English

This seminar functions as a collaborative lab meeting in which weekly progress updates and group brainstorming sessions shape the core activities. Sessions consist entirely of peer-led presentations rather than formal lectures. Approximately half of the presentations address topics in forensics, while the remainder explore diverse areas of cognitive neuroscience such as auditory perception, visual illusions, and memory. Presentation topics are selected by individual presenters, so the content varies widely and may extend beyond the scope of forensic neuroscience.

This course introduces the composition and structure of microbial cells, the biochemical activities associated with cellular metabolism and how these activities are regulated and coordinated. The course has a molecular and genetic approach to the study of microbial physiology. Prerequisite General Microbiology.

This course introduces students to social theory in medical sociology. It does this by exploring sociological factors that impinge on health status, health chances and health care. It looks at concepts of health and illness, the social context of health and illness as well as changing patterns of health and illness, and the social organization of both formal and informal health care. This also includes a critical analysis of formal Western biomedical approaches to health and health care. A number of theoretical positions are considered ranging from Functionalist, Marxist and neo-Marxist perspectives through to Postmodern, Realist and Critical Realist perspectives and the relevance of these in medicine and health care. These are applied to key substantive areas covered in the course.

This course examines different historical models for explaining the shocking rise and ultimate decline of witchcraft as a crime with dramatic social repercussions. It covers accused female and male witches of all ages and all social levels, as well as inquisitors, judges, torturers, accusers and victims. It assess the social, political, religious, legal, environmental and cultural underpinnings of witchcraft panics in locations including Germany, France, England, Scotland, Spain and Italy. It looks at European anxieties about non-European diabolical magic, and the notorious New England Salem witch trials of 1692 in North America. 

This course introduces major works of ancient Near Eastern, Hebrew, Greek, and Roman literature to explore the cultural and historical foundations of Western civilization. Texts such as the Hebrew Bible, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, and Virgil’s Aeneid, are read and analyzed with a focus on themes of heroism, divinity, and human experience. Emphasis is placed on close reading, literary analysis, and active participation through discussions, quizzes, written responses, and group presentations.

This course examines the relationship between terror, fear, and the exercise of social and political power. It explores themes of genocide, torture, war, terrorism, and violence, analyzing the production of the abject and victims as well as the symbolism and use of the body in the exercise and experience of power. 

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 aims to provide an advanced understanding of the types, the causes, and the dynamics of political and criminal violence. At the end of the course, students are familiar with classical and contemporary theories on the origins of political violence, with studies on the different forms of organized violence, and with current research on how violence is exercised. Students are also familiar with the major methodological debates in the study of violence.

The course examines different types of collective violence, including violence occurring in civil wars, instances of state repression, mafia, and gang violence. It explores the different “types” of violence, defining their main features and uncovering their rationale through a plurality of approaches. Ultimately, the class provides the theoretical and empirical tools to study violence in its relations with political order(s). The course is divided in two sections. The first section – conducted through frontal lectures – explores classic types of “political violence” (such as civil wars, revolutions and terrorism) looking at their origins and dynamics, then looks second section deals with violence perpetrated by states (such as repressions and genocides) and violence that occurs within states that does not challenge their existence or regime (such as that perpetrated by organized crime and gangs). The second section – run as a seminar in which students present and discuss the assigned material – looks at the organizations that “produce” violence, and namely at insurgent and mafia groups, analyzing their emergence, their internal functioning, and their relations with violence.

This course introduces the economic analysis of environmental and natural resource issues using modern applied microeconomic methods. The course explores how economic principles can be applied to understand environmental problems, evaluate policy solutions, and analyze the sustainable use of natural resources. The course emphasizes applying economic theory to real-world policy questions, developing skills in policy analysis and evaluation, and exploring the intersection of economics and environmental stewardship. 

The first few weeks of the course covers classical topics in environmental and natural resources economics. The remainder of the semester focuses on contemporary issues such as environmental justice, climate change, sustainable development, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), and carbon neutralization economics with global applications. 

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 focuses on the nature and peculiar aspects of law, in particular its relationship with history; the traditional areas of private law, as well as the system, the founding categories and the historical evolution of Roman private law (VIII century BC - VI century AD). Students will be capable to understand the main issues and effects concerning the interpretation of ancient legal sources. The course is divided into two parts. The first part takes into consideration the principle stages of Roman legal history from the Law of the Twelve Tablets to the epoch of Justinian. The second part takes into consideration the fundamental institutions of Roman private law.