English

When exploring the principal rules that govern the flow of water, this course considers the four major types of water: atmospheric, ground, soil, and surface. With human activity and prevailing climate conditions placing more pressure on our supply of water than ever before, there has never been a more important time to develop a sound understanding of the subject. Students are familiarized with the basic terms and major laws that describe steady-state water flow in the subsurface and at the surface. These major laws are the energy equation (Bernoulli's law), the water balance equation (continuity), and the flow equation (Darcy's law or the Darcy-Buckingham equation). Students also gain knowledge of some aspects of atmospheric water, such as the generation of precipitation, measurement of precipitation, and the estimation of evaporation, as well as several methods for estimating surface water discharges in small streams. The ability to calculate volume fluxes and/or volume flux densities for several steady-state water-flow cases determines the successful completion of the course. Students are expected to have a working knowledge of mathematical differentiation and integration. This course is best suited for students in Hydrology, Geography, or Earth Science fields.

This course shows that Africa is a productive laboratory for students and researchers in international relations and security studies as the region gathers some of the most enduring interlinked political rivalries within the international system. It challenges and sometimes clarifies powerful concepts developed by the field (hegemonic stability, regional security complex, failed states, small state, sovereignty). It contrasts arguments that international relations focuses on the politics of powerful states and that, as a consequence, there is an African exceptionalism which explains the field’s inability to accurately address African experiences. The course examines how Africa has often been neglected by the different theoretical approaches to international relations and more generally by the discipline, demonstrating that the Horn of Africa is pertinent not only for area specialists but also constitutes a remarkable ground for fieldwork and theory-testing of both old and new approaches. 

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 course aims to provide students with an in-depth knowledge of the complex phenomenon of climate change, as well as an understanding of the main interdependencies between the economic and political aspects and the local, supranational, and global dimensions. At the end of the course, students are able to: a) identify the main consequences on some areas of the economy, society, and international politics; b) describe the origins and evolution of international agreements and programs aimed at addressing the problem of climate change; c) understand the impact of climate change on different regions/areas of the world; and d) critically analyze the effects of climate change on political and economic development, with particular attention to the impact on poverty. Course contents include: an introduction to development and climate change; observed and projected impacts of climate change; climate change diplomacy: history and development of international climate change agreements; climate change mitigation; vulnerability to climate change and adaptation; climate action in the context of the Sustainable Development Agenda; and climate justice and equity: intergenerational and gender perspectives.

This course is designed for students in the Humanities or Social Sciences with no previous education in Biology. It may also serve as a remedial course for students with a high school Biology background insufficient for entering a regular level 1 Biology course. The course centers around three major themes: the basics of life, genes and evolution, and essential body functions. The course studies a wide variety of fundamental biological principles and concepts including the characteristics and basic units of life, biodiversity, the molecular basis of inheritance and genetics, origin of life and evolution, proliferation and differentiation of cells, principles of development and cancer, metabolism and energy, nutrition, health, nervous system and behavior, biological defense and communication, and reproduction and aging.

This course interrogates development geography as a discipline, discourse, and practice. Framed as "global development" in contemporary discourse, it traces its origins to colonialism and engages with debates in both mainstream and radical development thinking. Drawing on examples from different regions of the world, it focuses on global challenges related to migration, employment, gender, environment, digital technologies, and development finance to reflect on the changing geographies and politics of development.

This practice-based course develops students’ sense of nonfiction-writing as a creative act, and introduces some of the practical skills and techniques essential to a variety of forms including: memoir and the personal essay; biography; nature-writing; reportage and cultural criticism. Through studying a wide range of non-fictional texts, students explore the ways in which writers engaged in supposedly factual writing nonetheless take creative risks and make the same kinds of narrative decisions as fiction-writers. 

Climate Intervention describes a set of ideas to cool the planet by increasing the amount of light the Earth reflects. The leading proposal is Stratospheric Aerosol Injection, an idea which aims to mimic the cooling effect of major volcanic eruptions, which research suggests would be fast, cheap, and imperfect. This idea offers the potential to arrest global warming and potentially greatly reduce the risks of climate change but presents a host of challenges, risks, and ethical questions. We could stop climate change early, but should we? This course provides students with the context to understand this controversial, emerging issue, the space to develop an informed opinion, and to develop the skills to express their view persuasively. 

Mechanics of Materials utilizes models that drastically simplify the geometry of structures/components to be designed and the loading modes acting on them, while retaining their essential feature. Based on the simplified models the fundamental and necessary knowledge of their mechanical responses is derived and therefore provides the design of the structures/components. This course is intended as an introduction to mechanics of solids to engineering students. It presents the underlying theories and formulations for the description of stress/strain and deformations under various types of loading.
 

Mechanics of Materials II discusses the loading mode of bending in addition to tension/compression and torsion treated in Mechanics of Materials I. Beams subjected to bending moments are extensively analyzed. This course covers topics such as (1) Theory of beams, which allows us to calculate bending/shear stresses in beams and their deflections; (2) Energy methods such as Castigliano’s theorem, and (3) Compression-induced failure such as buckling. 

By the end of the course, students should be able to calculate the stresses and deformation and determine the condition of buckling in simple structures/components such as beams and frames. 

Arguably, no events had a greater impact on Irish history than the Great Famine. This course explores the social and economic conditions that led to famine, the way the Famine unfolded in Ireland, state and individual responses to the crisis, the experience of eviction and emigration, and the way the Famine’s memory shaped Irish identity and nationalism in the latter half of the 19th century.