Read this before asking "What to expect from [subject/course]?" ALL COURSE INFO HERE!

anybody doing economics and finance?

I'll do an engineering one if anyone is interested.

Any info for the Mathematics course. The Double one.

klasskrista wrote: »

I just finished an english degree :D and I have to say it was a really good course, caters for everyone and anyone!covers all aspects of literature and language in 1st year which is really good and gives you a good grasp of the subject, I especially loved the poetry covered in 1st year, Conrad Brunstrom is a hilarious lecturer!
2nd year gets a bit more in depth and gets a little bit harder, romanticism was one the hardest ,modules I had 2 take and anyone I spoke to found it hard.....dreaded the exam but surprisingly it was the best mark I got that year and everyone else was the same!
3rd year covers a bit more of the theory behind literature and language which at times can be a bit boring but there's also the interesting and funny times like where sinead kennedy basically told the class she was a marxist lol!word of advice do your research seminar with seamus mc ghabhann, he's so nice and gives you all the help you could ever need and is quite a generous marker!:cool:

its a really gud course and I would definitely recommend it, its a lot of work and involves a lot of reading but its worth it in the end!I loved it so much I'm going back to do a masters......very excited!!:D:D
there's a module descriptor tingy on the department page of the nuim site which will tell you al u need to know bout each individual module......and if your a really prepared person (unlike myself) the english department usually put up an advanced reading list near the middle of August!

that's all the old course, I'm just finished second year and it was nothing like your description... oh and seamus mcgabhann is retiring, this was his last year lecturing unfortunatley... thanks anyway

Nah he's definatley retiring, in EN255 in second semester, everyone's divided up into seminar groups and he told his seminar group that this was his last year, there was a notice on moodle about it aswell (dunno if first years got it) but he was a fantastic lecturer.

Anyway, second year is interesting, that's the easiest way to put it. There can be as much or as little work as you decide involved, a large majority of the modules in both semesters need a good bit of back up material read, and you have to go and do that yourself. You really need to read the back up material and do your own work to get a decent pass grade, and yeah, there's a good bit of work. 2 Essays per semester, and you need to keep on top of everything, it's hell trying to catch up before exams.

First Semester:
EN251: World Literature I: Was taught by Conrad and Íde, covers alot of the material relating to outsiders, colonialism, exploration and the discovery and acceptance of new cultures and new worlds, texts included The Tempest, Oroonoko, Rasselas, Jane Eyre... a few others that I can't think of either. I wasn't crazy about this course, it was a bit dull, kinda the same points being repeated over and over again, but I missed a few of the lectures and got completley lost and when I came back, I kinda lost interest.
***Lesson Learned: GO to the lectures. With all the work and reading you have to do, it's just easier to go to the lecture instead of trying to figure out what went on when you're trying to do your essay 4 months later.
EN252: Renaissance and Restoration: Was taught by Stephen O'Neill and Conrad. I loooved this course. Basically the Elizabethen period and what happened after. It's so interesting both from a literature and historical point of view, and the course is taught fantastically. READ THE SECONDARY MATERIAL, it's difficult to understand the history and the overall politics of the era without reading the secondary material.
EN253: Romanticism and Enlightenment: One of my favourite modules from first and second year, taught by Jim Kelly and Conrad (yeah you've Conrad basically all first semester), loved loved loved it. Alot of it based on poetry, and Conrad's half concentrated on texts of the Enlightenment period. Go to the lectures, the powerpoints are useless the night before the exam, the notes Jim and Conrad give are fantastic.

EN254: Irish Studies I: Brilliant module although the Joyce lecturers were torture, I don't like Joyce and there were very detailed lectures on A Portrait of The Artist... Colin Graham is a star and his lecturers are brilliant (def. go because he doesnt put notes on powerpoint), Oona Frawley is great with her section on Yeats aswell.
EN255: Critical Theory and Research I: This was the seminar module. It's based on feminist criticism, and you read texts like A Room Of One's Own and De Beauvoir's The Second Sex, then ye get put into groups after the midterm specialising in certain areas. I'll elaborate more on this if you want, but basically it's about doing your own work and research and being supervised/guided by your seminar leader.
EN256: Victorianism to Modernism: Brilliant course, loads of poetry, Emer Nolan's lectures on Dracula were great, do the secondary reading it's so so important for this module.


Phew. Any other question I'll be happy to answer.

Aridstarling wrote: »

How was second year? I'm entering into it now and wondering how the workload compares to first year?

Seamus is finished?! Shame that, probably my favourite lecturer. The man knows stuff, hidden depths there, if you see what I'm saying? He was a legend. Was really hoping to have him again next year.

Legend he was, giving us all those hints for semester one exams was savage. He spoke incredibly slow though. You could take his notes down word for word without a problem. Not taking English next year though, wasn't mad on it and there was too much work involved, bleugh.



Anyone got any info and second year French and Geography? C'mon, spill the beans!

This may be a bit of a stupid question but I was on Nuim site and they have put up a guide to first-year English and it states that "Wuthering Heights", "Pride and Prejudice", "The Dubliners" and "Kim" are the texts that are going to be used in the Fiction module.. just wondering if usually you are required to study extra texts on top of the set ones?

allandanyways wrote: »

No, not extra texts as such, but secondary material, critical essays, commentaries, supporting material by the original author, sometimes a few pages of a work that influenced/was influenced by the text, if a film adaption was made, the lecturer will usually guide you to the best one eg. The 1992 Coppolla version of Dracula is the recommended film to watch in relation to the text. Theory books, and works of philosophy and psychology can also be brought into your secondary material too.

Studying, using and understanding secondary material, as a rule, is the pivotal action that brings you from barely a pass grade to an actual pass grade and above. You very, very rarely will get good marks for giving just your opinion on a text and describing it like you did in secondary school.

Thanks. Great that's just what I was hoping would be the case . Now to go read "Dubliners" and "Kim"..

somethingwitty wrote: »

Hey I was looking at the website but I can't find anything! Do you know if thats just for English on its own or as part of an arts degree too?...:)

http://english.nuim.ie/ That's where I got info under "Information for First Year..." I'm doing it as an arts degree. I figure the arts degree and single degree are pretty similar so they probably involve the same texts but I'm not sure

Apparently maths is do able even if you've only got ordinary level maths from leaving cert. Depends how much work you're willing to put in.

Any idea how big the classes are in economics and finance?

Most important, of course, is not that the classes are small, but that people have the good manner to shut up during lectures. If anyone has any experience, please share.