English

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. This course is based on the sociological analysis of a selection of films produced in Italy from the end of World War II to the ‘80s with the aim of using Italian movies as telescopes on the past and to reflect on the present of Italian culture, from both the historical and social point of view. At the end of the course, students have knowledge about: Italian cinema from the beginning of the twentieth century to the 1980s; political and social transformations from the early 1900s to the 1980s; elements of Italian history from 1900 to post-war period; notions regarding sociological and anthropological models, necessary to interpret social transformations in Italy in the period under analysis. Some of the most important movies of Italian film history are screened such as 900, ROME OPEN CITY, LA DOLCE VITA, BREAD AND CHOCOLATE. This is a sociology course on Italian culture, in which movies are used as data as well as a stimulus for the debate. In addition, another level of analysis concerns the styles, the schools and the directors of the films selected, and the technical and social contexts that influence the different styles. In this light, students consider mass communication linguistic techniques (figures of speech, metaphors, analogies), to identify both clear and hidden messages in movies. The course includes traditional lectures, film screenings, and audiovisual materials.

The course establishes a foundation for understanding and analyzing information and information systems in organizations. It provides an overview of technical and organizational aspects of decision support systems (DSS), including individual, group, and organizational DSS as well as executive information systems (EIS). Management of DSS and EIS within the end-user computing environment are also discussed. The course covers more recent technologies, including Data Warehouse / Data Mining, and OLAP technologies. The course is design-oriented and emphasizes conceptual foundations of DSS and EIS, but DSS software reviews, demonstrations, laboratory lessons, and case examples are also included.

This course belongs to the field of intelligence studies. It introduces the main actors of American intelligence (agencies, National Interest Exception, National Safety Council, etc.) from their origins (most notably the birth of the CIA in 1947) until today. This is done through a historical analysis of the period, the actors, and the international context. Special attention is devoted to the impact of intelligence agencies in the conduct of United States foreign policy. Finally, the course introduces the main concepts of the intelligence world, such as clandestine actions, counterespionage, technological innovation, relationship between the decision maker and the intelligence agency, and inter-service cooperation. In so doing, it highlights the challenges that American, and more broadly Western, agencies continue to face today.

Exploring French political history since 1870, this course presents the history of the French republican system during the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics. It explains how this political regime gradually stabilized and became synonymous with democracy. The lectures focus on the successive constitutions and their application, while also enabling students to discover the main political figures of the period, the presidents and the political leaders for instance, and to understand the great moments of crises and of progress. The course also focuses on France during the two World Wars and the colonial crisis, underlining the effects of these events on the government.