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| DEV20010 - Topics in Intl Development Spring, Level 2, Credits 5 This module is designed to introduce students to key themes in the international development. The course will introduce students to particular issues and debates around development today including international trade, foreign direct investments and their impact of economic develo... |
| DEV20130 - Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Spring, Level 2, Credits 5 Purpose: The module DEV20130, "Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals," is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their critical role in shaping global development. The primary purpose ... |
| DEV40010 - One Planet, One Ocean (SDG 14) Autumn, Level 4, Credits 5 One Ocean, One Planet is a A holistic view of how the ocean functions, how human interactions with the ocean can be understood, and what solutions are available to support both sustainable use and stewardship of our blue planet. It can be taken at your own pace during the first T... |
| DEV40020 - Gender and Development Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 This postgraduate-level module, "Gender and Development," delves deep into the intricate relationship between gender dynamics and socio-economic development. The purpose of this course is to provide students with a holistic understanding of the role of gender in shaping developme... |
| INRL10020 - Foundations of Intl Relations Autumn, Level 1, Credits 5 This module offers an introduction to the main issues in contemporary international politics. It first examines the development of the modern international system, focusing especially on the post-Cold War era. It then examines a range of substantive issues that occupy students of... |
| INRL20040 - Theories and Concepts in International Relations Autumn, Level 2, Credits 5 What drives conflict and cooperation in international relations? Why do countries fight? Why do countries trade? When do international organizations matter? Can countries work together to protect the environment? What leads to civil war and state collapse? This course explore... |
| INRL20080 - Irish Foreign Policy Autumn, Level 2, Credits 5 This module offers an exploration of the derivation, development and practice of Irish foreign, security and defence policies, with a particular focus on contemporary challenges. Students will gain a detailed insight into Ireland's place in the contemporary world order, the trans... |
| INRL20110 - Intro to Middle East Politics Spring, Level 2, Credits 5 This module introduces students to the emergence of the modern Middle East and key approaches to political life of the region. The first part of the module addresses broad historical background. The second part of the module examines a number of contemporary issues such as politi... |
| INRL20160 - Introduction to European Union Politics Autumn, Level 2, Credits 5 This module draws on a range of political science research on European integration and European Union politics to analyse the development of the EU and how it operates today. The course addresses one of the most important questions in the study of European politics and internatio... |
| INRL30320 - Gender in War & Peace Autumn, Level 3, Credits 10 Since 2000, the United Nations recognises with Security council Resolution 1325 the interconnectedness between gender and peace and security concerns. This comprehensive, active-participatory course explores the relations between gender, war, militarism, violence and peace from b... |
| INRL30340 - Internat. Political Economy Spring, Level 3, Credits 10 The field of International Political Economy is broadly concerned with the interrelationship between political and economic processes in international relations. The course introduces this subfield of political science, analysing the politics of trade, development, international ... |
| INRL30370 - Terrorism & Political Violence Autumn, Level 3, Credits 10 The concepts of Terrorism and Political Violence loom large in contemporary politics and policymaking but are frequently misunderstood and under-theorised. This module will introduce students to a range of approaches to terrorism and political violence. The first part of the modu... |
| INRL30400 - EU Foreign Policy: understanding how the European Union and its member states engage with the world Spring, Level 3, Credits 10 This module offers an exploration of the derivation, development and practice of the EU as a global actor, with a particular focus on contemporary challenges and crises. Students will gain a detailed insight into the Union’s place in the contemporary world and its efforts to defi... |
| POL10120 - Foundations in Global Development Spring, Level 1, Credits 5 This module is designed to introduce students to key themes in the foundations of global politics and development. The first section of the module explores theories (and histories) of development (and underdevelopment), including market-based approaches (free markets, free trade,... |
| POL10160 - Foundations of Contemporary Politics Spring, Level 1, Credits 5 This course introduces students to the study of political science. The module equips students with the theoretical, conceptual and analytical skills to critically evaluate comparative and international politics. Key topics include democracy, authoritarianism, political conflict, ... |
| POL10170 - Foundations in Political Research Autumn, Level 1, Credits 5 By your undergraduate studies you will develop a wide-ranging understanding of social science. Most courses you will take in your studies will relate to politics itself—about politics in different regions, or about particular aspects of political systems. This course, however, i... |
| POL10180 - Foundations of Pol Theory Spring, Level 1, Credits 5 This module provides an introduction to political theory, focusing on changing conceptions and models of democracy, mainly through the thought of four challenging and influential political thinkers, Aristotle, Wollstonecraft, Mill and Marx. We focus in particular on four key them... |
| POL20010 - Individuals and the State: The Idea of Freedom in the History of Political Thought Autumn, Level 2, Credits 5 The slogan of the French Revolution is still popular: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. Liberty is usually the most glorious and most popular ideal, but what does it mean to be free? Free from what? Free to do what? How is my freedom from interference compatible with your freedo... |
| POL20020 - Comparative Politics Spring, Level 2, Credits 5 This module introduces students to issues and methods in comparative politics, focusing on domestic politics. We study politics in a comparative context, to broaden and deepen our understanding of important political institutions and processes. We do this by making systematic com... |
| POL20050 - Research Methods in Political Science Spring, Level 2, Credits 5 As an introduction to the approaches in the empirical study of politics, this course will give an overview of causal inference methods in political science. This course will reinforce the learning from Foundations of Political Research module and introduce students to commonly us... |
| POL20250 - Irish Politics Spring, Level 2, Credits 5 The objective of this course is to introduce students to the workings of the Irish political system. We start by locating Irish politics in comparative terms, showing how unusual a political system it is in comparison to other European states. The course then examines the histori... |
| POL20260 - Introduction to Chinese Politics Autumn, Level 2, Credits 5 This module aims to introduce students to the political system of the People’s Republic of China and the politics of its ruling entity, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The module first provides a historical foundation for understanding CCP rule, covering major events in the 20... |
| POL30640 - Deliberative Mini-Publics Autumn, Level 3, Credits 10 Deliberative mini-publics (DMPs) are fast becoming an ever more prominent feature of contemporary democracies. Having first emerged in the latter part of the 20th century, they started to achieve prominence in the first decade of this century (starting with the British Columbia ... |
| POL30660 - Data Analytics for Social Sciences Spring, Level 3, Credits 10 This module provides an overview of common statistical methods applied to the social sciences, with particular focus on political science, sociology, public policy and development. It starts with a brief recap of the basic principles of statistical analysis, then discusses how to... |
| POL30680 - Gender and Politics Spring, Level 3, Credits 10 This course provides an overview of key issues in gender and politics. The course focuses on research on how gender impacts both domestic and international politics. It examines how domestic politics is gendered, why the gender of our political representatives matters, and the im... |
| POL30690 - Introduction to Asian Politics Spring, Level 3, Credits 10 Some observers look to the 21st Century as a potential “Asian Century” in which the center of gravity of world political and economic power will shift from West to East. After taking this course, students will have a greater understanding of this dynamic and important region. The... |
| POL30820 - Political Risk and Foreign Direct Investment Autumn, Level 3, Credits 10 This course provides an introduction and a review of the field of political risk - a field that focuses on the socio-political events, characteristics and processes that can negatively impact the multinational companies' achievement. More specifically, it involves the often confl... |
| POL30840 - Electoral Systems and their Consequences Spring, Level 3, Credits 10 This is a comparative course examining electoral systems. The module begins with a systematic comparison of the main types of electoral systems and their function. In the second part of the module the various consequences of such system are investigated, including the effects o... |
| POL30860 - Advanced Seminar in Politics 1 Autumn, Level 3, Credits 5 This module is a 5 credit module that gives advanced undergraduate students the background, training and supervision needed to engage in a substantial piece of research. A number of members of staff of the School of Politics and International Relations will provide foundational b... |
| POL30870 - Advanced Seminar in Politics 2 Spring, Level 3, Credits 15 This module gives advanced undergraduate students the background, training and supervision needed to engage in a substantial piece of research. Under individual supervision, students will submit a 7,000 word thesis. Participation in this module involves mostly independent work, a... |
| POL30880 - Capitalism and Democracy Autumn, Level 3, Credits 10 This module introduces students to the political economy of advanced capitalist democracies. In part one, we examine the structural transformation of capitalism from the 1950’s to the present. We will study how globalisation and economic liberalisation has impacted jobs, labo... |
| POL30890 - The Politics of Organised Crime Autumn, Level 3, Credits 10 This module is an introduction to political, economic, and social issues linked to the emergence and behavior of criminal organizations. We will analyze criminal organizations from across the world, reflecting on how they come about, how they affect life around them, and what gov... |
| POL36070 - Political Psychology Autumn, Level 3, Credits 10 This module introduces concepts from psychology (e.g. beliefs, emotions, or personality) to better understand politics (e.g. elite decision-making, voting behaviour, or popular uprisings). Topics will be structured around three types of methods that are frequently applied in psy... |
| POL36100 - Strategies of Politics Spring, Level 3, Credits 10 POL36100 provides a comprehensive introduction to the captivating domain of game theory within the context of political science. This course delves into the foundational principles and practical applications of game theory—a robust framework dissecting intricate strategic interac... |
| POL36110 - Comparative Political Theory Spring, Level 3, Credits 10 This module will introduce students to the emerging field of “comparative political theory.” The students will be asked to read, discuss, and reflect upon contemporary works of “non-Western” political theorists as well as “non-Western” ideas about politics. In the intersection of... |
| POL36120 - Gender, Religion & Colonialism Autumn, Level 3, Credits 10 This module provides an overview of key issues in the triangular intersection of gender, religion, and colonialism. While aiming to bring together the literature Western and non-Western contexts on these debates, the module introduces the students the key texts in feminist theor... |
| POL36130 - Liberalism & its Critics Spring, Level 3, Credits 10 The following course provides a historical overview of the intellectual development of the liberal tradition from the origins of classical liberalism in the 18th century to contemporary developments. The course focuses particularly on building an understanding both of the diversi... |
| POL36140 - Parties and Party Systems Autumn, Level 3, Credits 10 Political parties remain central to the function of political systems. In this module we begin examining at the systematic level – party systems, typologies, origins and assess the evidence of volatility and change, in the second half of the module the focus switches to politica... |
| POL36150 - Feminist Pers. on Social Pol. Spring, Level 3, Credits 10 Feminist Perspectives on Social Policy is an undergraduate module that aims to introduce students to the field of social policy by presenting the main contributions of feminist theories to the analysis of policymaking and public policies. The course uses the core concepts of gend... |
| POL40050 - Theories of International Relations Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 This course will familiarize students with some of the most important theories in the contemporary study of International Relations. The approaches examined include Neorealism, Constructivism, Democratic Peace Theory, as well as civilizational, norm-centred, anthropological and ... |
| POL40100 - Politics of Development Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 This course introduces students to key concepts, theories and themes in the political life of developing countries. The first part of the course explores the legacy of colonialism and the nature of the post-colonial state, the role of nationalism in the construction of the post-c... |
| POL40140 - Theories of Global Justice Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 This course examines a number of topics and issues in international politics from a normative perspective. We will look at current theories on justice in international relations, international distributive justice, reparative justice, migration, national self-determination, and g... |
| POL40160 - Comparative Public Policy Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 This seminar explores a range of concepts, theories and findings in public policy research with a view to understanding similarities and differences in policies across advanced industrial societies. In doing so, it deals with issues of definition, classification and measurement. ... |
| POL40370 - International Political Economy Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 This course serves as the cornerstone of the International Political Economy MA/MSc program during the initial trimester. It provides an encompassing examination of both theoretical underpinnings and thematic dimensions within the realm of International Political Economy (IPE), s... |
| POL40540 - Comparative European Politics Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 The aim of this module is to provide an advanced understanding of major theoretical, empirical and substantive issues in the politics of Europe, both at domestic and EU-levels. After examining the methodology of comparison, the module's primary focus is on the political systems ... |
| POL40610 - EU Foreign, Security, and Defence Pol. Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 This module introduces students to the foreign, security and defence policy of the European Union. It briefly reviews the development of Europe's security architecture before proceeding to analyse in some depth the goals, capacity and profile of the European Union as an internat... |
| POL40950 - Introduction to Statistics Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 Introduction to the use of data for statistical analysis in political science and related disciplines (sociology, public policy, international relations, etc.). The module will introduce concepts such as measurement, variables, statistical data, and provide an introduction to bas... |
| POL40970 - Politics of European Governance Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 This module is for graduate programmes in Politics and International Relations. This course analyses the institutions, actors, and policy-making processes in the European Union (EU). How does the EU manage to cope with the heterogeneity of interests, ideas, actors, and policy... |
| POL41020 - Politics of Human Rights Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 By examining recent political science scholarship on human rights, this module will facilitate understanding of how human rights norms spread and what effects they have on state behavior. After a brief theoretical and historical overview of international human rights, the course... |
| POL41030 - Theory of Human Rights Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 Human rights play a peculiar role in contemporary national and international affairs. They are, first and foremost, moral rights that all human beings should be guaranteed, but they also require implementation in positive law and institutions. This module will examine some of the... |
| POL41510 - Politics and Change in the Middle East and North Africa Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 This module will explore political change in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) through a focus on the interactions of local, regional and international actors. The module will begin with an exploration of the emergence of modern states and the state system of the MENA regio... |
| POL41640 - Qualitative Research Methods for Political Science Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 This seminar introduces graduate students to the logic of inference (descriptive and causal) in the qualitative tradition in political science research. It exposes students to the logic behind concept formation, within and cross- case study designs. The module is designed for st... |
| POL41650 - The Global Political Economy of Europe Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 A series of crises - from the great financial crash, the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, Brexit, the climate emergency, Covid-19, and the war in Ukraine - have challenged the political economy of European integration. These crises reveal the fragility of joining together very div... |
| POL41720 - Gender, Peace, and Security Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 Since 2000, the United Nations recognises with Security Council Resolution 1325 the interconnectedness between gender, peace and security concerns. This comprehensive, active-participatory course explores the relations between gender, peace and conflict and security from both nor... |
| POL41780 - The Politics of Inequality Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 This course is an advanced study on the politics of income and wealth inequality. We ask what economic inequalities are justified in a democracy? We empirically assess the increased concentration of capital ownership and wealth within the capitalist democracies of the world. We a... |
| POL41860 - Governance, Politics and Development Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 Governance, Politics and Development will examine how governmental, inter-governmental, and non-governmental actors provide governance and structure to development efforts. The course will examine the governance and politics of development at the international, national and sub-... |
| POL41870 - Political Economy of Institutions and Comparative Development Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 This course takes as its starting point the new literature on institutional economics and comparative political economy, with a focus both on the basic theory and on contemporary empirical research. Institutions have proven important for economic and social development. The cours... |
| POL41980 - Peace & Conflict Studies Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 This module examines the causes, consequences, and resolution of armed conflict. We will engage with major topics in Peace and Conflict Studies and associated fields (International Relations, security studies) at the conceptual, theoretical, and empirical levels. Students will be... |
| POL42040 - Gender & the Political System Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 This modules introduces students to key issues in gender and the domestic political system. The module includes introductory theory, explores how political institutions are gendered, asks whether the gender of our political representatives matters, what tools are used to improve ... |
| POL42050 - Quantitative Text Analysis Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 Automated text analysis has become very popular in political science over the past years. With the massive availability of text data on the web, political scientists increasingly recognize automated text analysis (or “text as data”) as a promising approach for analyzing various k... |
| POL42060 - International Security Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 This seminar will introduce you to major themes and debates in the contemporary study of international security, peace and conflict. We will survey a range of issues, including the causes and management of inter-state warfare, terrorism, civil wars, and violence against civilians... |
| POL42070 - Politics of (mis-)information Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 This module explores the role of (mis-) information in European and European Union politics. We will examine how information is generated, processed, and acted upon by individuals, organisations, and institutions in the political sphere. We will assess how the availability of inf... |
| POL42080 - Global Classroom Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 The Global Classroom began in 2008 and has reached thousands of participants around the world. This 13-week, web-based, graduate-level course fosters cross-disciplinary collaboration, allowing students and faculty from around the world to participate in collective assignments and... |
| POL42090 - Engaging Brussels Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 The European Union (EU) has a huge impact on the lives of EU citizens, yet it is often seen as distant, opaque, and difficult to engage with. This module aims to engage students directly with EU governance through interactions with the institutions and political and legal process... |
| POL42300 - SPIRe Internship Summer, Level 4, Credits 30 The SPIRe internship is designed to allow graduate students to gain the skills that can be applied to future careers and to apply learning from their taught programmes. Completing an internship allows students to apply relevant learning to a real-world setting. With effective men... |
| POL42310 - Thesis Summer, Level 4, Credits 30 This is an end of term thesis that students must submit as part of their Master program.... |
| POL42330 - Research Design Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 This module is about how to answer research questions in the social and political sciences. The topics we cover include key social science research concepts and the logic of various types of quantitative and qualitative research designs. The module will be based on lectures, grou... |
| POL42340 - Programming for Soc Scientists Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 This module provides an introduction to computer programming using the object-oriented language Python. Python is the 3rd most popular programming language at the moment, the most popular among data scientists, and is generally known as an excellent language to learn programming.... |
| POL42350 - Connected_Politics Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 This module trains you to conduct research projects relating to computational social science in small teams under the supervision of an assigned project coordinator and the module coordinator. You will address social science research questions by applying cutting-edge methods, su... |
| POL42370 - SDG Research Project Summer, Level 4, Credits 30 30 Credits for an independent piece of research.... |
| POL42390 - EG Thesis(Internship) Summer, Level 4, Credits 30 Masters thesis... |
| POL42440 - The Political Economy of Security Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 War consumes and impacts scarce resources. This course will explore why states and non-state actors opt to devote scare resources to fighting wars, and how they allocate those resources. We will examine the economic motivations that actors have for engaging in political violence,... |
| POL42470 - Gender, Identity, & Difference Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 This module introduces students to key issues in gender, identity, and difference. Students will gain an understanding of how inequalities based on gender, race, class and sexuality influence politics and learn the tools to undertake gendered critiques and analyses. One of the ma... |
| POL42480 - Contemporary Election Campaigns: Democratic Norms and Empirical Research Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 Moral Agency in Election Campaigns (ELECT) is a five-year research programme funded by the Eruopean Research Council (2023-2028), led by Joseph Lacey as Principal Investigator. Contemporary Election Campaigns is a unique module that will be embedded in the themes, methods and pro... |
| POL42490 - Politics of Ireland North and South Autumn, Level 4, Credits 10 This module will introduce students to the politics and political institutions on the island of Ireland. We will begin by exploring partition and the foundation of the state. In the first section of the module, we will focus on the Republic of Ireland and study the role of import... |
| POL42500 - Politics of Authoritarianism Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 This module will introduce students to academic research in authoritarian politics, broadly conceived as nondemocratic political systems. The module will be organized as a seminar style module in which students will read academic research, discuss it in class, analyse it in thei... |
| POL42510 - Party Organisation in the 21st Century Spring, Level 4, Credits 10 This course covers political party organisation and its consequences for party behaviour, descriptive representation and policy outputs. The module begins with a review of the most recent literature on the core aspects of party organisation, levels of centralisation, membership,... |
| POL42520 - Thesis [Exemption only] Summer, Level 4, Credits 30 This is an end of term thesis that students must submit as part of their Master program.... |
| POL50070 - Quantitative Methods I (CORE) Autumn, Level 5, Credits 10 Exclusively for SPIRe PhD students, this foundational module initiates the quantitative methods sequence. It covers vital statistical analyses, from data visualization to multiple regression. Emphasizing the linear regression model, students learn applied statistical analysis wit... |
| POL50220 - Social Science Methodology Spring, Level 5, Credits 10 In this course we will cover broader issues related to the logic of inquiry in social science. We will discuss both questions from the philosophy of science and more practical aspects of research design. Please note that the details of specific research methods one can apply will... |