English

Scotland has a rich tradition of architecture, from the prehistoric settlements of Skara Brae and Kilmartin, through Gothic cathedrals and Renaissance castles and palaces, to the Victorian splendour of our city centres and beyond. This course offers case studies of ten significant structures in Scotland, including the contentious Scottish Parliament building. The course discusses the buildings themselves, the people who planned them, their historic and social contexts, the uses to which they were put, and the meanings they have had over the years.

This course is for students who have no previous knowledge of Korean and offers an introduction to Korean language and culture. It enables students to develop competence in a range of everyday tasks in Korean. The course focuses on oral communication and on acquiring essential listening and speaking abilities. Students develop and practice basic reading and writing techniques. The stimulus material (oral, aural and written) provide an introduction to Korean grammar and syntax and contribute to giving the students an insight into aspects of Korean life and culture. This course is delivered via small group teaching with classes having a maximum of 16 students.

This course examines groups, which are best understood as symmetries of mathematical objects. Students explore geometric group theory and the connection between the algebraic properties of a group and the geometric properties of the spaces it acts on.

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to both the practical and rigorous foundations of software engineering as well as both soft and hard skills. With them, students learn how to design, develop, test, verify, and maintain high-quality software systems.  

Topics include software development life cycles, design patterns, testing and coverage, code quality practices such as code reviews and coding style guides, and formal verification techniques.  

In this course, students engage in software engineering by applying coding, refactoring, and testing techniques to support continuous development and maintainability in real-world projects. Students also analyze given software designs or code using design patterns, testing strategies, and code quality standards. We also evaluate the strengths and limitations of various development methodologies and design alternatives to determine the most suitable approach for a given context. We design and implement tools or procedures that verify software correctness using logic-based reasoning and formal methods and build maintainable, high-quality software systems. 

Prerequisites: CAS1102 (Object-Oriented Programming), CAS2103 (Data Structure); students should be familiar with object-oriented languages including C++, Python, etc. Students should be familiar with implementing data structures and be able to analyze pros and cons of several data structures. Students should have a Github account.  

This course introduces some of the fundamentals of writing short literary fiction. Read, study, and discuss contemporary short fiction reading, as well as the craft choices that shape those stories. Also engage in creative writing exercises and give and receive feedback on written work. No prior creative writing experience is necessary.

This course explores the diverse and changing nature of the discipline of archaeology from the 19th century to the present day. Themes covered include the construction of chronologies, data recovery, classification and interpretation, cultural and processual/post-processual models, and the developing role of archaeological and environmental sciences.

The role of media in shaping everyday life is paramount, and understanding it requires consideration of historical, political, economic, and other factors. This course explores the various ways people consume media content in their daily lives, seeking to understand the influence of media on society and culture. It also provides a historical perspective on how media became a crucial component of the human condition. 

This course examines the basics of making music for film and animation. Aspects of the function and crafting of music in film and animation including film scoring and the music dramatic narrative will be explored. 

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The course is aimed at the comprehension of the fundamental principles of how ecological systems work. It focuses on the ecological problems caused by human activities as well. Fundamental and applied aspects of ecology are emphasized. An understanding of the scope of the problems facing us (climate change, unsustainable use of resources, pollution, extinctions, and the erosion of natural biodiversity) and the means to counter and solve these problems depend on a proper grasp of ecological fundamentals. Although the course analyzes all the main types of ecosystems, it works in particular on aquatic ecosystems, covering concepts such as sustainable development, ecosystem services, and environmental monitoring in detail.

The course content is divided as follows:

1. Introduction: the cultural roots of ecology, the aims of ecology, the levels of ecological organization, temporal and spatial scales, ecology as a science, ecological methods and tools
2. Interactions between organisms and their environment: ecological niche, life cycles and energy acquisition
3. The populations: life histories, growth models, life cycles, carrying capacity, the concept of metapopulation, examples of methods of sampling and estimations
4. Biotic interactions: competition, predation, parasitism, facilitation and other positive interactions, direct and indirect interactions
5. Communities and biodiversity: community structure, ecological successions, distribution, biodiversity and biodiversity indices, factors affecting biodiversity.
6. Ecosystems and their dynamics: food chains and food webs, ecosystem functioning, trophic cascades, disturbances and resilience, regime shifts, alternative stable states.
7. Ecosystem, general concepts: energy flow, biogeochemical cycles, biomass on earth, decomposition and detritivores, biomes, microclimate and Biotic pump.
8. Different types of ecosystems: lentic ecosystems abiotic dynamics, lentic ecosystems communities, terrestrial ecosystems, biomes and microclimate.
9. River ecosystems: lotic environments and their catchments: Hydrology, geomorphology and river community.
10. Natural depuration process (NBSs): riparian ecotones, characteristics and function, wetlands, natural phytodepuration systems, other NBSs.
11. Threats to biological diversity: habitat degradation and loss, pollution, eutrophication, overexploitation of natural resources, invasive species, climate changes.
12. Introduction to conservation biology: the natural capital, ecosystem goods and services
13. Conservation of populations and ecosystems: vulnerability and conservation status, reintroductions, restorations, protected areas, spatial planning, current legislations, examples of management of anthropogenic exploitation, success conservation and management stories, monitoring

The course focuses on the significance of rhetoric for human rights and democracy. The course provides tools to communicate opinions in societal contexts in a respectful, authentic, and effective manner, considering different opinions and interests. Students practice effectively listening to, formulating, and delivering messages.