Final Year Politics

RIP-sanity

Hi there!

My brain is absolutely melting trying to pick my politics modules so I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on modules they particularly liked/disliked?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks very much!

Blut2

I dont know if its still on offer or not but Vincent Durac's Middle Eastern Politics course was fantastic when I did it in final year, would very much recommend it.

P_1

Paul Gill's 'The Politics of Terrorism' was fascinating last year but I don't think he's about in UCD anymore.

Colum McCaffery's 'Political Communication' was also quite interesting.

Whatever you do, avoid modules that deal with the EU like the plague.

GobBass

pithater1 wrote: »

Paul Gill's 'The Politics of Terrorism' was fascinating last year but I don't think he's about in UCD anymore.

Colum McCaffery's 'Political Communication' was also quite interesting.

Whatever you do, avoid modules that deal with the EU like the plague.

So Hutcheson's Political Transition in Post-Communist Europe is something to avoid then would you say? I am in my final year and want to do a Level 3 elective. I'm doing geography and I dig geopolitics.

Sad Professor

Is it generally wise to avoid level 3 Politics modules until you are in 3rd year? There's very little choice of level 2.

P_1

GobBass wrote: »

So Hutcheson's Political Transition in Post-Communist Europe is something to avoid then would you say? I am in my final year and want to do a Level 3 elective. I'm doing geography and I dig geopolitics.

No that was quite interesting too. More history than politics though I felt.
I would avoid against doing a level 3 elective in a field outside of your major though. That has the potential to drastically impact on your GPA.

P_1

Sad Professor wrote: »

Is it generally wise to avoid level 3 Politics modules until you are in 3rd year? There's very little choice of level 2.

Well in the level 3 modules there is no 'hand holding' whatsoever, as in there are no tutorials and you're generally left on your own to get the assignments done.

Then again, from what I recall from 2nd year the same applied to the option courses.

I did find the level 3 options much more interesting than the level 2 ones though.

GobBass

Every module has the potential to impact your GPA. I have waited three years to do geopolitics and they took Political Geography of European Integration off and gave me Glacial Quaternary instead,not my forte,good thing I had.

P_1

GobBass wrote: »

Every module has the potential to impact your GPA. I have waited three years to do geopolitics and they took Political Geography of European Integration off and gave me Glacial Quaternary instead,not my forte,good thing I had.

Well in that case go for it. Personally I found it a very interesting course although as I said, it felt more like a history course than a politics one. I suppose there is a lot of crossover between the two though.

GobBass

Well if its more of a history class,then even better. I did German Political Culture thinking that it would be politics but it was like Leaving Cert History but with a bit more in it. Strolled out of that exam with an A so hopefully another is on the way.:D

I need something else though and it would be another one for Semester Two as Semester One is full up with German and Geography.Any suggestions? Keep level 3 in mind. :rolleyes:

P_1

GobBass wrote: »

Well if its more of a history class,then even better. I did German Political Culture thinking that it would be politics but it was like Leaving Cert History but with a bit more in it. Strolled out of that exam with an A so hopefully another is on the way.:D

I need something else though and it would be another one for Semester Two as Semester One is full up with German and Geography.Any suggestions? Keep level 3 in mind. :rolleyes:

Check out a history module called 'Modern German History' by Stefan Malinowski.
Really it deals with Germany from the period 1918-45. If you liked the German Political Culture module it may suit you down to the ground.

GobBass

Could you tell us the module code? I don't think they're doing it this year because I searched for it and found nothing.

Slippers 2

HIS30860 Modern German History

RIP-sanity

Thanks for all the suggestions.. I've got 4 picked but am being seriously indecisive on the last one, not much choice due to a billion scheduling conflicts (my joint major does not work well together)

So my options are; The Sovereign State and the International States System with David Farrell, European Union with Diana Panke, Political reform in Ireland with David Farrell, Ethnicity, Identity, Nationality or Intro to stats.

Anyone done any of these? Found them boring/interesting/hard ?

Thanks so much

Just-A-Phase

RIP-sanity wrote: »

Thanks for all the suggestions.. I've got 4 picked but am being seriously indecisive on the last one, not much choice due to a billion scheduling conflicts (my joint major does not work well together)

So my options are; The Sovereign State and the International States System with David Farrell, European Union with Diana Panke, Political reform in Ireland with David Farrell, Ethnicity, Identity, Nationality or Intro to stats.

Anyone done any of these? Found them boring/interesting/hard ?

Thanks so much

Took Politics of the EU with Diana Panke last year, she is painfully dull, the lectures were very uninteresting and she pretty much just read the slides. However its the kind of subject where you just need to memorize facts, so if you're good at doing that you should be fine. I ended up going to very few lectures but still managed to come out with an A. The book we used wasn't great, actually found more info on the additional readings she gave and on the EU website itself. Its not difficult(providing you have a basic knowledge of the EU) but it is boring.

Also took Ethnicity, Identity and Nationality last year. We had two lectures; the main lecture Jennifer Todd and then Melanie Hower, I'm not sure if she'll be back this year or what. I cannot stand Jennifer Todd but Melanie Hower was really good. The subject is interesting enough, a lot of it is just your own view as everyone has a different opinion on their ethnicity and identity. This usually makes for fairly interesting debates in the lecture. Again the book isn't great, but the notes and readings are good(and seemed to be mainly the stuff that came up on the exam). Its not very difficult, with minimal work I got an A.

Sad Professor

Has anyone done Law, Politics and Human Rights? Any thoughts on it?

GobBass

Just realised I can't do ' Political Transition in Post-Communist Europe' because it would clash with German IIIb..ugh,stupid German Language always ruining my fun.:mad:

P_1

RIP-sanity wrote: »

Thanks for all the suggestions.. I've got 4 picked but am being seriously indecisive on the last one, not much choice due to a billion scheduling conflicts (my joint major does not work well together)

So my options are; The Sovereign State and the International States System with David Farrell, European Union with Diana Panke, Political reform in Ireland with David Farrell, Ethnicity, Identity, Nationality or Intro to stats.

Anyone done any of these? Found them boring/interesting/hard ?

Thanks so much

Mind numbingly boring, went to 2 lectures in all. Still came out with the A though.

Sad Professor wrote: »

Has anyone done Law, Politics and Human Rights? Any thoughts on it?

Avoid like the plague.

Sad Professor

pithater1 wrote: »

Avoid like the plague.

That bad?