Arts

LC2010HIS

Hey guys
I put down the arts on the cao and was just wondring if ye could tell me about English, Socialogy,Psychology and History
I'd love to do them and was just wondering whats the work like? Are they difficult? Thank you!!:)

Byron85

LC2010HIS wrote: »

Hey guys
I put down the arts on the cao and was just wondring if ye could tell me about English, Socialogy,Psychology and History
I'd love to do them and was just wondering whats the work like? Are they difficult? Thank you!!:)

Don't do Sociology. Just don't. I've studied it twice before in 2 former colleges and this year completely killed my love for the subject. To be honest, I don't think the department have a clue most of the time. There are maybe 3 great lecturers across first year but that doesn't make up for the other 3 or 4 downright awful ones.

History and Psychology are great, Psychology in particular. There's a lot in Psychology, especially in the Biological module, but if you like the subject you'll get by.

LC2010HIS

Ah cool! I found pyschology interesting on the open day
When do you choose subjects, matter of interest?
Thank you!:)

Byron85

LC2010HIS wrote: »

Ah cool! I found pyschology interesting on the open day
When do you choose subjects, matter of interest?
Thank you!:)

August I think.

captainspeckle

Hey!! I did those four in first year too, loved them all except sociology. That was the greatest pain in the arse of a subject! :mad: lecturers were brutal and it didnt really turn out to be what I expected. It was interesting for the first 3-4 weeks, then the lecturer changed and it all just became incredibly boring and dull, and incredibly in depth for an introductory course. My advice would be to stay clear unless you have experience and know thats its a definate area of interest.

As for the rest, they were all really interesting. Psychology is tough ish.. but really really interesting. There was only the odd lecture that I didnt really enjoy. It is broken into 6 sections, not sure of the names of them now becasue I didnt keep the subject on but we looked at social, abnormal, biological, developmental aspects of psychology and also the history of it was covered. LOVED History and English the most, which is why I kept them on. The English course in first year is very broad and pretty much every espect of literature is examined. Poetry, drama, shakespeare, film, novels, the usual kind of stuff. Its in second year that it becomes much more interesting as you get to pick exactly what you want to study. History in the first term of first year focuses on the modern history of Ireland and also the origins of European identity. Then after christmas you pick from a number of different areas what class you want to take. I think there is a choice of like 4 or something like that?!

Anyways, there are probobly lots of other question you want answered that I didnt cover so feel free to drop me a PM I will be glad to help you!

LC2010HIS

captainspeckle wrote: »

Hey!! I did those four in first year too, loved them all except sociology. That was the greatest pain in the arse of a subject! :mad: lecturers were brutal and it didnt really turn out to be what I expected. It was interesting for the first 3-4 weeks, then the lecturer changed and it all just became incredibly boring and dull, and incredibly in depth for an introductory course. My advice would be to stay clear unless you have experience and know thats its a definate area of interest.

As for the rest, they were all really interesting. Psychology is tough ish.. but really really interesting. There was only the odd lecture that I didnt really enjoy. It is broken into 6 sections, not sure of the names of them now becasue I didnt keep the subject on but we looked at social, abnormal, biological, developmental aspects of psychology and also the history of it was covered. LOVED History and English the most, which is why I kept them on. The English course in first year is very broad and pretty much every espect of literature is examined. Poetry, drama, shakespeare, film, novels, the usual kind of stuff. Its in second year that it becomes much more interesting as you get to pick exactly what you want to study. History in the first term of first year focuses on the modern history of Ireland and also the origins of European identity. Then after christmas you pick from a number of different areas what class you want to take. I think there is a choice of like 4 or something like that?!

Anyways, there are probobly lots of other question you want answered that I didnt cover so feel free to drop me a PM I will be glad to help you!

COOL! English and History ive my heart set on! Love it!
My back up for socialogy was Politics?
Thanks for the info was told before english was really hard but it sounds pretty enjoyable in your description:D:D

ReacherCreature

LC2010HIS wrote: »

Ah cool! I found pyschology interesting on the open day
When do you choose subjects, matter of interest?
Thank you!:)

Make sure you pick the top two subjects you really want. You'll have four or more preferences, if you really want to do English; make it your first preference. AFAIK they only take those students wanting English with it as their 1st preference.

LC2010HIS wrote: »

COOL! English and History ive my heart set on! Love it!
My back up for socialogy was Politics?
Thanks for the info was told before english was really hard but it sounds pretty enjoyable in your description:D:D

To be honest, I've talked to numerous people (including Boardsies) and they detest Sociology. Unless you're passionate about it, keep away would be the best advice I could offer you.

Politics is very enjoyable, nothing too impossible and grand to study. Lecturers (couple of years ago) were grand and it's well organised.

History is terrific. I'm completely biased though.

English is probably fine, you'll have to be into it and enjoy it. Like all subjects I suppose. On this forum, captainspeckle's best to talk to about it.

Any more questions, shoot, we'll be glad to help.

TanG411

Sociology isn't difficult, but it is extremely boring, as in 'you will never last the full hour lecture concentrating' boring. Also most of it is not very interesting. I definitely will not keep it on next year. By all means, go for it if you want. Some sections can be interesting, like Niamh Hourigan's section on social discrimination and stuff. On the other hand you might have Piet Strydom and the history of sociology. That isn't interesting and it is boring. They changed the layout of the summer exam to allow a bit more choice for the student, but they expect you to know a lot for particular sections.

Psychology is definitely interesting, but there are lots of reading involved if you want to do well (As with most subjects I suppose). A lot of the course focuses on experiments and case studies. More than likely I'll keep this on next year

English is alright. I never enjoyed reading until I did it. Now I read about two books a month . Fiction is a good section, as is renaissance poetry. Ha, I'm just writing down my interests. I'll probably keep this on next year too. And as Nova_Era said below me, you may meet Barry Monaghan. Deserves to have a course to his name .

Can't say much about history. I did maths studies instead.

Nova_era

If you do English then you might get the chance to meet Barry Monahan.

That is worth putting it on your CAO alone.

ReacherCreature

Agreed with above. There's something mystical about that man.

Nova_era

ReacherCreature wrote: »

Agreed with above. There's something mystical about that man.

I don't even do English, but in a way I wish I did. Just so I could find a reason to call to his office, and get to talk to him. He might know who I am then.

Although, I think he knows who I am now, as whenever he sees me I'm generally staring/talking about him/giggling like a schoolgirl.

TanG411

Nova_era wrote: »

I don't even do English, but in a way I wish I did. Just so I could find a reason to call to his office, and get to talk to him. He might know who I am then.

Although, I think he knows who I am now, as whenever he sees me I'm generally staring/talking about him/giggling like a schoolgirl.

Here's his number

ReacherCreature

Nova_era, think you should join this: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=214982233766&ref=search&sid=724094405.2031654679..1#!/group.php?gid=214982233766&v=info&ref=search

OP, just in case. Barry Monahan's an English lecturer who holds high respect among students; that's probably the understatement of the year though. Him and Andrew King were by far and away the best lecturers I had in 1st year English. Quality.

Nova_era

ReacherCreature wrote: »

Nova_era, think you should join this: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=214982233766&ref=search&sid=724094405.2031654679..1#!/group.php?gid=214982233766&v=info&ref=search

OP, just in case. Barry Monahan's an English lecturer who holds high respect among students; that's probably the understatement of the year though. Him and Andrew King were by far and away the best lecturers I had in 1st year English. Quality.

OH YES!!!

I've been looking for this for ages, thank you so much! Joined, and I'm gonna send the invite to some other Barry appreciators in my year. What a fantastic man.

Women want him. Men want to be home. Sometimes it's the other way round.

captainspeckle

Had Barry monahan for my seminar this year. The man should have his face on money. What a legend. Also, if the OP is doing history, Dr. Diarmuid Scully is a legendary man. You could not meet nicer!


http://www.facebook.com/pages/When-Dr-Diarmuid-Scully-tells-you-not-to-panic/115563645146522

Ardennes1944

please dont do sociology, its just a nightmare lyk ask anyone.just did it for first yr arts and the department is a disgrace like

Ardennes1944

oh,i recommend computer science. im not majorly into comps but i found interesting and funny with a great lecturer

mariaf24

Hi everyone,sorry i don't mean to go off topic but..

I did my degree in Sociology at UCC (2008) and have nothing but fond memories. It really saddens me to read some of the responses here.
I know that Sociology is definitely not what many people have expected but people here seem so against it?
Just curious as to why this is? I always found the department excellent,is this not the case anymore?
I do remember First year being the hardest,everything fell into place by 2nd and 3rd year.

Byron85

mariaf24 wrote: »

Hi everyone,sorry i don't mean to go off topic but..

I did my degree in Sociology at UCC (2008) and have nothing but fond memories. It really saddens me to read some of the responses here.
I know that Sociology is definitely not what many people have expected but people here seem so against it?
Just curious as to why this is? I always found the department excellent,is this not the case anymore?
I do remember First year being the hardest,everything fell into place by 2nd and 3rd year.

I've studied it twice before in other colleges. I loved the subject then but this year, I don't know. It seems like they were making it up as they went along and weren't sure what they were meant to be teaching us. I think they somewhat confirmed this suspicion by telling us what was coming up in the exam. Now, there are a few great lecturers, Niamh, Ger, Tracy and Kieran, in particular Ger.

The problem was with Piet and Arapad more so. Their modules went on for far too long for what were, lets just call a spade a spade, Philosophy lectures. No offence to them, but if I wanted to study Philosophy I would have picked that subject to begin with. It was the epitome of tediousness and I was intending on carrying on Sociology for the remaining few years. Not now though. The Department really comes across as if it's only being held together by a shoestring, both economically and academically.

To be fair though, the optional modules for second year do seem very good.

SC2003 - Social Structure, Social Inequality and Social Stratification
SC2004 - Political Sociology
SC2005 - Critical Sociology 1
SC2006 - Rural Development
SC2010 - Sociology of Deviance
SC2012 - Race and Ethnicity
SC2017 - Sociology of Education
SC2026 - Sociology of the Family
SC2027 - Sociology of Heath and Illness
SC2034 - Culture of Cities
SC2038 - Irish Society
ST2011 - Statistics (information on this will be provided by the Statistics Department who run this course)

LC2010HIS

captainspeckle wrote: »

Had Barry monahan for my seminar this year. The man should have his face on money. What a legend. Also, if the OP is doing history, Dr. Diarmuid Scully is a legendary man. You could not meet nicer!


http://www.facebook.com/pages/When-Dr-Diarmuid-Scully-tells-you-not-to-panic/115563645146522

is that the british guy??? had him on the open day...was very strict..threw people out

cork*girl

Im thinking of doing History, Geography, English and Politics.. Anyone have any information on them? I want to go History and Geography mainly but should I still put English as number 1 so I get in? What are the chances that History and geography will be full if I put them as 2 and 3?

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

I'd say you haven't a hope of getting English unless you put it down number 1, they're at the point where they have to some first year lectures through podcast because the lecture halls aren't big enough.

A friend of mine is in final year Geography now (joint with Economics) and really enjoys it, seems like a very broad course that you can pick your area of interest from and specialise, lots of trips as well.

Nobody ever asks about history of art

December

King Old-fashioned Glycerin wrote: »

Nobody ever asks about history of art

What's it like?
I'm going to be taking English for sure, and probably History. My other choices that I'm considering are History of Art^, Latin, Italian or French - so any more info about those would be great!

ReacherCreature

December wrote: »

What's it like?
I'm going to be taking English for sure, and probably History. My other choices that I'm considering are History of Art^, Latin, Italian or French - so any more info about those would be great!

Languages require fairly intensive study in UCC. Plain and simple: You've to be a fan of them. I did French in 1st year and hated it. I put it down thinking I'll be alright but it was very difficult. It's a topic that's received mixed opinions but I found languages difficult both personally and from some others.

Ardennes1944

dont get me started on piet! all i had in his lectures were thoughts of blood diamond from his voice! socooooooooooyity

ReacherCreature

cork*girl wrote: »

Im thinking of doing History, Geography, English and Politics.. Anyone have any information on them? I want to go History and Geography mainly but should I still put English as number 1 so I get in? What are the chances that History and geography will be full if I put them as 2 and 3?

I think History is great in UCC. Subject content is superb; there's a huge variety of modules/areas to choose from. The department are good too; lecturers are excellent and other staff great. I'm a huge fan of the subject and it only serves to increase your interest. If you've anything specific just ask.

Here's the UCC's Dept. of History website: http://www.ucc.ie/en/history/

History book of modules: http://www.ucc.ie/modules/descriptions/page036.html (Note: the '1' in HI1001 and the '2' in HI2001 denote the year of study.)

Those links should provide you with something to work from.

Byron85

ReacherCreature wrote: »

I think History is great in UCC. Subject content is superb; there's a huge variety of modules/areas to choose from. The department are good too; lecturers are excellent and other staff great. I'm a huge fan of the subject and it only serves to increase your interest. If you've anything specific just ask.

Here's the UCC's Dept. of History website: http://www.ucc.ie/en/history/

History book of modules: http://www.ucc.ie/modules/descriptions/page036.html (Note: the '1' in HI1001 and the '2' in HI2001 denote the year of study.)

Those links should provide you with something to work from.

History is fantastic and it has some great lecturers. I may be in the minority but Gabriel Doherty was my favourite. The guy uses no slides or notes and talks for the entire lecture. A lot of people were thrown off by this but he's a great lecturer and really gets the information across.

So yes, do History in first year!

Nova_era

ReacherCreature wrote: »

Languages require fairly intensive study in UCC. Plain and simple: You've to be a fan of them. I did French in 1st year and hated it. I put it down thinking I'll be alright but it was very difficult. It's a topic that's received mixed opinions but I found languages difficult both personally and from some others.

You're 100% correct. Studying a language in UCC really requires you to go above the call of duty, as you're not going to learn anything by just sitting in the class and taking notes.

I LOVE German, so I don't see it as a subject at all, bar some frankly stupid modules. I often stay in college til 9/10 at night just reading German/brushing up on Grammar etc. I wouldn't do that if I didn't love the language.

Good call on the History department too. I don't have much dealings with them bar a few lecturers, but they're great. And you might in time be granted the chance to meet the irreverent Professor Geoffrey Roberts, perhaps UCC's finest asset.

ReacherCreature

T.W.H Byron wrote: »

History is fantastic and it has some great lecturers. I may be in the minority but Gabriel Doherty was my favourite. The guy uses no slides or notes and talks for the entire lecture. A lot of people were thrown off by this but he's a great lecturer and really gets the information across.

So yes, do History in first year!

Doherty is excellent. He's a great lecturer and a nice guy too. People don't like the fact that he doesn't use slides but I think it's a good thing that he can speak for an hour; it shows the extent of his ability. It's been a long time since I've done Irish History, I'd gladly take up a module of it if he lectured in it!

Nova_era wrote: »

You're 100% correct. Studying a language in UCC really requires you to go above the call of duty, as you're not going to learn anything by just sitting in the class and taking notes.

I LOVE German, so I don't see it as a subject at all, bar some frankly stupid modules. I often stay in college til 9/10 at night just reading German/brushing up on Grammar etc. I wouldn't do that if I didn't love the language.

Good call on the History department too. I don't have much dealings with them bar a few lecturers, but they're great. And you might in time be granted the chance to meet the irreverent Professor Geoffrey Roberts, perhaps UCC's finest asset.

OP, that's the kind of work you may have to consider putting in to doing a language. Note, this isn't a scare tactic, it's a slight caution that langauges are difficult and require work - much like 'regular' subjects. Don't let us frighten you off!

Prof. Roberts is quite good; had him for a guest lecture in Russian History and he was a good guy. Some weren't fans of his but he was grand.

Nova_era

ReacherCreature wrote: »

Prof. Roberts is quite good; had him for a guest lecture in Russian History and he was a good guy. Some weren't fans of his but he was grand.

Don't say that too loud, lest Geoff send the KGB in the direction of the naysayers.

The man holds influence in Russia.

ReacherCreature

Nova_era wrote: »

Don't say that too loud, lest Geoff send the KGB in the direction of the naysayers.

The man holds influence in Russia.

I'm sure we'll be dealing with the FSB now?
The man's English accent and Russian History go well together!