English

The course consists of an integrated historical and a philosophical part. In the historical part, the period ca. 1900 until the present and concentrate on the development of biology as a separate scientific discipline, characterized by research programs that took shape over time is covered. In this section the following topics are reviewed Kant’s Critic of Judgment and the emergence of the teleological understanding of living beings; The Cuvier-Geoffroy debate and its influence in the development of Darwin’s theory of evolution; Darwin's theory of evolution; The rise of experimentalism in the nineteenth-century biology; The eclipse of Darwinism and discussion of neo-Lamarckism in early twentieth century; The emergence of the synthetic theory of evolution; The foundations of genetics and molecular biology; and The postgenomic turn in 21th century. The historical part ties in with several of the themes covered in the philosophical part. Some of the philosophical debates discussed in the class are Philosophy of biology and its relation to biology; The central concepts of Darwin’s theory of evolution; Adaptationist debate; Species, genes, race, classification, and taxonomies; Causality and explanation in biology; and Experimental biology and epistemic objects. The course includes lectures and tutorials. Participants are expected to have carefully read the required material and have completed the weekly assignment in advance of the meeting. The weekly assignment is a reading report or a critical question depending on the week. Entrance requirements included enrollment in a degree programme of the Faculty of Science.

In this course, students use probability theory to model uncertainty; design simple probabilistic models that facilitate prediction; conduct sound scientific analysis of data, and study the mathematical foundations of probabilistic modelling with Markov chains and simulation.

This course introduces key concepts and frameworks in public policy, focusing on how policies are formulated, implemented, and evaluated. It provides insights on how issues make it onto the political agenda; when and how public policies are made; how their effects can be assessed; what makes them successful; and how public policies can be compared. The course explores different types of policies, the policy instruments governments use to influence societal outcomes, and the factors that drive policy change or stability to familiarize students with analytical tools used in policy research. In doing so, the course also examines the challenges of addressing complex, "wicked" problems that confront governments with particular challenges. In addition to general theories and approaches in public policy research, the course introduces selected policy areas, such as health, education, environmental, and social policy. The course equips students with the tools to analyze policy processes, assess government effectiveness, and critically engage with real-world policy challenges.

This course focuses on the applications of game theoretical and empirical approaches to the understanding of contemporary political issues. During the lectures, students cover some seminal and some most recent models to think critically about the topics studied. In addition, they go over papers testing or related to the theories we cover. Students learn to assess critically the usefulness and limitations of theories and empirics alike. As such, this course allows students to understand how the tools they acquired in GV225 – Public Choice (or equivalent course) and GV249 – Research Design (or equivalent course) can be combined to study important political questions. Themes covered change every year as a function of current debates in the scholarly community and of pressing problems in the world at large. In recent years, the topics studied in the course have included, among others, populism, media and democracy, autocratic politics, terrorism. Questions covered during the lectures have included the sources of populists’ success, the effect of biased media on political outcomes, the role of violence in securing autocratic regimes, or the evaluation of counter-terrorist policies, among many others.

This course examines a variety of theoretical perspectives on the reasons why people commit crime, what constitutes crime, and how states respond to crime. Students explore a range of theories from classical and positivist approaches, to sociological theories, to feminist approaches, and contemporary research. The relevance of these theories to the case of Ireland, and aspects of criminal justice internationally are also assessed.   

This course focuses on building English writing skills for natural science students. Students participate in various academic English writing activities that focus on the composition of texts, logical development, professional vocabulary selection, academic research, citation, and bibliography to cultivate academic English writing skills in natural sciences fields.  

This course offers a comparative approach to fairy tales that highlights their transnational circulation and their contributions to shaping European values from the late 17C to the present. The course will give students a powerful sense of the hybridity and fluidity of cultures and of the way tales are appropriated to consolidate national, social and gender identities. By studying fairy tale adaptations in different media (including film), students will develop new techniques of interpretation. And by writing a fairy tale for our times, students will stretch their imagination and creativity. This course is well suited to students of Comparative Literatures and Cultures and of Modern Languages, as it will build on and stretch your understanding of how cultures function and interact. More broadly, this course will also be of particular interest to students interested in the cross-fertilization between cultures and nations in the history of Europe.

The course extends the student's Swedish vocabulary and ability to adapt their Swedish to different communication situations and to provide an opportunity to develop the ability to express themselves in a grammatically correct and varied manner. In addition to the skills training, the course also covers the typical features of Swedish grammar and phonetics. Written proficiency is practiced through written assignments of various kinds as well as summaries and presentations based on texts they have read or listened to an active vocabulary is built up through the reading of primarily newspaper articles and contemporary Swedish literature. Current societal issues are discussed and summarized. The pronunciation exercises have a particular focus on phonemic quality and prosody. To be admitted to the course, students must meet the general entry requirements for higher education in Sweden (with the exception of proficiency in Swedish) and have knowledge equivalent to SVEH15 Swedish for Students with a Foreign Background: Level 5, 7.5 credits

This course is intended to introduce students having no previous experience of project investment appraisal to the ways in which such investments can be analyzed. Students who wish to enter the business world, either working for companies or for themselves, are required to conduct formal assessments of a proposed project (or business) and present these to decision-makers. The course equips students to conduct such analyses, by describing a case study (chosen by the student), modelling it using formal techniques and indicators, and to present the results in a well-structured document. In the past a variety of projects have been examined, including sports centers, restaurants, new products, renewable energy schemes, an escort agency, theme park, retail businesses, driving school, hotels and hostels, a company take- over, etc. 

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by permission of the instructor. 

The student is expected to learn the frameworks of visual art produced by artists from the last decades and living today. In this perspective, contemporary art responds to a global system that is culturally diverse, multifaced, and technologically advanced. This ample focus wants to evidence critical methods for the comprehension of various contemporary art styles, through developing a deep understanding of their historical background. At the end of the course, the student is able to apply methodologies for analyzing works of art and examine the contemporary art scenario.

This course is an exploration of contemporary visual art forms and their international cultural connections for the student with little experience in the visual arts and history of contemporary art. It includes a brief study of art history of the last three decades, and in-depth studies of the elements, media, and methods used in creative thought and processes. The course takes into the latest visual expanded scenarios in which visual art is engaged with sociological and anthropological practices of now. The course underlines the many possibilities of our postmodern and post-contemporary actuality inside and outside the museum. This course defines the meaning of aesthetics and its relationship to cultural conventions, describes specific processes used by visual artists, art as a social activity and a singular creative act, historical forms of artistic training.

This course develops in three fundamental moments. The first unit (10 hours) introduces a theoretical deepening in order to identify the Contemporary Art History. The second unit (10 hours) is dedicated to deepening of some contents of contemporary art. The third unit (10 hours) is an immersive experience into different artistic spaces (galleries, museum, art association, temporary art practices), including the city, where it’s possible now to meet contemporary art.