English

This is a course in intermediate microeconomics on markets for information goods and the economics of uncertainty and information.  The course begins with the concepts of pricing theory and game theory, building on SSC1027 Principles of Economics. Several topics, including pricing and network effects are studied. Special attention is paid to “platforms”, which often play an important role in markets for information goods. Prerequisite SSC1027 Principles of Economics.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. By the end of the course, students are aware of the political, economic, and cultural dimensions of the European colonization of America and of its relationship with the early modern globalization. Students will be able to recognize the active role played by indigenous groups and individuals in the shaping of the emerging global world. At the end of the course, the student is able to contextualize the European conquest of America within a global historical and cultural framework, as well as to independently engage in the critical analysis of historical sources and early modern ethnographic records. The students are also able to deploy such analytical skills to professional activities linked with the popularization and public use of historical and anthropological knowledge. This course examines the cultural processes that unfolded during the European colonization of the Americas and their role in fostering Early Modern globalization. A special attention is devoted to the Mesoamerican cultural area.

Week 1 introduces the course and provides an overview of the European colonization of the Americas. Week 2 examines the impact of the conquest on early modern globalization, focusing on phenomena such as the Columbian Exchange, the international trade of American resources and the transatlantic slave trade. It also introduces Mesoamerica as a cultural area and, more specifically, the Late Postclassic Nahua world. Week 3 describes the Conquest of Mesoamerica and the political and economic structures of New Spain. One session this week is dedicated to a collective discussion of selected articles and book chapters provided by the instructor. Week 4 addresses the so‑called "spiritual conquest", the emergence of mestizaje across social and cultural domains, and the epistemological dimensions of colonialism, which at the same time extracts and downplays local indigenous knowledge. Week 5 considers the role of missionary‑ethnographers like Bernardino de Sahagún, the colonial origins of anthropological practices, and early modern conceptions of human difference as a formative stage in the development of racism and coloniality. 

This course addresses how a happy, intimate relationship requires learning and is a crucial element of a joyful life. Since this topic is not addressed in any university course, it aims to help university students understand love.  
 
The first half of the semester involves watching various romantic films in class, absorbing the life experiences of the characters, while discussing and summarizing the films with classmates. The discussion revolves around connecting with the weekly class theme and the film's plot, encouraging students to think about love issues using both emotion and reason. Through self-awareness and peer discussion, students are encouraged to understand themselves and learn to accept different perspectives. The course also incorporates specific thematic knowledge about love, prompting reflection on how to improve in daily life and ultimately achieve their ideal love. The second half of the semester focuses on applying the theories and knowledge learned in the first half to practical projects.  

The course discusses contemporary U.S. American graphic memoirs, exploring how comics serve as a powerful medium for autobiographical storytelling. It examines how artists narrate personal and intimate experiences through the interplay of image and text. Students analyze how image and text work together to visualize trauma, self-representation, memory, and resilience—and learn what makes the comic medium such an affective space for narrating stories of illness, displacement, queerness, race, and coming of age. The exploration focuses on both the form and content of these works, analyzing how issues of gender, class, and race are portrayed within these narratives and how they engage with broader U.S. American cultural, social, and political contexts. Readings include a diverse range of voices and styles, from graphic memoirs like Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, to more recent works by George Takei, Cece Bell, Nora Krug, and Kindra Neely. As part of the course, students have the opportunity to create their own short graphic memoirs, using accessible tools such as Making Comics by Lynda Barry, Canva, or StoryboardThat. This activity is planned to invite students to experiment with visual storytelling and reflect on their own experiences—no artistic background or drawing skills required.

This course examines key international relations (IR) theories—Westphalian and Asian Global International Society (GIS)—questioning their relevance to Central and South Asia. It critically assesses whether traditional theories like Realism, Liberalism, and Constructivism, alongside non-Western perspectives (Chinese, Indian, and Islamic), adequately explain the region's geopolitical and security challenges. The course analyzes China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), shifting security architectures, and post-NATO Afghanistan, highlighting tensions between theory and reality. Through problem-driven analysis, it challenges assumptions about how Western and Asian GIS traditions interpret state behavior and power shifts. The course explores whether regionalism and security complexes shape international interactions in ways overlooked by mainstream IR. Can existing theories fully capture China's strategic ambitions and evolving security dynamics? Engaging with these debates, students gain a broad understanding of IR across different GIS traditions and critically examine the gaps between theory and practice in this geopolitically significant region.

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 new digital techniques to investigate, document, analyze, and publicize monuments, sites, and archaeological landscapes. Students learn how to use GIS and Web-GIS systems, integrating information sources and mapping techniques. They will appreciate the value of the systematization and computerized management of archaeological data, databases, and interpreted restitution. They study the potential of digital applications for archaeological research, toward a three-dimensional documentation of contexts, serving also for dissemination purposes and public use. Students use digital techniques and tools appropriately in archaeology and are able to choose the most correct approach in relation to the case study or archaeological goal. The course discusses relevant aspects of digital archaeology, i.e., archaeological research conducted through methodologies and technologies derived from the digital revolution, with a critical perspective entrusted from time to time to the analysis of the most up-to-date scientific work.

In the first part of the course, the main basic elements of digital archaeology are discussed:

• Data in Archaeology: the archaeological record.
• Dealing with attribute data: the Database.
• Spatial data acquisition: survey in archaeology.
• Digital maps and the concept of scale.
• GIS

In the second part, some of the areas in which the elements discussed in the first part make a decisive contribution to the creation of new knowledge are presented through case studies based on the most recent scientific literature or currently ongoing projects:

• GIS between the Landscape and the Intra-site level
• GIS and Legacy Data Management
• 2D, 2.5D, 3D, 4D: the many dimensions of digital data
• Digital publication: WebGIS, multimedia publications of large excavation contexts
• Open Data, Big Data, FAIR Data
• Virtual Reality, immersive archaeology, gamification
• Reflexive archaeology

This course examines gender in the global context. It focuses on gender relations as a subject of economic thought and analysis and explores the ways in which contemporary gendered patterns of employment, production, distribution and exchange have been shaped historically and institutionally.

The course covers financial economics viewed from the perspective of shareholders of a firm. It includes an introduction to financial economics with a focus on investing in stock markets, as well as stock valuation, but also the valuation of risky cash flows from a social perspective. The course examines the issue of corporate governance and, in particular, how to assess the governance of a given firm. Moreover, it discusses trading strategies of investors in stock markets. The course concludes with a two-day workshop in which students work on case studies, analyzing current issues with respect to corporate governance.

The aim of this course is based on practical examples and real life cases, to enable students to analyze, present and make recommendations for various strategic and managerial issues arising in connection with setting up and managing subsidiaries in emerging markets and developing countries.

This course examines Thailand through the perspective of its military experience from past to present. It introduces students to various aspects of Thailand within the realm of conflict from its military history to its strategic culture. As such, the course adopts a multidisciplinary approach, encouraging students to look at Thailand from a range of disciplines whether it is history, politics, or international relations. Though it may be helpful, no prior knowledge or experience will be assumed. Students are expected to develop the ability to manage and analyze potentially complex and challenging issues through the use of evidence and theories, and be able to communicate them in both oral and literary manner.