English

This course examines how cities pursue sustainability through governance, planning, and citizen participation. Students explore how environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability intersect within urban policy and daily life, connecting global frameworks—such as the UN 2030 Agenda and the European Green Deal—to local experimentation and community-driven innovation. While Florence provides a unique laboratory for studying how a historic city responds to contemporary challenges (climate adaptation, mobility transformation, housing pressures, and social inclusion) students are encouraged to compare it with other urban contexts across Europe and beyond. This comparative perspective fosters cross-fertilization among diverse models of governance and participation, allowing students to grasp how cities function as complex adaptive systems—dynamic environments where multiple actors, ideas, and scales interact to shape sustainable urban futures. USF combines analytical seminars, field explorations, and participatory exercises. Through simulations, role play games and collaborative projects, students experience the dynamics of real-world decision-making and democratic governance in sustainability planning.

This course traces the evolution of economic thinking throughout the late-modern and contemporary era. It surveys the major currents of classical, socialist, neo-classical, demand-side, Soviet, neoliberal, and contemporary economics while providing a detailed examination of both theory and practice. Economic thought is presented and discussed alongside its relationship of mutual influence with historical events to provide a clear perspective of how ideas and theories influenced the unfolding of key events, such as the Industrial Revolution or the rise of welfare economics, and of how in turn crises, conflicts and radical experiments influenced economic thinking. The different currents of economic thought are discussed both in the specific context of the times in which they were conceptualized as well as part of broad debates that continue to this day, such as those on laissez-faire versus State intervention, on welfare and private interest, on national sovereignty and globalization, and on inequality and growth. The course not only accounts for the theoretical origins of capitalist and socialist economics, but also details the theoretical and practical evolution of both, providing an analysis of the often sidelined but historically and economically meaningful Soviet planning experiments. It covers two and a half centuries of economic thought through subsequent sessions dedicated to major thinkers and the key events that influenced and shaped their theories. The course then reaches the contemporary era fully equipped to survey and discuss the theoretical and practical answers to the economic crises of the 1990s and 2000s. Finally, the course discusses the core issues and broad debates that link all its parts to consider their purposes and outcomes. 

Thomas Friedman predicted in his famous book “The World is Flat” that the advancement of IT would blur the borders and boundaries on this planet so everyone in the world, wherever they are and whatever they do, would be locked into the global supply chain and therefore the global competition, whether they like it or not.

His prediction seems accurate in that now everyone is a part of a so-called globalized economy. Business processes are being standardized across borders, and people have begun to speak a common language, i.e., English. The world would be a much more homogeneous place if globalization continued at this pace.
 

But are we really living in such a monotonous world? Despite globalization, our life, both professional and private, is full of surprises, discoveries, misunderstandings, and even conflicts, arising from cultural differences worldwide. This is partly because globalization has brought in more participants than ever to the world arena, and each participant behaves upon the values of their own home culture. Indeed, there are a variety of cultures in play in this seemingly globalized world.
 

This course tries to address the issue of globalization in two aspects: 1) English as a Lingua Franca, and 2) cultural diversity. The first half of the course examines how the business world is linked by the global common language, i.e., English, from a standpoint slightly different to the traditional one. In the second half, the course explores the world as a culturally diverse place, that will hardly cease to exist in the coming future.

This course provides an introduction to basic European Union (EU) law for non-law students, including the core elements of the EU legal system, EU institutions, decision-making procedures, and sources of law. It covers the concept of sovereignty, the relationship between EU law and national law, as well as the relationship between EU law and international law; necessary for working with the substantive areas of EU law, including the internal market, the free movement of goods, food and agricultural production, and environment and nature protection. Examples are drawn from areas such as environment and nature protection, agriculture, and food production, including ways the EU seeks to promote sustainable development. 

This course investigates some of the events and processes which have led to a more integrated world order between the mid-19th century and the later 20th century. For most of that period much of the world was carved up between a number of inter-continental empires centered in Europe. How those empires grew, exerted control and in due course retreated will be the particular focus of the course. But other processes, too, are considered, as are the evolution of such ideologies as imperialism or communism and whether such ideologies impacted upon changing global power relationships.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. This course examines the development and distribution of the diversity of life on Earth, with a special emphasis on plants. The course explores the spatial scaling of biodiversity, the role of biogeography, and the different levels of assembly organization, from the local to the global scales. Students shall become acquainted with methods for the measurement of biodiversity and its partitioning across scales, as well as the role of biodiversity for ecosystem functioning and stability and relations between biodiversity and climate. The course studies the use of biogeographical and macroecological theories and methods to understand the present strategies for biodiversity conservation. Students gain the capacity to investigate natural systems by means of data collection and analyses and preparation of a written report. The course discusses topics including: an introduction and historical overview; patterns of species distribution and range size; historical biogeography; ecological biogeography; spatial patterns of biodiversity in relation to latitude, climate, and area; relation between energy, productivity, and biodiversity; taxonomic and functional measures of biodiversity; data sources in biogeography and macroecology; partitioning of biodiversity in space and time; island biogeography; and human impacts on biomes and ecosystems; conservation biogeography.

From the Meiji period onward, literature may be read as double translation of Western modernity and pre-Meiji cultural forms. Literary translation plays a central role in the construction of modern Japanese language and modern national literature. This course considers relations among language, culture, gender, race and ethnicity, power, nation and empire. The class is designed to give a greater understanding of Japanese history, Japanese literature, and postcolonial and gender theory, and to rethink institutions and systems of knowledge created within modernity. 

This course examines how to frame and tell compelling stories both orally and visually. It covers how to use story infrastructure in giving presentations and how to communicate meaningfully about oneself.

The technological and physical basics of Brain-Computer Interfacing will be elaborated. It covers the path from the (electrical) activity of single neurons and networks via the volume conduction of the human head. At the end of the class, students will know the essential physical background of Brain-Computer Interfacing (BCI). They will understand the pathway from the activity of single neurons to the signal of the electroencephalogram (EEG) They will be capable of programming simulations of the electrical properties of the human head as well as simple neural and neural network models.

This course discusses the main diseases and threats that affect cetaceans (dolphins and whales) and pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) across the globe. It offers a review of the main conditions that affect these species (bacterial, viral, parasitic, anthropogenic, and other non-infectious problems). Topics include: aetiology, pathogenesis, clinical signs and lesions, diagnostic procedures, and impact on populations.