English

Global integration is not only a fact of modern life, but of modern history writing. The interconnectedness of distant societies and states, and powerful forces making for social, cultural, and economic interaction have prompted significant scholarly assessment. This course investigates some of the events and processes which have led to a more integrated world order between the mid-19th century and the later 20th century. For most of that period much of the world was carved up between a number of inter-continental empires centered in Europe. How those empires grew, exerted control, and in due course retreated is the particular focus of the course. But other processes, too, are considered, not least the integrating force of economic changes and the spreading power of capitalism across the globe. Attention is given to the evolution of ideologies of imperialism and social Darwinism and to whether or not such ideologies impacted upon changing global power relationships. The course is designed on a comparative model, though course reading is provided in English, and while broadly chronological in approach focuses on a wide range of themes in cultural, economic, and political history.

At the heart of the course is a consideration of what is the institution of slavery, how it manifested itself across different contexts and the connections across various slave societies. There is a specific, though not exclusive, focus on the transatlantic slave trade and slavery. The first part of this course considers the origins, development, and core characteristics of slavery from the ancient world to the early modern period. The second part of the course explores the dismantling of the slave system beginning with a consideration of forms of enslaved resistance including a specific focus on the only successful slave revolt in the Atlantic World, the Haitian Revolution. From here, the course examines the rise of the abolitionist movement and the emancipation of slavery. The final part of this course considers the short and long-term legacies of slavery. First, it considers what life looked like for formerly enslaved persons in postemancipation societies. Next, it focuses on the transition to other labor systems. The course concludes with a reflection of some of the present-day legacies of slavery and current efforts to address concerns.

This is a graduate level course that is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. At the end of the course, students will have acquired knowledge on the main morphological, physiological and molecular responses of higher plants to environmental cues and the basic mechanisms of tolerance and adaptation to adverse conditions. They learn about how plants contribute to air quality by the release of biotic particulates and by interfering with air pollutants derived from anthropogenic activities. Due to changes in plant distribution in relation to climate change, students become acquainted with the contribution of alien species to the release of such biotic particulates. Students also learn about methods employed in aerobiology for the quantitative and qualitative assessment of pollen and other air-borne allergens. They gain the capacity to interpret data and critically read scientific literature relating to this topic. Course contents Module 1: role of native and alien plants on air quality synthetic description of plant anatomy and cytology; the adaptive strategies of plants to different environmental conditions; alien plants; aerobiology; pollen and pollination; main airborne bio-allergens: pollens and fungi; food allergens of plant origin and respiratory allergens of pollen origin; role of plants as organisms able to monitor the environmental quality and to influence it through the release of aero-dispersed biological material such as pollens; possible use of plants in environmental phytoremediation. Course contents Module 2: plant resilience to environmental stress; the course will deal with the main responses of higher plants to environmental cues and basic mechanisms of tolerance and adaptation to adverse conditions; introduction to plants and abiotic stress factors associated with climate change; overview of abiotic stress responses in plants at various levels: morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular; the role of compatible solutes in preventing damage under stress conditions; oxidative stress, ROS homeostasis, and the importance of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants; responses and management of salinity stress in plants; symbiotic interactions between plants and soil microorganisms under environmental stress; plant hormones: definition, classes, modes of action and involvement in abiotic stress; gene expression and environmental changes; involvement of microRNAs, transcription factors, and epigenetic changes in stress responses; abiotic stress and secondary metabolites, including VOCs.

This course examines issues of environment and uneven development through the historical geography of empire. The course educates students on: 1) interdisciplinary theoretical approaches to empire in the social sciences and humanities, 2) the study of empire and environment (especially natural resources) within the subfields of political geography, historical geography, development geography, and political ecology, and 3) the complex natures, spatialities, and identities produced in the wake of European empires in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Specific topics include the spatiality of sovereignty, racialized labor regimes (including slavery, coolies, and peasants), imperial modes of water and forest development, imperial systems of food and agriculture, state responses to disease and disaster, and the contradictory political geographies of settlement, incorporation, exploitation, and decolonization. The course concludes with a reflection on struggles to ‘decolonize’ imperial knowledge systems, political economies, and social relations in the contemporary era.

The course reviews vision and other types of photoreception, olfaction, taste, hearing, equilibrium, mechanoreception, pressure reception, electroreception, magnetoreception, and senses for temperature and heat radiation. All senses are studied comparatively across the animal kingdom. A range of methods in physiology, ethology, and human psychophysics are taught and used during the course. The course is divided into sections covering different levels of organization. The sections include: the molecular machinery of sensory receptors; the design and function of sensory organs; neuroanatomy, neural processing, and integration of sensory information; and the role of sensory information in behavior and in the adaptation of animals to their environment (sensory ecology). Towards the end of the course, each student carries out a major practical project specializing in one area of sensory biology. The project results are discussed at a full-day symposium organized at a field station.