English

This course is concerned with economic geography. In particular we use ideas from International Trade, International Economics, Development and Regional Economics to talk about the location of economic activity across space and the consequences of uneven location. This course is concerned with two fundamental questions: 1) what determines the distribution of production and trade across countries and regions? 2) which are the implications for economic development and inequalities? To answer these questions, students are introduced to international trade theories, their mechanisms and implications for trade patterns. In parallel, this course provides students with a review of the main empirical studies testing for those theories and documenting the implications of trade liberalization for economic development and income inequalities. Armed with these theories and empirical facts, the course critically evaluates current trade policy disputes.

This course provides an interdisciplinary exploration of sustainable agriculture, food systems, and ecological practices within the context of the Mediterranean, with a specific focus on Sicily. Students engage with ecological concepts and principles fundamental to designing and managing sustainable agroecosystems, with a whole systems approach encompassing the multiple dimensions of sustainability. Local engagement is aimed at enhancing students’ critical thinking about global food systems, the SDGs and sustainable agricultural practices.

In addition to the core focus on sustainable agriculture and food systems, this course provides a deeper historical and environmental framing, exploring the long-standing cultural overlays that have shaped Sicily’s agricultural practices. Students examine the island's ecological history and agricultural evolution under indigenous, Greek, Roman, Arab, Norman and Spanish influences, while gaining insight into how historical globalization has impacted local food systems. Special attention is given to the role of commodity trade over time and its influence on current agricultural structures.

In this course, students use advanced mathematical methods to establish convexity in complex problems. In addition, students specify necessary and sufficient conditions for optimality, classify optimization algorithms as first or second order, determine appropriate optimization algorithms for given problems given the size and structure of the optimization models, and apply sensitivity analysis to optimization problems using Lagrange multipliers.

The course examines the role of power and politics in international economic relations. Besides international structural factors, it emphasizes the role of domestic political interests and their influence over foreign economic policies. Major approaches covered include historical views on international political economy, and contemporary systemic theories of international cooperation, interest groups politics, ideas and institutions. The course provides an overview and explanation of the international monetary and trade systems since 1944. It also discusses current debates on trade, monetary policy, the political roots of financial crises, globalization and the retreat of the state, and environmental protection.

This course discusses and analyzes the major challenges and current initiatives in the creation of finance industries appropriate to and effective in developing countries. The course focuses on the private financial sector and issues relating to access to finance. After a general overview, the course examines the forms of finance available for larger firms in developing countries, mainly the banking sector and the stock market. Subsequently, the course covers the evidence on the effects of financial development on economic growth and the role of institutional factors, such as corporate governance, in financial development. The course then examines the access to finance for smaller firms and households and the implications of a lack of access. Finally, the course touches upon private international sources of finance, namely private capital flows, FDI, and remittances to developing countries.

This course focuses on the intersection of culture and national identity in Russian and Soviet history. Students examine Russia’s relationship with its ‘others’ – East and West – and their role in the construction of Russia’s discourses around culture and nationhood. Students also explore the role of empire in Russian and Soviet history, analyzing how Russian writers, artists, and intellectuals have questioned, endorsed or contested it. Through the analysis of literary and visual primary sources, the course provides students with a better understanding of Russia’s conflicted identity and its consequences for the present day. 

Health psychology is the study of how biological, psychological, and social factors influence health, illness, and healthcare. This course aims to (1) understand the field of health psychology, (2) examine the biopsychosocial model in health promotion and risk behaviors, (3) integrate biological, psychological, and social approaches to prevention and treatment, and (4) analyze how behaviors and psychosocial factors like stress impact physical and mental health. Topics include The systems of the body, Stress, Coping, resilience and social support, Health behaviors, Health promoting behaviors, Health compromising behaviors, The management of pain and discomfort, Management of chronic health disorders, Psychological issues in terminal illness, Heart disease, hypertension, stroke, and Type II Diabetes, Psychoneuroimmunology and immune-related disorders, and Using health services / Patients, providers, and treatments. 

At the end of the 20th century, several scholars famously pronounced that society had become “posthuman” (N. Katherine Hayles) and that “we are cyborgs” (Donna Haraway). Two and a half decades later, this diagnosis seems even more accurate: cyborgs, androids, and artificial intelligence populate literature and film; ‘cyborg’ technology in medicine can replaces limbs, organs, and senses; and artificial intelligence assists humans in various ways in their daily lives, from applications in their phones to digital assistants and chatbots. What are the implications of these developments for a traditional understanding of the human and the relationship between humans and machines? How do these transformations impact ideas about, and representations of, the human body and embodiment? What ethical and socio-political issues are at stake? The course explores these questions with the help of theoretical approaches from the fields of Posthumanism, Gender Studies and Critical Race Studies, as well as literary texts and films. Students read two contemporary novels – Jeanette Winterson’s Frankissstein (2019) and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun (2021) – and watch two films – Alex Garland’s Ex Machina (2014) and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus (2012). They also have a chat with Chat GPT.

The focus of this course will be the discussion and comparative analysis of English language narrative and film within the domain of the Strange, Fantastic, Sci-fi, Slipstream and New Weird sub-genres. The lectures and discussions will cover the cross-medium experience, adaptation, film theory and literary "readings" of film. An interdisciplinary approach involving literary theory, film theory, philosophy, pop culture and psychoanalysis will be employed in these analyses.

This course builds upon the knowledge and understanding gained by the students in the Separation Processes 1 course. This is  achieved by both broadening the content to encompass a wider range of separation processes and deepening the student’s understanding of the processes covered in Separation Processes 1. This is primarily achieved by building upon knowledge of distillation and extraction processes and design, introducing more complex variables and via the introduction of new separation processes such as adsorption.