English

This course examines Pacific history from the Indigenous occupation of the Pacific to the late 1900s. It introduces the major narratives of the Pacific, using historical examples from all over the Pacific to highlight keys events and trends in Pacific history. It also focuses on the ways in which this history has been constructed and seeks to analyze Indigenous Pacific ways of telling history. 

This course explores topics at the intersection of philosophy of mind and language, such as whether thought depends on talk or vice versa, whether we think in words or images, whether those words are words of English or a sui generis mental language just for thinking, whether animals which can't talk can think and whether the mind is like a computer. These questions are central to contemporary philosophy and language and are also an important case study in the relationship between the methods of analysis, experiment and introspection in philosophical psychology. The course requires students to take prerequisites.

The course introduces a special segment of popular culture in a historical context: the impact of the Cold War on science fiction film. It also considers how, as media technology developed between 1945-1990, nuclear threat, the arms race, and space race also inspired film and television directors to tell stories about a potential future. The course covers great movies born inside the Western and Eastern block, and discusses the different periods of Cold War (Thaw, Détente, etc.) thematized science fiction.

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 theoretical knowledge on museum studies, as well as the necessary practical skills to work with or in the museum sector. It is designed to prepare students both to the responsibilities they will overtake or/and to the academic work they will produce during their professional career. The course is divided into three modules. The first module provides a theory-based introduction to the museum sector and the research field of critical museology. The second module is dedicated to the new stakes and challenges of the museum in the 21st century. The last part of the course is conceived to provide concrete tools to think specifically about the publics of museums, and to implement adapted strategies to relevantly interact with them inside and outside of the museum. The course covers museum history from being an institutional container for a collection up to the idea of the modern archaeological museum with its complex organization; the rudiments of museum theory, legislation, and marketing; the application of the theoretical-scientific concept of Museology, in its various meanings and multi-functional sense, to the complex problems related to public enjoyment of the Archaeological Cultural Heritage.

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 focuses on the main theoretical and methodological tools of global and intercultural perspectives for the study of the medieval world including religious phenomena and dynamics. This course shows how to critically identify the socio-cultural matrix of religions, as well as connections, developments, persistence, and transformations of religious phenomena with a critical approach to periodization and can address and solve issues related to the management of cultural and religious pluralism. With a focus on the medieval Mediterranean and the routes to Asia from 1000 to 1500, this course analyzes patterns of religious, commercial, and intellectual communication between Latins, Eastern Christians, Arabs, and Mongols, with attention to the sociopolitical implications of interaction between groups in complex societies. The first part of the course provides the main theoretical tools for a history of cross-cultural encounters in pre-modern times, looking in particular at the Mongol Empire and the Mediterranean Sea as connecting spaces. Afterwards, the focus is on a series of case studies, based on which the class empirically observes patterns of interaction, representation of otherness, and circulation of goods, peoples, and ideas across linguistic, religious, and cultural boundaries and on different scales. Specific attention is devoted to the plurality of representations of the “Orient” produced or circulating in late medieval Europe, regarding them as crucial objects of cultural and religious history. The course discusses how non-Latin and non-Christian peoples fit into Western categories of representations, and what knowledge about Near- and Far-Eastern regions was actually available in the West. By examining specific cases, based on Eastern and Western sources, the course explores the different ways in which medieval travelers took otherness into account, whether internal or external to Christianity, and examines how these accounts fit into precise intellectual schemes and political and religious agendas.

This course constructs a philosophical framework for the interdisciplinary examination of gender. Against a historical outline of the development of contemporary gender studies, it examines biological, sociological, and psychological perspectives on gender. These theoretical perspectives are put into discussion with ethical issues concerning sexuality, self hood, personal identity, and autonomy. The course develops skills to make sense of the interdisciplinary examination of gender and discuss the historical, theoretical, and ethical aspects of what it means to exist with a gender identity. It provides a philosophical foundation for thinking critically about the complexity of human experience of gender. The most important elements of this philosophical foundation are a sense of history, conceptual clarity, and an understanding of interdisciplinary methodology. 

This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to introduce how complex biological phenomena can emerge from simple rules. Through interactive lectures, guided reading and hands-on tutorials and simulations, students learn to appreciate how basic concepts like feedback and robustness generate biodiversity across multiples scales. The course requires a prerequisite of General Biology. 

This course examines the human dimension of disasters which covers crucial concepts and theories, vulnerability and the causes of disasters, disaster risk reduction and management, post-disaster recovery and transversal issues such as culture and gender. The discussions encompass not only theoretical but also policy and practical materials and draw on examples and case studies from throughout the world with a particular focus on the most vulnerable and marginalized areas and communities.

Agile software development methodologies and frameworks have changed how software is created, and are widely used and supported. This is not surprising, given that agile approaches stand, among other aspects, for continuous change and collaboration between stakeholders. These characteristics are aligned with the dynamic needs of business models pursuing innovation, which is why companies consider agile software development a key element for the future. In this seminar we will explore the rise and evolution of agile software development. Among other aspects, we will look at the principles and values behind it, what differentiates it from traditional software development approaches, its main frameworks and methodologies, the challenges jeopardizing its values, and what we can expect from it for the years to come.

This course is on the fundamental principles of heat transfer, covering heat conduction, heat convection and heat exchangers. The course objectives are: (1) to provide an understanding of fundamental principles of heat transfer; and (2) to enable students to use the fundamental principles for conducting thermal analysis and design of engineering problems. At the end of this course, students who fulfill the requirements of this course will be able to: (1) demonstrate an understanding of the principles that govern heat transfer processes; (2) analyze heat-transfer problems quantitatively; and (3) identify relevant engineering solutions in thermal systems. Topics include: Fourier’s law; heat-conduction equation; thermal conductivity; conduction; fins; basic convection principles; laminar and turbulent heat transfer in tubes and over plates; Reynolds analogy; types of heat exchangers; overall heat-transfer coefficient; log mean temperature difference; effectiveness-NTU method; heat exchanger design.