industrial Design, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Technology
College of Humanities
Culture and Society, Geography, Irish Studies, Languages, Literature, History, Public Administration, Politics, Social Sciences and Computers and Sociology
College of Informatics and Electronic Engineering
Computer Engineering, Computer Systems, Electronic Engineering and Mathematics
College of Science
Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Equine Science, Food Technology, Microbiology, Physical Education, Physics and Sports Science
Details on these and other unique offerings, as well as courses in other disciplines, are available by request from AIFS or by visiting the University of Limerick website.
Irish Studies
This multi-disciplinary program provides a comprehensive overview of Irish life and culture including Irish language and literature, history, folklore, traditional music, politics and sociology. Scheduling is organized so that conflicts are unlikely for students pursuing these courses. The University course numbers are in parentheses after the American equivalent.
| Fall Courses | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Economics/History/Sociology 303 (HI 4013) (3) |
| Course Title: | Social and Economic Change in Ireland 1780-1914 |
| Course Description: | |
| Discusses Ireland’s population, agriculture, industry, household and social structure, government and administration, communication, language, religion and politics. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Gaelic 101 (GA 4115) (3) |
| Course Title: | Irish Language – Elementary Level |
| Course Description: | |
| Vocabulary, verbal forms and syntactical patterns used frequently in conversational Irish. History of the Irish language and an introduction to early Irish literature. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Literature 201 (EH 4101) (3) |
| Course Title: | Irish Writing in English |
| Course Description: | |
| Poetry and drama with special attention to the work of W.B. Yeats. The fiction-writing tradition. Irish literary revival, issues of history and language, the social, cultural and political scene in early 20th century Ireland, Yeats’ poetry and his contemporaries, the drama of Lady Gregory, J.M. Synge as well as Sean O’Casey and major novels and short stories. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Literature 305 (EH 4135) (3) |
| Course Title: | W.B. Yeats, Heaney and the Politics of Irish Identity |
| Course Description: | |
| Applies the theories of Derrida and Lacan to writings of Yeats and Heaney, seen as pluralizing the politics and poetics of Irish identity. Post-structuralist and post-colonial analysis shows Yeats and Heaney’s works as they intersect with political forces of republicanism and nationalism. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Literature/Sociology 307 (GA 4105) (3) |
| Course Title: | Irish Folklore |
| Course Description: | |
| Definitions of folklore, collection and classification, verbal arts, minor genres, storytelling and narrative genres, indigenous and international tale types in Ireland, customs and beliefs. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Music 309 (MU 4135) (3) |
| Course Title: | Irish Traditional Music – Part One |
| Course Description: | |
| Sources of traditional music in Ireland, composition and improvisation as creative process, dance music tradition, tune types, instruments, stylistic features, contemporary developments, changing concepts of harmony, emergence of formal group playing and dynamics by incorporating practical instruction in traditional music, dance and song performance. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Political Science 316 (PO 4016) (3) |
| Course Title: | Issues of European Integration |
| Course Description: | |
| The main problems and obstacles encountered since the end of the first transitional period of the EC Treaty in realizing the principles and objectives of the European Community. Political-institutional problems that the Community faces including three major initiatives aimed at constitutional reform: Draft Treaty on European Union, the Single European Act and the Maastricht Treaty. Economic and political problems, the completion of the internal market, reform of the common agricultural policy, proposals for economic and social cohesion, the community budget and own resources, foreign and security policy and enlargement. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Political Science 323 (PO 4023) (3) |
| Course Title: | Comparative European Politics |
| Course Description: | |
| Introduction to comparative European politics, a basic understanding of the organization of European governmental systems, the role of political parties, party families, voting behavior, majoritarian and consensual Democracies and the politics of individual European states. | |
| Spring Courses | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Gaelic 101 (GA 4115) (3) |
| Course Title: | Irish Language – Elementary Level |
| Course Description: | |
| Vocabulary, verbal forms and syntactical patterns used frequently in conversational Irish. History of the Irish language and an introduction to early Irish literature. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Gaelic 201 (GA 4116) (3) |
| Course Title: | Irish Language – Intermediate Level |
| Course Description: | |
| Based on texts and other materials used in Irish post-primary schools. Content includes aspects of Irish culture. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Geography 312 (GY 4018) (3) |
| Course Title: | Historical/Cultural Geography of Ireland |
| Course Description: | |
| Interpretation of cultural markers. Study themes of decoding the landscape, names of places, signatures and people, signs and symbols, landscape as a clue to culture, seeing things and history matters. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | History 314 (HI 4018) (3) |
| Course Title: | Ireland: Revolution and Independence 1914-1972 |
| Course Description: | |
| Irish nationalism in 1914, war, revolution and the end of the Union, the Civil War, independent Ireland and the two states, the economic and social impact of independence and partition, the post-war economy of northern Ireland, economic development, industrialization and relationship with Europe. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Independent Study 316 (HP 4028) (3) |
| Course Title: | Project in Irish Studies |
| Course Description: | |
| Full year students prepare and submit a dissertation of 6,000-6,500 words on a theme they select with the approval of the course leader in Irish Studies. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Literature/Sociology 307 (GA 4105) (3) |
| Course Title: | Irish Folklore |
| Course Description: | |
| Definitions of folklore, collection and classification, verbal arts, minor genres, storytelling and narrative genres, indigenous and international tale types in Ireland, customs and beliefs. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Literature 318 (EH 4116) (3) |
| Course Title: | Contemporary Irish Writing in English |
| Course Description: | |
| Contemporary Irish writing as it relates to the literary scene of the early part of the century. Major literary, political and social forces that helped shape it since then. Selections from contemporary poetry, drama and fiction. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Literature 320 (EH 4136) (3) |
| Course Title: | James Joyce: The Epistemology of Language, Nationalism and the Subject |
| Course Description: | |
| Works of Saussure, Derrida and Lacan are used to explore the linguistic epistemology of Joyce’s texts. How language and subjectivity overlap. Political consequences of Joyce’s attitude to language and the subject in terms of the Irish/British dynamic. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Music 322 (MU 4136) (3) |
| Course Title: | Irish Traditional Music – Part Two |
| Course Description: | |
| Regional styles in instrumental and vocal traditions in Irish song tradition—repertoire and style, tradition and change in the music of the Irish harp, traditional music and society in contemporary Ireland. Practical instruction in traditional music, dance and/or song performance. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Political Science 311 (PO 4013) (3) |
| Course Title: | Government and Politics of Ireland |
| Course Description: | |
| Economic, social and political change, political culture, constitutional development, evolution of the party system, electoral behavior, social bases of party support and an overview of principal political institutions including the presidency, oireachtas, government, taoiseach and civil service. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Political Science 315 (PO 4015) (3) |
| Course Title: | Government and Politics of the European Union |
| Course Description: | |
| Development of the European Community/European Union (EC/EU) as a political system from the aftermath of the Second World War until the Maastricht Treaty. The institutional system of the EC/EU including the decision-making procedures, the interaction between the EC/EU and the politico-administrative systems of the member states and the ongoing debate on institutional reform in the EC/EU. | |
| Course Code and Credits: | Sociology 326 (SO 4016) (3) |
| Course Title: | Issues in Contemporary Irish Society |
| Course Description: | |
| Power, control and legitimacy in Irish society, social differentiation, the media and social control and processes of empowerment, forms of social conflict, dispute processing, dispute context and the public sphere. | |