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More like papers, papers, papers. At Trinity I've experienced more of a paper's week than a final's week. Irish academics are organized much differently than what I've experienced in the US and the end is just as good a time as any to let you know about them in case you're considering Trinity (and you should be!). I was enrolled in three courses while I was here because I participated in the 3 week pre-term program that qualified as some credits. I took an Irish Studies course called Imagining Ireland, a history course for Continental Europe from 1870-1920 and a Psychology of Criminal Behavior lecture. The demands of class time were far less than my experience at my home institution of Rhodes as well. I'll do a quick break down of class time requirements, assignments etc. class by class:
Imagining Ireland: This Irish Studies course met once a week on Mondays for 2 hours. We had one main professor and several guest professors throughout the semester. My class was made up mostly of first year Irish Studies students who are taking all the same classes together this first year. There were no tests or examinations throughout the course of the semester but we did have to sign in each time class was held. The final essay topic was given to us fairly early in the semester and was titled Irish Identity: Unity and Diversity. That was it. We could pick any topic we had covered previously in lectures (landscape, genetics, literature etc.) or any topic we felt was relevant that hadn't been covered. I chose to write on the unifying qualities of the Gaelic Athletic Association and how the selection of sports native to Ireland contributed to Irish Identity. The requirement for length was 1500 words (they're big on word counts rather than pages here) and it's due tomorrow.
Continental Europe: This class was the most demanding of my courses but in return I earned 5 additional credits compared to Ireland and Psychology. We met twice a week for an hour in a lecture-style setting and then for an additional hour each week we were all divided into smaller groups called Tutorials. A PhD student led these meetings and the topics would be covered in more detail, allowing for discussion. For the tutorial I was required to prepare a ten to fifteen minute presentation on one of the topics and complete a 2,000 word analysis of three selected documents. For the lecture class the requirement was one essay of 2,000 words on a prompt I could choose. Due to the semester long duration of my studies, I miss the final examination in May and so in lieu of that, I was assigned an additional 2,000 word paper on the topic of my choice. I ended up writing essays addressing the following questions: How did the Franco-Prussian War Change International Relations in Europe and Did Industrialisation and Urbanisation improve Standards of Living in Europe? I turned those in already and have meetings with my professor and tutor scheduled for tomorrow to go over the marks before I leave.
Criminal Psychology: This class met once a week for an hour. There were no assignments or tests for the duration of the semester and I am turning in my final paper tomorrow. The requirement is 2,500 words on a specific topic but again because I will miss final examinations in May, I was instead assigned a 4,000 word paper on the same topic. I chose to write on the following: Determinants of Criminality Reside in the Individual. Discuss. I am also turning that one in tomorrow.
Overall, it was quite strange to not have any sort of assessment throughout the semester or to have any feedback thus far. I'm just trusting that I've attended the lectures on relevant topics and have completed thorough research for my papers. Right now though the most important thing is that there are 8 days until Christmas, less than 2 days until I leave for home, I'm sitting in my room with a Santa hat on my head and my roommate is singing along to Christmas music waiting for me to do the 12 pubs of Christmas........(stay tuned for more details - I must go) If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! - Jessica Sprenkel, IES Abroad
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