English

This is an introductory course on the science of colloids and interface with specific reference to the application in food systems. The course covers the definition of a colloid, the fundamentals of colloidal stability such as the forces leading to the instability of colloids, as well as how colloids can be stabilized. Some examples of the application of colloid science in some food colloid systems such as emulsion, gel, foam etc. are discussed.

The course provides an analysis of the economic relationships between countries, covering both trade and monetary issues. The first half of the course deals with international trade theory and policy. Students explore important topics such as why countries trade with each other and the effect of international trade on welfare and income distribution. Students also analyze the role of firm heterogeneity in international trade and the links between globalization and inequality. The second half of the course considers international macroeconomics. Covering key topics such as the balance of payments accounts, open economy income identities, the liquidity trap, and the effect of currency valuations, students gain a comprehensive understanding of the current policy environment and its impact on international trade relations.

This course has three main components. First, it discusses a coherent analytical framework for understanding some of the key ideas and issues informing the debate about the environment and about sustainability today. It examines the principles and practices of sustainable development in the context of urban development. More than half of the world's population are already living in cities and by the middle of this century that figure will rise to more than 65 percent. With rapid urbanization, cities face environmental, economic, and social challenges that pose threats to sustainability of urban development. Second, the course investigates the historical conditions for the contemporary debate about sustainability, reviewing the evolution of different approaches towards the environment from the earliest farming societies to present (post-) industrial societies. The course adopts a ‘Big History' approach to see the overall picture, seeking out common themes and patterns that can help to better address the multiplicity of socioeconomic and environmental issues faced today. The third and major part of the course looks at Tuscany and at Florence in particular, on the basis of the fruitful concept of ‘Urban Metabolisms' to focus attention on the interdependence between cities and their environments. Tuscan cities such as Florence and Siena are often considered ideal models of sustainable urban and rural development as well as of landscape preservation. This ‘Under the Tuscan Sun' image of Tuscany is contrasted by an analysis of the more complex historical realities. Students deconstruct these idealized images of the Tuscan space and to rethink the complex relationship between ‘città and contado' (city and countryside) in the Tuscan past and presence. A variety of key thematic issues and sustainability challenges are explored in the context of Tuscan urban environments, including transport, tourism, water, waste, and food issues. A variety of outdoor activities including a daytrip to the Tuscan countryside offers unique opportunities for students to engage with local community.

This course examines everyday ethical questions through the lens of different scales of human relationships. It will examine five key relationships through cross-cultural perspectives: (1) with oneself—including self-care, self-forgiveness, and conscience; (2) with friendship and dating; (3) with one’s immediate community—including family and professional life; (4) the larger society in which one lives—including social media and the politics of respect; and (5) with the transcendence of mystery, the divine, and the sacred—including urban space and the ecological other with which we participate.

The central idea of the course is to study the mechanisms and processes that control ecosystem functioning via interactions between organisms, the environment, and human activities. With a focus on quantitative analyses in lectures and exercises, it analyzes systems from the global scale through the ecosystem to the scale of the soil microenvironment in order to understand the background of fundamental services that ecosystems provide. The course analyzes the influence and impact of human activities including different land uses, pollution, and climate change, as well as potential climate change mitigation strategies including bioenergy production.  The course focuses on exercises with quantitative analyses where students learn how to apply the knowledge obtained during the course, such as evaluating various environmental footprints of human activities and assessing the sustainability of climate change mitigation strategies. The course concludes with a course “conference” where students present and discuss the concepts of planetary boundaries and the sustainable use of global resources. The core elements of the course are: the functioning of the Globe and the three spheres (atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere); characteristics and differences of the global cycles of major elements (C, N, and P) and their interactions; the triangle of interactions between organisms, processes, and the environment; succession, diversity, and ecosystem functioning and how this affects stability, resistance, and resilience of ecosystems; evaluation of impacts of human activities through the assessment of the flow of energy and matter through ecosystems.

This class covers the field of judgment and decision-making, which is the collection of cognitive, social, and emotion studies that analyze how people make decisions and evaluate the alternatives available. In particular, the class covers dual-process models of thinking, which distinguish between automatic information processing and conscious, deliberative processing. Related to these theories is the understanding of the pivotal role emotions have in driving our everyday actions. Finally, the class covers a series of applications of judgment and decision-making in different economic fields.

The course describes some of the key models, concepts and applications of clinical psychology. The course discusses topics including theories and models in clinical psychology; multidimensional assessment in clinical psychology; clinical features and etiopathogenetic mechanisms of some of the most prevalent mental disorders; description of the main interventions and their mechanisms in clinical psychology; and examples of clinical formulation and discussion of clinical cases. The course requires students to have completed at least one year of study in the field, specifically on courses in General Psychology, Brain and Behavior, and Developmental Psychology across Cultures, as a prerequisite.