English

The course gives an introduction to probability theory in a measure-theoretic setting. Among the topics discussed are: Probability measures, σ-algebras, conditional expectations, convergence of random variables, the law of large numbers, characteristic functions, the central limit theorem, filtrations, and martingales in discrete time. Recommended prerequisites include calculus, linear algebra, and probability and statistical modeling. 

Students explore cutting-edge research on climate politics and critically analyze various theoretical concepts and models, assess the advantages and drawbacks of different empirical approaches, and draw connections to core debates in international political economy and political science. Students gain familiarity with the frontier of climate politics scholarship, learn how to constructively critique academic work, and develop skills in designing and executing rigorous political economy research.

Throughout history, people have always worked, not only to survive, but also to create material and social conditions that allow them to recover and reproduce. However, Karl Marx (2004 [1867]) has shown that the way people work is shaped by the unequal relations of production between those who must labor to survive and those who can enjoy the labor of others. But how is work different from labor and other activities, as another German philosopher, Hannah Arendt (2013 [1958]), once noted? And what role does work play, for example, for different societies where the distinction between work and non-work is not so clear (Spittler, 2015)? This is the task of this seminar, which aims to introduce classical (Durkheim, 1984 [1893]; Godelier and Ignatieff 1980) and contemporary anthropological and non-anthropological studies of labor that incorporate a variety of issues such as gender (Narotzky, 2014), "race” (Stuesse, 2016), postcoloniality (Appel, 2019), and intimacy (Schields, 2023). The seminar aims not only to deconstruct "Western" notions of work and labor, but also to explore how these notions cannot be reduced to a physical activity, usually performed in an industrial or agricultural setting. Care work and domestic work (Amrith, 2017; Parreñas, 2011) are equally important forms of labor that have often been neglected in social theory. Moreover, with the development of new digital technologies and infrastructures, this seminar will also address new forms of digital (Gregg, 2011), post-Fordist (Hardt and Negri, 2000), affective (Muehlebach, 2011), and platform (Jones, 2021) forms of labor. It will offer methodological tools to examine the meaning of labor in people's everyday lives and its various entanglements with their environment, as well as to understand the emerging labor struggles that address past and contemporary exploitation and discrimination (Kasmir and Carbonella, 2008).

What was the attitude of European culture towards non-Europeans in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance? How were African, Arab, Turk, Mongol, but also Native American and Jewish people represented in Western art and why? From the fabulous East described by Marco Polo to the myth of Prester John, from the clash with the Islamic world to the conquest of America, the imagery of non-European peoples reveals a broad spectrum of symbolic, social, and religious meanings. The analysis of these portrayals provides insight into the processes of self-identification of Western Europeans and the emergence and development of categories of "otherness". This course enables students not only to understand the classification of human groups in the past, but also to better assess critically the modern and present-day use of such categories. The course takes a thorough multidisciplinary approach, encompassing social, political, religious, and broader cultural history. Florence offers a unique opportunity to analyze on-site, and often in their original context, works representing non-Europeans from the 13th to the 17th century. 

This course studies and discusses different aspects of modern science using some of the magical short stories of the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. It uses Borges' work as a vehicle for discussing how our views of the world have been affected by the advances made by science in the last 100 years. In particular, the course focuses on the foundations of disciplines such as cosmology, quantum theory, statistical physics, neuroscience, and computing, as well as mathematical concepts such as combinatorics and the idea of infinity, and other notions such as the concept of time.

This course covers the field of life science that describes underlying molecular genetic mechanisms by which biological traits are generated in life and are inherited throughout generations. It includes topics such as the genome, genes, control of gene expression and DNA replication that contribute to generation of biological traits in an organism and their inheritance throughout generations. The course also includes how research in recent genetics or molecular biology is performed, introducing recently developed techniques that rapidly advanced our knowledge of this field of study.  

This course examines the history of music-making in Japan from the 20th century onward. By considering genres such as Western classical music, jazz, and pop genres, as well as new innovations based on Japanese traditions, it considers how modernity and Westernization have influenced Japan’s musical culture. 

The course includes topics such as: School songs; Japanese composers in Western music idioms; Japanese pop music, etc. It also considers the intersections of music with questions of gender, politics and other societal issues. 
 

This course navigates the contemporary business landscape of Thailand by examining entrepreneurship in relation to the country's business culture of management and leadership, legal infrastructure, taxation, human capital, and domestic and established foreign markets. Students will develop skills in critical thinking, data analysis, presentation skills, and rhetoric using a wide variety of media and will engage with current business trends and standards by designing and executing their own research projects,

This course introduces art, images, and vision in the digital field and various aspects of the roles technology plays in our creation, circulation, and use of images today. The main focus of the course is how contemporary image technologies shape us culturally on an everyday basis and how contemporary visual art can help us understand this. The course introduces works of art and theoretical approaches in the field and concretely analyzes how works of art and other image practices use specific image technologies. By combining theoretical insights and concrete analyses of works of art and everyday image practice, the course provides critical understandings of how humans and machines make sense of images today.

The course explores the major theoretical models of Political Economy and the available empirical evidence. Sample topics include social choice theory and preference aggregation; comparative electoral systems; political economy of income redistribution; turnout in elections; strategic and sincere voting; political parties; debates and communication; political agency models; citizen-candidate models; and empirical studies of political selection, representation and policy outcomes, bureaucracy, gender and politics, and conflict. Empirical studies will be mostly focused on developing countries.