Defining Educational Excellence

An insight into the practicalities of daily life 1,000 years ago

It was a village full of people with stories and lives and hopes and disappointments. Then, in the 1930's, electricity came to Ireland, all the inhabitants were moved, and the village was one of several which were submerged by a new reservoir at (opens in a new window)Poulaphouca.

Aidan O'Sullivan was a child who grew up in Valleymount, a West Wicklow village beside one of those sunken places. "I lived in a world with a hidden landscape, where old cottages were buried under the water and the boundaries of old fields could still be seen. It was a past that was partial and fragmented and – just about – hidden from view, but waiting to be discovered."

No longer content with merely peering through the gaps around the door to the past; now, he's creating new doorways to the past. Standing at the (opens in a new window)UCD Centre for Experimental Archaeology at the edge of the Belfield campus, Professor O'Sullivan is working with students to recreate an early medieval round house based on the seventh century Deer Park Farms Site in Co. Antrim. And he's recreating a Viking house from Wood Quay in 10th century Dublin.

Professor O'Sullivan started lecturing at UCD in 2000 and is now an Associate Professor of Archaeology at the UCD School of Archaeology. He is a globally significant figure in the field of experimental archaeology which, he explains succinctly, "investigates the past in the present by building structures, using tools and making things."

"Archaeology has often focused on landscape and environment, which are also (opens in a new window)major research interests of mine. But material culture, or the discipline of things, is a huge part of what archaeology is. How we cut our hair, the phone and books we use, how we dress: these are artefacts for the archaeologists of the future."

Instead of speculating about how people lived, experimental archaeology takes information from excavations and recreates their homes, their tools, their clothes and their lives, using only materials and tools that were available in that period. UCD is the only university in the world with such a centre.

One of the earliest projects at the centre involved the recreation of a Mesolithic hunter- gatherer house from 10,000 years ago, which was reconstructed by Dr Graeme Warren of the UCD School of Archaeology, based on archaeological evidence from several archaeological excavations in Britain and Ireland.

"What we do challenges some of the stereotypes in the literature. Archaeologists are modern people and we don't make our own pottery and cook in it. Experimental archaeology gives an insight into the practicalities of daily life 1,000 years ago and shows the deficiencies in our knowledge."

For the past decade, O'Sullivan has worked on the (opens in a new window)Early Medieval Archaeology Project (EMAP), an all-island mapping of the early medieval settlements, burial grounds and industrial sites which were excavated during the infrastructural boom of the late 1990s and the first decade of this century. "This data is transforming how we understand early medieval society. We've gained a much stronger sense of how people lived together as households and small communities."

Archaeology, says O'Sullivan, is a form of time travel. "When we go back to the past, they do things differently. We gain a sense of the diversity of the human condition. We see ways of exploring societies, such as Viking war bands, that are now gone. We see the changes across time and learn that the world is always in flux."

News links:

(opens in a new window)UCD Centre for Experimental Archaeology

Social media profile:

Twitter: (opens in a new window)@AidanOSulliva15

Academia.edu profile: (opens in a new window)http://ucd.academia.edu/AidanOSullivan

(opens in a new window)https://www.facebook.com/pages/UCD-School-of-Archaeology/138793279477130

(opens in a new window)https://www.facebook.com/pages/EMAP-The-Early-Medieval-Archaeology- Project/130893706981506

Education in forensic computing to help the worldwide fight against cybercrime

UCD is home to a unique international masters degree in forensic computing and cybercrime investigation (FCCI). This bespoke programme for law enforcement agencies could be (opens in a new window)the stuff of television. Prompted by Detective Inspector Paul Gillen, former Head of the Garda Computer Crime Investigation Unit, the programme has been developed in conjunction with law enforcement experts from around the globe. One such contributor to the programme is Sergeant Michael Moran from INTERPOL. Moran is an expert on (opens in a new window)Child Exploitation on the Internet and has developed a module on this topic. He is one of a (opens in a new window)network of police officers at INTERPOL drawn from 58 countries, using their forensic computing skills to fight crimes that cross international borders. Experts from the Carabinieri, Guardia Civil and An Garda Síochána have also assisted in the development of material and lecture on their specialist areas.

The UCD Centre for Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Investigations programmes are recognised internationally as being among the leading qualifications for law enforcement within this field. Developed by (opens in a new window)Dr Pavel Gladyshev, and now led by (opens in a new window)Dr Nhien An Le Khac, the purpose of the FCCI programme is to produce graduates with skills enabling them to effectively carry out investigations across a broad spectrum of cybercrimes. All of these programmes are designed to be accessible to members of law enforcement on an international basis; therefore lectures are delivered online, with workshops and exams taking place annually in Dublin and now also in London, the Netherlands and the USA. The programme is an example of Ireland's thriving ICT base and is held up as an example by the (opens in a new window)IDA.

To date, police officers from over fifty-seven countries have graduated from the programme. Armed with their forensic skills, these officers continue the battle against trafficking, fraud, child abuse and terrorism throughout the world.

Advancing education through expert teaching and online delivery

UCD has a thriving graduate community of some 8,179 students who work and learn on two world-class campuses, and in numerous associated research and teaching institutions. Through our six Colleges, UCD offers Ireland's most diverse range of graduate opportunities. Our taught programmes are modularised to facilitate access, continuing professional development and life-long learning. Programmes are led by academic experts and offer students unparalleled choice at all levels. Through learning from globally recognised experts, students can enhance their prospects by becoming more expert themselves.

Building on the success of global learning through the UCD CCI, UCD has recently begun to offer our world class education and qualifications through a selection of online courses. Flexible online delivery means that students can learn on-demand and in their own time with all the reassurance of UCD expertise and support.