English

This course analyzes a selection of works by Western writers and film directors from 1990s to the present, with the exception of Ishiguro’s short story) which are set in East Asia and/or contain characters from East Asia. It explores the answers to the following central questions: Is the portrayal of East Asian people and cultures in each of these works fairly accurate, or is it conforming to biased existing discourses? Are there correct and incorrect ways to present East Asia in literary and cinematic works?

The course aims to apply logical reasoning to our examinations of racial and cultural issues and to learn to think for ourselves, instead of allowing existing discourses to think for us.

This course considers key themes, topics, debates, and controversies in Irish culture, focusing particularly on the representation of Irish-ness and Irish culture in literature, film, drama, and art history. Key issues explored include cultural nationalism; the literary revival; the myth of the West; Dublin in cultural representation; gender and nation; commemoration and memory; institutional abuse scandals; race and immigration; and class prosperity, recession, and austerity.
 

This course provides an appreciation of the use of drugs in relation to the cultural and social environment of societies past and present. How drugs are employed today, watershed "drug" discoveries and their impact on society (for example contraceptives, antibiotics, vaccines, psychopharmacological agents), the issue of drug use in sports, "social" drugs and the "pill for every ill" syndrome will be discussed. Particular attention is paid to “controversial” drug-related societal issues within each topic. For example, the role of pharmaceutical industry will be examined to determine if the tendency to “bash” big Pharma is justified or if decriminalization of drug use will be a more effective means of curtailing drug abuse.

This course provides general instruction on several different forms of dancing with partners. These dances include but are not limited to the Cha Cha, Waltz, and Rumba. Students learn the proper dance techniques of steps, physical form, presentation and dance etiquette. Students also learn ballroom techniques.

This course examines morphology and syntax in English texts from two time periods. While inflections played an important role in Old English grammar, present-day English relies primarily on structures where word order and function words are of central importance. Students thus investigate morphological and syntactic aspects of Old and present-day English texts. Through independent research projects, students also learn how to apply methods of morphosyntactic analysis to authentic texts in order to describe the structure of English.

This course examines the performance and operation of imperfectly competitive markets, as well as the behavior of firms in these markets. The course looks at the effects of various business decisions and policy actions on the way firms compete. The course also explores how the need to motivate members of an organization and to coordinate their actions shapes the provision of incentives within the organization and the actual organization design. This allows a look at how organizational choices affect firms’ competitive behavior and rivals’ reactions. The course discusses topics including a review of fundamental concepts of game theory; the determinants of market power in static oligopolistic models; strategic positioning and advertising; the intensity of rivalry in dynamic oligopolistic models: collusive agreements; strategic and non-strategic barriers to entry; incentives within an organization: motivation; incentives within an organization: externalities and transfer prices; the strategic effects of organizational choices: horizontal mergers; and anti-trust intervention in oligopolistic markets. Students attending this course should be familiar with basic microeconomics concepts, in particular with the notion of Nash Equilibrium and Subgame Perfect Nash Equilibrium, with basic oligopolistic models (such as Bertrand and Cournot models of static competition) and with the fundamentals of unconstrained and constrained optimization problems.

This course is structured as a series of workshops focusing on Russia's influence in Europe, nearby countries, and the United States. It approaches this topic with the perspectives of popular geopolitics, international relations theory, cultural studies, media studies, and sociology. Topics include strategies of Kremlin's propaganda; its (post)-Cold-War-era anti-Americanism reverberating in the rhetoric of the European far-rights; Russia's Covid-19 policy; Putin's troll fabrics; interference in the U.S. elections; the Russian Orthodox Church and the Kremlin's influence in Ukraine and Georgia; and Russia's invasion on Ukraine. The course is based on case studies and extensively uses audio and video materials, documentaries, political statements, investigative reports, and opinion surveys as sources for analysis.

The course introduces computational approaches to model human behavior and social phenomena. Core concepts in computational social science are covered, such as observational studies (what types of data exist, possible biases, and how to use data for modeling), basic concepts and techniques for running experiments (asking vs. observing, natural experiments, simulations, validity, and generalization) and discuss key issues such as ethical considerations. The course has both a theoretical and a practical perspective, where you learn basic principles and also how to apply them in practice in three main areas: social network analysis; text analysis; agent-based modeling, and simulation.

The course provides theoretical foundations for key concepts appearing in analysis: open sets, closed sets, compact sets, connected sets, continuous maps. This is done in the context of metric and topological spaces.  

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. The course examines the history and the contemporary use of Geopolitics in order to critically examine the political geographies of European imperialism, cold war, and post-cold war geopolitics, and the contemporary geopolitical landscapes. In particular, questions of borders, migrations, and biopolitics are discussed in relation to the making of the European Self and its associated geographies. The postcolonial and the decolonial are also presented by taking into consideration a geographical perspective.