Expand+Enrolment & General Information
Students are encouraged to enrol as early as possible. If you enrol late, the class may be full or may have been cancelled due to low numbers.

You can enrol in person (at the Access and Lifelong Learning Centre i...

Hide-Enrolment & General Information
Students are encouraged to enrol as early as possible. If you enrol late, the class may be full or may have been cancelled due to low numbers.

You can enrol in person (at the Access and Lifelong Learning Centre in the James Joyce Library Building), Monday - Friday 9.00am - 1.00pm and 2.00pm - 5.00pm.

Enrol by credit or debit car over the phone (01) 716 7123 or online www.ucd.ie/all/study

The course below will be available for Spring, and will be listed in more detail in our Spring programme. You can book for either term from August 8th 2017.

Cancellations
Lifelong Learning courses are offered subject to sufficient numbers. Where there are insufficient registrations, the course will be withdrawn.

Expand+Introduction
Our Lifelong Learning courses cover a range of topics from Art History through to History, Literature, Philosophy and Writing. The courses are open to all and provide a chance to explore a subject without concerns about assessment. Thes...

Hide-Introduction
Our Lifelong Learning courses cover a range of topics from Art History through to History, Literature, Philosophy and Writing. The courses are open to all and provide a chance to explore a subject without concerns about assessment. These courses are part of a long tradition in University College Dublin (UCD), and follow the legacy of the university’s founder Cardinal John Henry Newman, who wished to make higher level education accessible to a broad sweep of Irish people.

Today, UCD remains committed to widening participation in higher education, in all its forms, whether to accredited formal learning programmes or informal open learning provision. We believe the rich intellectual resources of the university should be available to all. Our commitment is reaffirmed when we hear the important role learning plays in enhancing people’s lives, whether through providing intellectual stimulus and new friendships, or as an opportunity to sample a topic before further study.

The programme is developed in collaboration with tutors, UCD schools and the broader UCD community. Student feedback informs the type of courses we offer and the style of teaching promoted. Student evaluations have indicated that learning is enhanced through discussion, group work and participative approaches, and by getting out and about to learn on the move. Many of our courses now include field trips or gallery visits, which bring course material to life and provide a social learning opportunity. Further course details are available online at www.ucd.ie/all/study.

We hope you find a course that suits your interests!

Your Tutors
UCD Access and Lifelong Learning is privileged to work with a highly expert and committed group of tutors who are recruited not just on the basis of their subject expertise, but also for their demonstrated interest in adult learning. You can read about your tutor’s qualifications and areas of expertise online where we have included a short tutor biography alongside the course information.

Reading & Booklists
Booklists are available online alongside course descriptions. For the majority of courses, the booklist contains suggested reading for those interested in investigating the subject further. Your tutor can guide you as to which reading might be most suitable.

Booklists for literature students are more critical as classes are based on particular set texts. We recommend that initially you acquire just the first text listed as the list will be discussed with your tutor in class.

Expand+This course offers students the opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of Northern Irish writing including Seamus Heaney, one of Ireland’s greatest poetic voices. We will read Seamus Heaney along with other Ulster writers, past and present, in...

Hide-This course offers students the opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of Northern Irish writing including Seamus Heaney, one of Ireland’s greatest poetic voices. We will read Seamus Heaney along with other Ulster writers, past and present, including Patrick Kavanagh and Brian Friel. As well as poetry, we will read some plays and prose. This is intended as an introduction to enjoying these writers at a deeper level than the casual reader. No prior knowledge will be required only an enthusiasm for their work. The course will make use of the resources of the National Library.

The course will take a comparative approach, locating each writer in their own times and cultural context, while at the same time looking at the connections between them and exploring the ways in which they responded to Irish life. We will also trace the development of Ulster writing from the past to the present and look at how it responded to the political social and cultural context of Ulster’s recent history. You will have the opportunity to read plays and poems by Seamus Heaney, Patrick Kavangh, Brian Friel, Michael Longley, Paul Durcan, Louis MacNiece, John Montague and others. Students will be introduced to some aspects of poetic form and dramatic technique. On completion students will be well equipped to explore these writers more deeply in their own reading and will have had their own recreational reading of poetry, drama and Irish literature enriched.