Lectures

Turns out this week was not nearly as hectic nor crazy as everyone had feared. Most classes will not start tutorials (small group lessons) until next week or later, so a couple 50 minute lectures per day was very manageable.

As we were warned before leaving the States, class sizes are considerably larger than at American. Consequently, most lectures are in fact lectures with little input from students in the room, beyond an occasional question that interrupts the professor's presentation. Of the five classes that I tested this week, 2 professors used PowerPoint, 2 used overhead projectors, and 1 spoke almost without any visuals.

Ireland in the 20th Century is a welcome diversion from the endless barrage of US history that starts in elementary school and continues in some form (though in different departments) throughout College. From the failed 1916 Easter Rebellion to the Free State, Civil War and Independence the 20th century was certainly a dynamic time for Ireland.

Comparative Welfare States: Retrenchment and Restructuring should be of particular interest given the recent (and somewhat ongoing) US health care debate - as the only American student, I have already been called on to give my perspective on our welfare system. I will definitely register for the course, as it should provide me with a global perspective on various welfare states, and it counts towards my Economics degree.

I am a little disappointed with the Economy of Ireland for a few reasons. The first is due to the University's transition to a semester system last year - as a result many classes offered to Hilary Term (Spring) visiting students reached their halfway point during Michaelmas Term (Fall).  As a result, my first lecture started with chapter 6. In addition, the class is far larger than the others I tested, with close to 300 students. Also, we are assigned our tutorial times in alphabetical order, which would eliminate my 3-day weekend by holding class on Monday afternoon. Finally, regarding content, the class seems to reteach a lot of content from general macroeconomic courses, while then applying it to the recent economic history of Ireland. Nevertheless, the class counts toward my Economics degree and the professor has a great personality, so I am conflicted as to whether I will continue with it.

European Societies, a Sociology course, is taught by the head of the department, and promises to be a lively and interesting course. Despite being a yearlong course, the professor modularized it to be more accessible to visiting students (around 7 of us in the class). Already we have begun discussing solutions to downtrodden former industrial centers - including the 7th "US" option of allowing the city to flounder (see: Detroit). This is an elective course, but heavy in economics, and definitely worthwhile.

The final course I tested, Irish Politics, is taught by the head of the political science department, and should be interesting in presenting the inner-workings of the Irish state given the numbered days of Fianna Fail and general election on March 11. Unfortunately, it is a yearlong course that is not nearly as well modularized. However, the assessment for visiting students is only two papers roughly five pages in length.

Since I took 16 credits last Fall at American, I need only take the equivalent of 14 credits here at Trinity to achieve 30 for the year and maintain my scholarships. With history equaling an equivalent of 5 credits, and the others at 3 a piece, I will take 4 courses here for the term. By the end of next week, I will be fully registered.

One final note, there is an unusually high number of senior students enrolled in the courses. At American you encounter graduate students in their mid-20's in hybrid classes, but here there are students middle-aged and above.