Arts History

lebowski11

Hi all,
Was just wondering if anyone on here has studied History in NUIG.If so I would appreciate any info you could give me on the course.Thanks.

LadyMayBelle

I assume you mean as part of the BA? I only took it in first year, and enjoyed it but not enough to carry on with it to degree. There are some well established lecturers in the department, very passionate about what they do so why not meet one of them?

I remember enjoying the module on St.Patrick and other such Irish histories..

lebowski11

Thanks for the feedback.I've applied to do the Single Honours History Degree.It would definitely help to get on touch with someone at NUIG.Thanks again.

CMBT

Hi OP,
I studied History for my B.A along with English. I don't know if I'm your best person to be advising you but I overall found the History Dept in NUIG very aloof and unhelpful. Apart from a small number of lecturers I found the dept and the topics on offer frustrating.
However, if your are prepared to work hard, do required readings and assignments, you should have no problems.
Also i'd choose carefully what topics/lecturers you pick.

Davyhal

I fully agree with the poster ahead of me. I did English and History for my degree, just finished there in May. The thing with history is a lot of the lecturers are not cut out for the job at all. True they know a lot about the topic they are teaching, but they simply don't know how to teach! Of course there are exceptions, and I found Steven Ellis to be one of the best teachers/lecturers I had in all my years of education. I also have to re-enforce the point about being careful about picking the subjects. Every year I made the same mistake. In first semester I would pick a topic that sounds fascinating, such as "The History of Eastern Europe and the Early Crusades" (or whatever the name of that class was) and once I was stuck with it I would discover that I had no foundations to start from and while it may be interesting, it could be very hard. Come second semester I would have learned my lesson and would choose a subject that I had done in secondary school or first year, or at least had touched on at some stage, such as The French Fourth and Fifth Republic. It's amazing how quickly things you had learned for Junior Cert or Leaving Cert comes back to you, and it makes a huge difference to your end result.

TheInvisibleFie

I'm not sure about single hons but in general history is a decent subject. In first year though so many people from Arts do it that lectures end up being packed (well for the first two to three weeks anyway). They can also be a bit fussy about double and triple stamping and approving and stapling in the correct corner and all that jazz. I've gotten on grand with any lecturers I felt the need to talk to about the course ... even when it came to asking for a booklist halfway through the semester. The lecturers I've had have been decent.

mr_november

hey it seems that some of the history lecturers are a lot better than others in the department...any advice out there on which ones are good and which aren't?...feel free to pm me if you dont want to name and shame in public;);):cool:

liverpool lad

i find roisin healy brilliant, she explains everything and you always leave her lectures having learned something. . mary harris is also really good and witout a doubt jackie uí chionna is the best tutor.. she should be lecturing i think

Twilighter

liverpool lad wrote: »

i find roisin healy brilliant, she explains everything and you always leave her lectures having learned something. . mary harris is also really good and witout a doubt jackie uí chionna is the best tutor.. she should be lecturing i think

nice one, jackie uí chionna is my tutor (:
gearoid barry is so difficult to listen to, and it's frustrating because i'm actually interested in WW1. anyone else agree?

Twin Lance

I'm not sure if shes still there, but if there is a choice of having a lecturer called Kim LoPrete, avoid it at all costs. She is a pedantic, and often arbitrarily difficult lecturer. I had her in my second year, and I hated every moment. And it appears to have been a general concensus with my class.
On the other hand, I'll agree with Roisin Healy, but give her a chance, she can be a bit dry but she lectures interesting subjects and is very clear and straightforward.
Niall O Ciosain is a great lecturer, very friendly and enthusiatic. If you have him for a subject and you need help or have a problem with something he is incredibly approachable and helpful.
My favourite out of the lot though has to be Enrico Dal Lago. He's an Italian lecturer, not sure if you'd have him in your first year, but he is one of the nicest people I have ever met. Had him for my seminar in final year, and going up to him to discuss your dissertation, he'd be just as happy to talk about the Simpsons as anything else! Great lecturer, and amazing topics.
Bottom line is, if you're into history, do it! Never pick a subject based on the teacher/ lecturer. Arts is basically about your interests, what you want to specialise in. It might not seem like that at first, because of the lack of choice, but as you go on, the subjects open up, and by the end you can do anything you want really!
I'd definitely recommend doing History in NUI, was my best college experience in Galway.

Lockstep

I kept on history onto second year.
Doing it for my final year.

History is a mixed bag for a lot of people. I've yet to have a lecturer who I really disliked but they often have very different styles which can be tough to adapt to.

John CUnningham is brilliant, he's on sabbatical for the year but was able to make anything sound interesting. Also shows optional movies such as Wind that Shakes the Barley

Roisin Healy is pretty much your typical harsh but fair lecturer, she's grand.

I liked Géaroid Barry's course, had him twice (in 1st and 2nd year) and never found any problems with him. If you can read French you'd be at a massive advantage doing his France in WWI course; I got some memoirs in French as sources which really made my dissertation come across well.

Niall O'Ciosan was also grand, very enthusiastic and helpful as has been said here.

Simon Potter was excellent, his classes are always well prepared with a load of slides. His exam questions can be much broader than the rest of the lecturers (both a good and a bad thing)

Daibhi Ó Cróinín was a tough course. He's always willing to help you out but I found his course to follow given the areas he liked to focus on (Brehon law, Annals, ancient Irish church)

Most lecturers are fairly accomodating if there's an area you want to write about (especially for colloqiams), history is pretty much what you make of it. I hear a fair bit of criticism mainly directed towards the "old school" lecturers who are more inclined to be hands off and leave you to do their own work.

If you're into History then I'd definetely advise you to do it, don't be put off by peoples perceptions of lecturers as they will change from person to person. (I'm a huge history buff so was easily able to adapt to different lectuerers)