Key points of principle inform our approach to teaching in 2024/25
- All teaching is live in the classroom with no recorded/prerecorded lectures with the use of MS Teams.
- We offer no remote or online modules – everything is on-campus, and all students have to attend in-person to maximise learning opportunity.
- We encourage maximum attendance at lectures/tutorials - evidence shows better grades!
- We also endeavour to provide online supplementary or complementary materials.
- Individual meetings between students and lecturers can be via MS Teams or in-person in the TSI building.
- University support offices offer various supports for students - we encourage you to access them. Further information on this can be found below.
- Students with complex medical conditions should contact the Student Health Service about learning options and how to manage your degree.
- How do we work with each other? Read our Learning Community Principles
- Writing to a Lecturer? Find out more about
Online Communication
- Wondering how to quote an article? Get our Do you need books for your studies? Make good use of the university library.
- Maynooth University Bookshop is online at http://www.universitybooks.ie and has a long history of excellent service to Ireland's university students. A campus bookshop is a crucial part of the life of any university - please support and purchase your books here if you can.
Much of our learning will be done using technology. Here’s a few tips!
- Start as you mean to go on…on a laptop or desktop computer. Systems like Moodle were not made to be used with a phone or iPad. If you don’t have access to a computer, you might ask to borrow one from the library. See also Maynooth University's Laptop Loan Scheme.
- Get Connected! Get the best internet connection you can.
- Make it Moodle! Moodle is almost always the best starting place as most course material will be here. Enable the lecturer announcements and check them.
- Check it! Your MU email that is…. check it regularly (everyday!) as this is the main way we will communicate with you.
- FAQ – if you have a question, most likely someone else has that question as well. There are many resources and it can be really overwhelming to try to navigate through the technology. One of the best places to start is by hitting the Moodle help for students’ button in Moodle at the top of your dashboard. For help on TEAMS, see a support page here: Microsoft Teams | Maynooth University
You should be able to participate in online meet ups while on-campus using campus wifi (eduroam) - ideally with headphones!
There are a few options for places to sit - we have study spaces dotted around the TSI building. You can also try the Library, computer rooms, the Arts reading room and social spaces around campus.
Department of Sociology
For general queries about your course, timetables, handbooks, tutorial sign up or anything relating to your degree in Politics or Sociology, contact the office of the Department of Sociology and Centre for the Study of Politics:
Telephone: 01 708 3659
Email: [email protected]
Academic Contacts by Subject and Year:
First Year Sociology
Your first point of contact is your tutor.
The first year coordinator is Dr Mary Benson [email protected].
Second Year Sociology
If you are taking SO202, your first point of contact is your tutor.
The second year coordinator is Professor Seán Ó Riain ([email protected]) in Semester 1 and Dr Paul Ryan ([email protected]) in Semester 2.
Third Year Sociology
If you are taking SO303A (Special Topics), your first point of contact is the special topics coordinator Professor Seán Ó Riain ([email protected]) in Semester 1 and Dr Eoin Flaherty ([email protected]) in Semester 2.
The third year coordinator is Professor Colin Coulter ([email protected]).
First Year Politics
Your first point of contact is your tutor.
The first year coordinator is Professor Seán Ó Riain ([email protected]).
Second Year Politics
The second year coordinator is Dr Barry Cannon [email protected]
Third Year Politics
If you are taking PO303A (Special Topics), your first point of contact is your special topics group lecturer Nessa Ni Chasaide ([email protected]).
The third year coordinator is Dr Barry Cannon ([email protected]).
To find out about what supports are available and most suitable, please email [email protected] or contact your tutors or lecturers.
Student Services is available to help - with technology, counselling, budgeting, accommodation, and various other issues.
For general advice on academic issues that you might be facing, contact the Academic Advising Office
For help with writing, contact the Writing Centre
Maynooth Chaplaincy runs a variety of activities (online) where students can chat, do yoga and more. Click here for the details. Open to students of all faiths and none.
Assessment is by an end of semester exam or happens throughout the module as continuous assessment. Often is a mixture of both. Some modules also incentivize by offering a participation grade (usually 10%).
Exams are timetabled by the MU Exams Office and are in person. They can be one or two hours, and can comprise of one or more questions, or a range of short questions or multiple choice.
If you need support or ‘reasonable accommodation’ for your exams, make sure you contact the Maynooth University Access Office in good time.
Continuous assessment (CA) will be different in each module (can include essays, blogs, group work, debates, reviews) and you will be given the CA requirements and deadlines early in the life time of the module.
You will normally get some feedback with longer pieces of CA. See Results Information for further information on grading.
Always try to meet the deadlines, they are an important part of your academic training. If you think you might be late, then in good time and before the due date, ask for an extension by emailing your lecturer and cc’ing the email to [email protected], explaining why you need an extension and attaching proof (a medical certificate, letter etc.).
With the subject External Examiner, we carry out a detailed review of all marks at the end of the year. We make sure that a student’s overall grade is being fairly allocated, given the overall spread of their marks (for example making sure a single mark is not affecting their overall mark more than is proportionate).
This process is overseen by external examiners, who are internationally respected sociologists and political scientists from major US and European universities. This ensures that the standards in your degree are the same as at any major international university.
Please see our policy on extension requests for students here.
Policy on Plagiarism
Here you will find the:
The use of generative Artificial Intelligence (e.g. ChatGPT etc.) is strictly forbidden on all assignments, assessments, and academic work that you do within the department unless otherwise specified by your professor. To take credit for another person's or machine-generated words, writing and thoughts, and to present that as your own work, is plagiarism and will be subject to the policies of the university on plagiarism. The department reserves the right to ask students for an in-person meeting to account further for the assessment. Use of Artificial Intelligence in one module does not give permission for its use in any other assessment or modules.
