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 Where there are insufficient registrations, the course will be withdrawn.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+Do you find it hard to slow down, take a breath and appreciate what’s around you? Does anxiety prevent you from living your life more fully? Do you criticise yourself a lot? Would you like to live a more meaningful life? This course will introduce yo...

Hide-Do you find it hard to slow down, take a breath and appreciate what’s around you? Does anxiety prevent you from living your life more fully? Do you criticise yourself a lot? Would you like to live a more meaningful life? This course will introduce you to the skills of mindfulness and compassion, including developing self-awareness; using your breath to be more present; connecting more fully with your surroundings and with other people; learning techniques to manage stress; and being kinder to yourself and others.

While many of us want to live and experience our lives in a meaningful way, we find it hard to slow down, to take the time to look below the surface busyness of our lives to find who we really are and what we really want and value. This course will introduce you to Mindfulness, a practice originating in Buddhism but now practised extensively in the West in secular contexts for stress, anxiety, chronic pain, and also by those simply wishing wish to live life more fully. The course will consist of exercises and discussions around being more present in daily life; an analysis of how we get stuck in reactive behaviour when we’re stressed, and ways of getting ‘unstuck’ so that we can respond more creatively and positively to stressful situations. You will learn meditations that develop awareness of the body, the breath and your mental and emotional states. We will also focus on ways to care for oneself, including an exercise to develop more openness to pleasurable moments throughout the day, and a meditation that develops positive emotions such as kindness and gratitude, and helps deal with more difficult emotions such as anger.

You are asked to commit to a regular, daily practice of mindfulness for the duration of the course, so that you get the maximum benefit from the course. The emphasis throughout the course is on providing students with a supportive context in which to experience Mindfulness.