ARTS at UCD

Valde

Hey there, just wondering if someone could explain a little bit about doing ARTS at UCD I'm strongly drawn by the course but my parents seem to be abit afraid due to the course length being only 3 years, "3 years for a Honours Degree isn't right"

So maybe someone can give me INFO about it.

Thanks

ant043

well if you are not sure what you want to do its a great course. It gives you a lot of different options when you finish.

Pride Fighter

3 years for an honours degree is right. In Trinity their humanities degree's are genearally over 4 years, your first 2 years dont count and the final 2 years counts for your grade, in UCD its the first counts for nothing and the second 2 count to your degree. In Trinity they get on average 8 1500-2000 word essays and 4 exams a year in UCD we average that a semester(half a year). So in fact you would more work here in 3 years than a Trinity student in 4. Arts is supremely flexible and you can have great job prospects, Civil Service, Banking and finance and many more. Also if your degree is good enough you can do an awful lot of masters courses in areas such as humanities, social science and business. We are not like the young ones, we are generally hard working folk who have a bad reputation as we like to have a laugh. I hope I was of help.

Rosita

One word of advice if you take Arts - avoid the temptation to take "easy" subjects that you have little or no interest in during first year just so you have a lighter workload. And think long and hard about the subjects you take your degree in. Don't just take what comes easiest to you automatically. A language and something like Economics are well worth considering alongside maybe a favourite subject as they broaden the options at the end.

It's a great course but there are Arts degrees and Arts degrees. It is best to keep at least one subject fairly mainstream. A BA in Greek and Roman Civilisation/Drama Studies could leave you very knowledgable and cultured but not very employable.

Mushy

Pride Fighter wrote: »

3 years for an honours degree is right. In Trinity their humanities degree's are genearally over 4 years, your first 2 years dont count and the final 2 years counts for your grade, in UCD its the first counts for nothing and the second 2 count to your degree. In Trinity they get on average 8 1500-2000 word essays and 4 exams a year in UCD we average that a semester(half a year). So in fact you would more work here in 3 years than a Trinity student in 4. Arts is supremely flexible and you can have great job prospects, Civil Service, Banking and finance and many more. Also if your degree is good enough you can do an awful lot of masters courses in areas such as humanities, social science and business. We are not like the young ones, we are generally hard working folk who have a bad reputation as we like to have a laugh. I hope I was of help.

Rosita wrote: »

One word of advice if you take Arts - avoid the temptation to take "easy" subjects that you have little or no interest in during first year just so you have a lighter workload. And think long and hard about the subjects you take your degree in. Don't just take what comes easiest to you automatically. A language and something like Economics are well worth considering alongside maybe a favourite subject as they broaden the options at the end.

It's a great course but there are Arts degrees and Arts degrees. It is best to keep at least one subject fairly mainstream. A BA in Greek and Roman Civilisation/Drama Studies could leave you very knowledgable and cultured but not very employable.

Yeah, these two posts sum it up all you should need. Dont mind what other people say about it either, its funny trying to defend doing Arts!

pretty*monster

My advice would be to choose subjects you love but within those subjects be strict with yourself about the courses you take. In a lot of sujects now there are a lot of modules that aren't core but which you would be a bloody idiot not to take, by the time you finish first year you'll probably have an idea of what they are if you have been paying attention and you should take them, otherwise you do run the risk of graduating without a firm grasp of your subject and what would be the point in that?

beanyb

Great advice from previous posters.

I'd just like to add, that if you want to do Arts, do it. You are much better off doing a course that you enjoy, than a course that other people believe will make you more employable. On the other side of that, I wouldnt recommend going into Arts just because you cant get into anything else. It's the kind of course that you really do need to enjoy or else you'll do no work, will hate your time in UCD and will probably come out with a crap degree which will just be a waste of your time.

AngelinaJolie

I studied Arts at UCD many years ago and if I had my time over I wouldn't have started so young (I was 17). I was hopelessly under prepared for what was expected of me and I did find it difficult to make friends. I perservered with the course but ended up with a ***t degree. Thankfully, I realised that it wasn't me, it was the situation, and I did go on to do very well in an M.A. years later. So the upshot is that if you are 20 years or younger, my advice is to take a PLC course or become an au pair to learn a language or travel- I think it would really help in the transition between school and college, it will help focus on what you really want to do and it's only one year.

Jonny Arson

i'd echo most of what has been said here

only do Arts if you want to do it, don't do it just because you can't decide what you want to do

too many students throw Arts down on their CAO form at the last minute, start the course and then hate it, some who do this may go on to love the course but if you go pot-luck on Arts you're taking an almighty risk of eventually dropping out

research the subjects available, if there's subjects you liked from school there's no harm in doing them but do serious research on subjects you have not done before, for example i walked into 1st year Sociology thinking it looked so interesting and fascinating blah blah and went on to hating it and i inevitably failed the subject

don't choose any subjects solely based on potential career prospects as one poster alluded to. the sheer amount of Arts students who choose to do say Economics because of potential avenues to careers like Finance and fail it miserably is frightening

simply, if you do Arts, do it because you want to and only do subjects that you have a genuine and informed interest in. also drop out rates are high enough and course atmosphere and interaction amongst students is low or almost non-existent. do your research, take all factors into consideration and best of luck your decision

Tom65

Valde wrote: »

Hey there, just wondering if someone could explain a little bit about doing ARTS at UCD I'm strongly drawn by the course but my parents seem to be abit afraid due to the course length being only 3 years, "3 years for a Honours Degree isn't right"

So maybe someone can give me INFO about it.

Thanks

I think the Bologna agreement (or whatever it was called) decided that Arts courses within the EU should, ideally, be 3 years, and then a further 2 for a Masters.

stereoroid

Tom65 wrote: »

I think the Bologna agreement (or whatever it was called) decided that Arts courses within the EU should, ideally, be 3 years, and then a further 2 for a Masters.

Not just Arts courses: ALL courses are going that way, eventually. I'm already on one, Structural Engineering & Architecture is 3+2.

samsamson

Is Arts really as impersonal as people say?

I know there's 1200 or so people in first year every year, but what kind of numbers end up in actual day to day classes?

I much prefer the idea of a class of 30 with class nights out etc. compared to a class of 150 where everybody sticks to themselves (or sticks in small private groups from secondary school). Thanks for any info!

pretty*monster

samsamson wrote: »

Is Arts really as impersonal as people say?

I know there's 1200 or so people in first year every year, but what kind of numbers end up in actual day to day classes?

I much prefer the idea of a class of 30 with class nights out etc. compared to a class of 150 where everybody sticks to themselves (or sticks in small private groups from secondary school). Thanks for any info!

It depends on the subject, you're looking at a few hundred in the popular subjects like english and history. About 100 in the mid sized classes. And then much smaller groups in the minority interest classes.

Some people don't like the big classes, but it's all about attitude. I mean, what if you're in a class of 30 and they're all rubbish. I think there were about 150 people in my philosophy class which was brilliant, there was a real mix of personalities and I was able to meet a core group of people that I really clicked with.
Having even 500 people in your class shouldn't be a barrier to getting friendly with some (if perhaps not all) of them. I'm still friends with people I met in 1st English and 1st history which are bleedin' massive classes.

Valde

I hope its not like that I've just come back to Ireland this year to do my Leaving Cert, been in a boarding school in England for the past few years, and because of that I know nobody really. ^_^

kev_s88

okay ive decided to do Arts next year and am just wondering if anyone has any experience in my hopeful subject choices


im looking to do Music, Psychology and German.any advice on these choices???

the evil lime

As I always say on the topic of friends in UCD:

The size of your class has no real bearing on your ability to make friends anyway. I'm in commerce, which is traditionally tight-knit, small groups etc. I just didn't seem to mesh with them though (my final year specialism group I get on with a lot better). It didn't stop me making friends in UCD.

I got involved with a few societies, knowing nobody going in, because I knew they were interested in similar things. I've found the smaller ones more welcoming by the way. The bigger ones have so many members that unless you get heavily involved in the running, you tend to just be another face in the crowd. I've got friends now in most of the schools in the university. Societies are pre-made groups of people who share your interests, and have the funding to hold parties with free food and drink. The sports clubs are the same, but with sports... I think. I don't know really, I've never hung around one past the first semester.

Also, if you're the political type, you can become a class rep, or get involved in the Union in some way. They too have drunken parties, though I think they call them "training".

Note: there may be some actual work involved in being a union rep or society/club committee member.

Valde

Kev see you at German and Psychology hopefully ^^

Pride Fighter

kev_s88 wrote: »

okay ive decided to do Arts next year and am just wondering if anyone has any experience in my hopeful subject choices


im looking to do Music, Psychology and German.any advice on these choices???

I can tell you right now that you will have to drop psychology after first year so your degree will be in Music and German. Quite a flexible degree for future employment as a lot of business' look for people with continental languages. However your degree will take 4 years as you will have to do an Erasmus in Germany. I would recommend against psychology as you cannot get a degree in it through arts. Philosophy, English, Greek and Roman Civilisation and History are all quite good, I'd recommend one of those.

Morf

Looks like i'll be doing Spanish, Italian and Linguistics in 1st arts . . ..

emeraldstar

Pride Fighter wrote: »

However your degree will take 4 years as you will have to do an Erasmus in Germany..

You don't have to do Erasmus, it's optional!

kev_s88

i would like to do an erasmus though.would be a great opportunity to practise my german and experience foreign culture blah blah blah.

psychology was always the one i wasnt sure off.hence me searching for advice.philosophy is the only one of those subjects listed that i would consider doing.but thanks for the info anyways. :D

samsamson

Does the English course in Arts include any creative writing? Is there any way to specialise in that specific area?

I got an A2 in the Leaving so I wouldn't be too worried about passing the subject, but I prefer writing creative pieces by far. Analysing literature was always a bit boring for me.

Pride Fighter

samsamson wrote: »

Does the English course in Arts include any creative writing? Is there any way to specialise in that specific area?

I got an A2 in the Leaving so I wouldn't be too worried about passing the subject, but I prefer writing creative pieces by far. Analysing literature was always a bit boring for me.

I am in second year and did English last year. It is mainly analysing literature but they ran creative writing workshops that had limited space, enough for 1/6th of the class. It was ran on first come first serve. If thats your cup of tea just get a really good degree and study creative writing for your masters. Trinity and UCD run a creative writing MA so the option is there if thats what you still want down the line.

Rosita

samsamson wrote: »

Does the English course in Arts include any creative writing? Is there any way to specialise in that specific area?

I got an A2 in the Leaving so I wouldn't be too worried about passing the subject, but I prefer writing creative pieces by far. Analysing literature was always a bit boring for me.

A BA in English is nothing other than analysing literature in my experience of the UCD degree course which I finished last year.

Key-Connors

iv asked this before but can anyone give a good description of what film studies like if its worthwhile cos even though it you cant major in it it would be the deal breaker for me if it wasnt any good.
and also can you choose your subjects early if you already have your leaving cert.

Bartronilic

Pride Fighter wrote: »

3 years for an honours degree is right. In Trinity their humanities degree's are genearally over 4 years, your first 2 years dont count and the final 2 years counts for your grade, in UCD its the first counts for nothing and the second 2 count to your degree. In Trinity they get on average 8 1500-2000 word essays and 4 exams a year in UCD we average that a semester(half a year). So in fact you would more work here in 3 years than a Trinity student in 4. Arts is supremely flexible and you can have great job prospects, Civil Service, Banking and finance and many more. Also if your degree is good enough you can do an awful lot of masters courses in areas such as humanities, social science and business. We are not like the young ones, we are generally hard working folk who have a bad reputation as we like to have a laugh. I hope I was of help.

I don;t know of many courses where the last 2 years count. Law they do. BESS it doesn't. But neither of them are Arts. Just pointing this out.

To the TC, I just wanna say that unless you live away from home, Arts doesn't have a great reputation for making friends.

Rosita

The last two years in Arts can count towards your degree result.

It depends on your results in years two and three.

There is a system called beneficial (to the student fortunately) aggregration where they take 70% or your third year mark and add it to 30% of your second year mark. Then they compare this total to your third year mark and the higher one is your result.

Example: In third year you get 50%. In second year you got 60%. Your final mark will be either (a) 50% (your third year mark) or (b) (70% of your third year mark (that's 35%) + 30% of your second year one (which is 18%)), whichever is higher. In this case (b) is higher at 53% which is then your final mark.

It would be useful if you bombed in third year and had decent results in second year. It doesn't make a huge difference but it is always to the benefit of the student which obviously is good and if it nudges you over the border of a grade even better. The beauty is that, for once, the student cannot lose!

So the answer is that in some cases (i.e. where a second year mark is higher than a third year mark) the two years come into play in terms of a final mark in UCD Arts.

Tarvismike

Could anyone give me some information on Film Studies and Archaeology?

I'd like to do these two subjects as part of my omnibus, but I haven't been able to speak to anyone with personal experience of them.

simonrooneyzaga

arts in its essence is very easy to blag... most modules have between 8-12 questions on the end of semester exams and you have to complete two... so you can cut out 75% of the course in some subjects! Throw in a couple of essays here and there and your flyin!

Jonny Arson

Rosita wrote: »

The last two years in Arts can count towards your degree result.

It depends on your results in years two and three.

There is a system called beneficial (to the student fortunately) aggregration where they take 70% or your third year mark and add it to 30% of your second year mark. Then they compare this total to your third year mark and the higher one is your result.

Example: In third year you get 50%. In second year you got 60%. Your final mark will be either (a) 50% (your third year mark) or (b) (70% of your third year mark (that's 35%) + 30% of your second year one (which is 18%)), whichever is higher. In this case (b) is higher at 53% which is then your final mark.

It would be useful if you bombed in third year and had decent results in second year. It doesn't make a huge difference but it is always to the benefit of the student which obviously is good and if it nudges you over the border of a grade even better. The beauty is that, for once, the student cannot lose!

So the answer is that in some cases (i.e. where a second year mark is higher than a third year mark) the two years come into play in terms of a final mark in UCD Arts.

beneficial aggregation in Arts is unfortunately gone

current 3rd years will have their degree calculated on their results from their best 6 modules in 2nd year and all 12 modules in 3rd year, these 18 modules will be evenly weighted

current 2nd years, 1st years and any future incoming Arts students will have their degree calculated on all of their results from 2nd and 3rd year, all these 24 modules will be evenly weighted

Jonny Arson

simonrooneyzaga wrote: »

arts in its essence is very easy to blag... most modules have between 8-12 questions on the end of semester exams and you have to complete two... so you can cut out 75% of the course in some subjects! Throw in a couple of essays here and there and your flyin!

oh really? this 'easy' Arts course sounds so much different to the one i'm doing here in UCD.... sign me up!

imarugbyball

kev_s88 wrote: »

okay ive decided to do Arts next year and am just wondering if anyone has any experience in my hopeful subject choices


im looking to do Music, Psychology and German.any advice on these choices???

1) Music - Great and pretty easy but it isnt playing guitar or anything, if you like the composition part of the paper for the LC id go for it, if you arent doing it for the lc id do something else.

2) Psychology - (im doing pure psych) you only might get in for 1st year, and its the easiest of the arts subjects, our lectures are like being back in primary school on a diffuculty scale and MCQtests just take the piss. You will not progress to 2nd or 3rd year with this tho.

3) I heard languages are hard so i wouldnt bother, youll want to be doing as little as possible in college imho. Plus you dont get good at speaking them really, its literature and stuff so if you liek that part of the leaving cert again do it.

Pride Fighter

imarugbyball wrote: »

1) Music - Great and pretty easy but it isnt playing guitar or anything, if you like the composition part of the paper for the LC id go for it, if you arent doing it for the lc id do something else.

2) Psychology - (im doing pure psych) you only might get in for 1st year, and its the easiest of the arts subjects, our lectures are like being back in primary school on a diffuculty scale and MCQtests just take the piss. You will not progress to 2nd or 3rd year with this tho.

3) I heard languages are hard so i wouldnt bother, youll want to be doing as little as possible in college imho. Plus you dont get good at speaking them really, its literature and stuff so if you liek that part of the leaving cert again do it.

When you get turfed to a German Uni for third year you will become fluent though. Doing a language in UCD will make you fluent in it upon leaving the college.

sir snackbox

simonrooneyzaga wrote: »

arts in its essence is very easy to blag... most modules have between 8-12 questions on the end of semester exams and you have to complete two... so you can cut out 75% of the course in some subjects! Throw in a couple of essays here and there and your flyin!

haha.... yeah sure!!!


hands up if you think simonrooneyzaga didnt do arts... or 'orts'...

*raises hand*

haha:p

Bubs101

In fairness you could easily do well in Arts if you only attended the first 6 weeks of lectures, excluding the joke week, and all the attendance graded tutorials. The essay is nearly always on something covered early on as is the tutorial excersise and these are common place in most Arts courses and then the test will no doubt have 2 questions (if it's essay based) on the first 6 weeks. It's a very blagabble course but nobody studies for it so it always seems impossible in those last 2 weeks

Cannibal Ox

Bubs101 wrote:

In fairness you could easily do well in Arts if you only attended the first 6 weeks of lectures, excluding the joke week, and all the attendance graded tutorials. The essay is nearly always on something covered early on as is the tutorial excersise and these are common place in most Arts courses and then the test will no doubt have 2 questions (if it's essay based) on the first 6 weeks. It's a very blagabble course but nobody studies for it so it always seems impossible in those last 2 weeks

I would have agreed with you last year, but this year almost all my courses have pretty consistent continuous assessment throughout the semesters. It makes you come in and work throughout most of the semester, or you fail before you've even gotten to the exam. I suppose you could still blag your way through it, but if you blag your way through arts, you'd probably try to blag your way through psychology, or commerce or law anyway.

McGinty

Does the English course in Arts include any creative writing? Is there any way to specialise in that specific area?

I got an A2 in the Leaving so I wouldn't be too worried about passing the subject, but I prefer writing creative pieces by far. Analysing literature was always a bit boring for me.

Yes it does since since 2007/2008 term, creative writing courses are offered in second and third year. In terms of analysing literature that can be a reasonably creative process in itself and if you are interested in writing itself, being exposed to a wide range of literature and learning various techniques, etc will help your writing.

Could anyone give me some information on Film Studies and Archaeology?

I'd like to do these two subjects as part of my omnibus, but I haven't been able to speak to anyone with personal experience of them.

I did film studies in first year and it was brilliant, unfornately at the time it was not a core course but an elective, however film studies has amalagmated with the english department so it may be different now. The two lecturers who did it in first year were brilliant, they really know their stuff, we covered a huge range of movies from the classical hollywood narrative, to art house (or non classical films) Italian films (I think they were called the neo realists), world cinema, irish cinema, etc. I would highly recommend it and it ties in well with english and art history. As for archeology sorry I don't know anything about it, but it is one of those subjects that people either love or hate.

To the Op, I would agree with most people here, do it if you like it, I personally think the attitude of blagging your way through college is a waste of time and space, why bother going in the first place? My experience of arts has been one where you have to work hard, for instance (I do pure english) I had to write three 4000 essays and two 2500 in the space of a month, now I had done some prep work but mainly they were all written in that time period.

Key-Connors

thanks for the info on film studies mcginty.
is english tough or is it just long because im thinking of doing it but dont want to struggle through it ending up wit a terrible grade.so what im asking is english in arts within the grasp of someone who got a c2 in the lc?

McGinty

is english tough or is it just long because im thinking of doing it but dont want to struggle through it ending up wit a terrible grade.so what im asking is english in arts within the grasp of someone who got a c2 in the lc?

I don't know about it being in the grasp of someone who got a c2 in the lc, as I didn't do the leaving cert, I went in as a mature student, I did do an access course for a year before returning to college but for someone who was considered uneducated in a formal sense I am doing pretty damn good in english. What I would ask is do you love reading? can you read quickly? when you read a novel do you just passively read it or do you get an idea that the author is trying to say something on a deeper level through the story. Do you have a love of various types of literature? I ask, because this is relevant, not your leaving cert grades. Oh are you reasonably good at essays? You do not need to be brilliant in first year, I know I wasn't and to be honest what you learn in the lc is not relevant for third level study in English, a fellow student told me that, she said she was so stressed out about the leaving cert when it didn't really matter for college.

In english you will get a number of books to read, so if you take it as a major subject you have to do between two and three english modules per semester, on average we read a book a week per module, so that is two or three texts per week. You will be required to do secondary reading so if you decide to do english get yourself an idiot's guide to literary theory (just something very basic because lecturers and secondary sources will fire out these literary theories and you will be going 'what on earth is this?'). Literary theory is how a student of literature reads a text, so for instance a feminist reading of a text, or biographical, historical, gender, marxist and so on. In 1st year you will do children's literature so will include books like Harry Potter/Alice in Wonderland, literary genre that will discuss more modern novels/short stories/poetry and literary theory, some irish literature and middle english and whilst it seems an obscure language, over the course of three years doing it in english you will get your head around it, and may even grow to love it (I developed a huge love for it, alternatively you may grow sick of it too) and be able to read it as fast as normal english (well almost). You will be reading various texts over the ages from middle english right up to 20th century lit so be prepared to move through the centuries, if you love english and apply for mode 1 in 2nd year (they do offer pure english places in 1st year depending on points but if that doesn't work they offer a few places in 2nd year) in the mode 1 english you will learn old english, and loads of lovely obscure and fantastic english subjects and often quite specialised. Most of the lecturers are fantastic and passionate about their subject and as departments go the english department is pretty damn good. On the essay writing side there is a lot of written work but you get a lot of help, tips and ideas through the tutorials so don't let it worry you and beleive me you will get really good as time passes by. If you do have a love of english then go for it, mix it with other subjects in first year to see how it goes, you can always change your mind in 2nd year. Also your grades in first year don't go towards your degree but personally I wanted to do well for me not the grade system. I hope that helps but feel free to ask more questions.

fillefatale

McGinty wrote: »

I did film studies in first year and it was brilliant, unfornately at the time it was not a core course but an elective, however film studies has amalagmated with the english department so it may be different now. The two lecturers who did it in first year were brilliant, they really know their stuff, we covered a huge range of movies from the classical hollywood narrative, to art house (or non classical films) Italian films (I think they were called the neo realists), world cinema, irish cinema, etc. I would highly recommend it and it ties in well with english and art history. As for archeology sorry I don't know anything about it, but it is one of those subjects that people either love or hate.

I don't think you can do art history and film studies together, I wanted to, but all the film studies modules clashed with art history.

Rosita

Key-Connors wrote: »

thanks for the info on film studies mcginty.
is english tough or is it just long because im thinking of doing it but dont want to struggle through it ending up wit a terrible grade.so what im asking is english in arts within the grasp of someone who got a c2 in the lc?

As someone who studied English I'll give you the boring but honest answer to this (and it probably holds for every other subject too).

Your performance in an English degree depends on how hard you are prepared to work. If you put it in consistently you will have few problems. A good natural ability to express yourself well in writing is certainly an advantage but knowledge of the texts you study is the ultimate measure of how you will do.

I'm not sure how much of a guide the Leaving Cert is to be honest as it is such a different and much less analytical exam where cramming and feats of memory are rewarded. Degree English requires (ideally) broad reading and an open mind to literature. Some people blossom academically during their degree if they are working consistently.