English

This seminar explores how mycelium - a network of fungal roots - reacts to cotton textile fibers, as well as how these fibers influence the properties of the resulting composite material. The main objective of the course is to plan and conduct an applied research project in small groups. Within a given framework, groups design their own experiments to investigate variables such as growth, temperature, duration, nutrients, texture, and size. The seminar focuses on conducting small-scale experimental scientific research on fungal-based materials suitable for architectural applications.

The course examines the development, causation, function, and evolutionary history of vertebrate and invertebrate behavior. 

This course examines information technology, using the web as a core case study. It covers the underlying hardware, software, networks and operating systems behind websites, and how to set up a functional website using this knowledge.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. At the end of the course, students have a thorough understanding of the decision-making processes of European Union policies and the actors involved in EU policies. From the economic and social to the digital and multimedia fields, students are able to evaluate the impact of regulation at European level on the different sectors of society. The course is divided into two parts and ends with two seminars on themes dealt with beforehand. 

Part I. Understanding the European Union: 

• The foundations of the EU project: Federal integration, a conceptual approach resulting from a mix of economic integration and federalism. The two levels of governance: central and national levels. The principle of subsidiarity. The evolution of the EU’s policy portfolio and policy processes over the year.
• Who does what in Brussels: The main institutions the EU, their role and tasks. The influence exercised by the lobbies and civil society organizations in shaping the policy agenda and the decisional process. Policy roles, functions and the distribution of power within the various institutions and amongst the Member States.
• The EU’s decision making process: The various decisional processes and procedures. The setting of the EU political agenda, its strategic objectives and policy priorities. Regulation, self-regulation and co-regulation. The life of a EU law and its impact of the life of its people.
• Economic integration as catalyst for further political integration: The process of completion of the internal market, the backbone of the EU. The 4 fundamental freedoms and Community method, the main decision making process. The ordinary legislative procedure and new forms of governance.
• A Union of values: Democracy, human rights and the Rule of Law are identitarian, foundation elements of the EU and of our “way of living”.

Part II. EU Media Policy: balancing freedom of expression and other fundamental rights online. 5 case studies.

• The process of liberalization and regulation of the European audiovisual market.
• The Copyright reform (protection and monetization of copyrighted works distributed over the Internet, while protecting freedom of expression and freedom of the arts). Copyright and Artificial Intelligence.
• Internet and digital platforms regulation. The Digital Services Act, a comprehensive regulatory framework on content moderation and protection of citizens’ rights online, including from disinformation.
• The Media Freedom Act, a brand new law enhancing media freedom, pluralism and journalists protection across the EU.
• The regulation of artificial intelligence in the EU (the AI Act).

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. This course provides students with the opportunity to develop a critical knowledge of European integration with particular attention to the most recent crises, related to finance, immigration, and the violations of the rule of law. At the end of the course, students have acquired: a) wide perspective on the intersection of political, legal, historical, and economic factors in the management of the crises; b) skills useful for the identification of the legal and political factors influencing European integration; c) fundamental techniques of reading and understanding of European, constitutional, and legal sources of law; d) skills of analysis of European and domestic case law; e) critical skills for the comparative analysis of historical, legal, and political factors of integration processes. 

This course introduces students to the core themes and debates in the history of science and technology in modern America, examining how both shaped and were shaped by broader U.S. political, social, and economic developments and interests. Questions posed include what role did science and technology play in shaping twentieth-century U.S. history, and which major STEM figures and institutions drove this transformation? Topics covered include the rise of Big Science; research in wartime and during the Cold War; the relationship between scientific expertise and the state; science and public health policy; the development of technological hubs such as Silicon Valley; and the rise of environmentalism. Readings include contributions by figures such as Rachel Carson, Richard Feynman, Mae Jemison, Katherine Johnson, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Chien-Shiung Wu, alongside relevant historical scholarship. No prior STEM background is required. The course includes at least one science-focused field trip.

This course is an introduction to the science of epidemiology, the study of the distribution and determinants of health and disease in human populations, and to different ways of understanding health.

This course fosters a comprehensive understanding of modern microeconomics. It covers consumer choice, demand theory, producer theory, competitive markets, partial equilibrium, general equilibrium, etc.

This course introduces students to American government, with a focus on U.S. political culture, institutions, and policymaking. Particular emphasis is given to the historical and intellectual development of the American political system and its evolution to the present day. The course examines how checks and balances mediate power between the branches of the federal government (the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary), as well as how the federal government interacts with and shapes decision-making among the states. Attention is given the role of the media, interest groups, and political parties in influencing a range of political outcomes in the United States.

This course seeks to provide students with grounding in the basic tools of understanding social protest and social movement. In addition to Hong Kong, cases are drawn from many different countries—from the American civil rights movement to the 2007 democratic demonstrations in Burma, from Gandhi’s satyagraha (non-violent resistance) to the more recent “color revolutions” in Europe and Central Asia. Students also learn about influential social movement leaders past and present, such as Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Mandela, Mao, Lech Walesa, Aung San Suu Kyi and more. Students who have taken CCCH9009 Protests, rebellions and revolution are not allowed to take this course.