English

This course provides the foundations to econometrics and the use of software tools to perform econometrics data analysis. The course covers an introduction to causal inference and associated analysis models with a primary emphasis on linear regression. Examples are drawn from various industry domains and applications. The course requires students to have completed prerequisites.

This course examines a number of critical issues in the contemporary Pacific through a detailed consideration of the work, ideas, and writings of Pacific writers, artists, film makers, activists and scholars. It also encourages critiques of established historical and narrative accounts.

This course offers a practical introduction to critical skills for managers including critical thinking, negotiation, flexibility, people management, and more. It explores why these management capabilities are important to success in managerial roles. This course also delves into sustainable business management including global sustainable models, trade, industry, consumption, trends, strategies, key sectors, policy, and more.

This course examines the impact of religion, culture, and identity on global politics. International Relations (IR) conventionally refers to relations between sovereign states in an anarchic world. The sovereign state is assumed to be the natural political community of humankind and to command the allegiance of those subject to its rule. The culture, identity and religion of states are not conventionally considered relevant to how states interact with other states.  

However, since the events of September 11, 2001 (9/11), there has been renewed interest in culture, religion, and identity in global politics. The resultant US-led ‘War on Terror’ have reinforced the importance of religion to collective identities and rekindled the specter of a ‘clash of civilizations’ (Huntington 1996) pitting a Judeo-Christian West against a resurgent Islamic civilization. Echoes of the clash of civilizations but can be found in the policies of the Israeli state under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu towards Gaza after the attacks of October 7, 2023, by Hamas and in the policies towards migrants from Muslim majority states in the US under (ex) President Donald Trump and in many European Union (EU) states. In India, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under Prime Minister Narendra Modi views Islam as a threat to India's national identity based on "Hindutva" (Hindu values). Religion has moved from the margins of global politics to its center-stage.  

But did it really go away? The modern international order instituted in Westphalia in 1648 was itself an attempt to contain religious and cultural conflict in Europe. How will the increasing resurgence of the non-western world and China and India in particular transform global politics? Will the eclipse of the West lead to a 'post-western' (Shani 2008) or 'global' (Acharya 2014, Acharya and Buzan 2020) IR? And will it be 'post-secular'? (Habermas 2008, Mavelli and Petito 2012, Shani 2014)? 

The course discusses these questions with reference to a series of historical and contemporary case studies in global politics. These will include Human Rights in the EU, the global "War on Terror," and Religious Nationalism in South Asia. 

This course explores the factors that have triggered the evolution of environmental law and governance beyond state (since the development of the UN Sustainable Development Goals), and how the theoretical approaches of environmental studies developed in that context. Additionally, it reflects on how and to what extent environmental law and governance can be resilient and adaptive in facing global challenges.

The course covers the fundamental principles of medical imaging, including the basics of the 4 major medical imaging methods: Ultrasound, X-Ray CT, PET, and MRI. The focus is on MRI and how it is used to capture the anatomy and function of the human brain. The course also provides hands-on experience with acquiring brain images using a 3T MRI scanner. Students learn how to process and characterize MRI images from healthy volunteers. Functional MRI (fMRI) data is used to learn the basics of statistical analysis used in neuroscience research. Students have the opportunity to interact with the MRI team and also with clinicians and neuroscientists who use the MRI for research.

By focusing on the “economy and business” and “music and advertisement” of Post World War II United States, this course contextualizes the characters and strengths of American capitalist development. Two consecutive sessions on each of the two topics alternate throughout the semester. 
 

The section on “Economy and Business” will explore how the American economy expanded and its businesses succeeded in the post-WWII period despite facing serious setbacks and crises. The course discusses major political and social developments chronologically and the economic impact it had both on the domestic front and abroad. The goal is for the students to foster a long-term perspective on American economic development and how it has shaped and continue to affect current affairs. 

The aim of the "Music and Advertising" section is to understand how the advertising industry had utilized music to sell goods between 1950 and 1990. Music has always played an important role in advertising, which has been undoubtedly an essential element of capitalism. The class focuses on the question of how commercials have been fashioned not only to sell goods and services, but also to inculcate listeners and viewers into their roles as consumers.

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 provides knowledge of a portion of the vast field of diaspora studies. The course covers diasporic cultures, imaginaries, consciousness, subjectivities, and practices across a variety of contexts and assesses the stakes of ‘diaspora’ as an analytical concept as well as lived experience. The course also covers the importance of intertwining critical race theory with ethnography in order to understand diasporic subjectivities are racialized. The course also equips students with decolonial approaches and methodologies to migration and diaspora studies, building the tools to critically engage with historical and contemporary debates around identity, nationalism, race, multiculturalism, and difference. "Diaspora" as a concept has enabled an understanding of identities and cultures beyond national, ethnic, or racial connotations. Diaspora functions as a vision to think of subjectivities and communities not as epiphenomena of nation-states but as springboard for de-territorialized and transnational cultural and political formations and political subjectivities. The first part of the course introduces anthropological and social theories of migration and looks at what Diaspora as a heuristic device has brought to studies and understandings of home, belonging, identities, and political cultures. In the second part, the course focuses on how liberal states manage Diasporas through containment, confinement, disciplining, and through a highly emotional politics of fear. Finally, the course analyzes diasporas as "cultures of resistance" effecting a dissolution of borders and boundaries in their everyday aesthetic and performative practices.

This course traces the history and evolution of rock and roll music and culture, from its inception in the 1950s to 1990s. It examines its artistic content and cultural, social and global roles, serving to develop general intellectual capacities of popular culture. The course studies the origin, development, and growth of rock and roll music from a variety of perspectives (e.g. social, cultural, global, technological and commercial standpoints) and discuss specific trends, styles, and issues related to the music industry. By evaluating rock history during its most fruitful years, the course seeks an understanding of what rock music is and its relationship to global popular culture, historical representation, and other media industries. The course covers American rock and roll and British, Scandinavian, and world music to a certain extent.  

This course provides an interdisciplinary examination of human trafficking, exploring its nature, impact, and responses from various angles. Through a combination of readings, discussions, and research, it critically analyzes the complexities of human trafficking, including its forms, anti-trafficking advocacy, challenges in research and evidence, psychological effects on victims, funding mechanisms, and public perceptions. Drawing on seminal texts, recent research articles, and recommended readings, the course provides insight into the global phenomenon of human trafficking and its implications for policy, advocacy, and social justice. Throughout, it explores pertinent psychological phenomena, including trauma bonding, learned helplessness, dissociation, complex post-traumatic stress disorder, cognitive dissonance, survivor's guilt, and post-traumatic growth, which significantly influence victims' experiences and recovery processes. Through this comprehensive examination, the course develops a deeper understanding of human trafficking and its impact on individuals and societies.