English

The role of media in shaping everyday life is paramount, and understanding it requires consideration of historical, political, economic, and other factors. This course explores the various ways people consume media content in their daily lives, seeking to understand the influence of media on society and culture. It also provides a historical perspective on how media became a crucial component of the human condition. 

This course examines the basics of making music for film and animation. Aspects of the function and crafting of music in film and animation including film scoring and the music dramatic narrative will be explored. 

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The course is aimed at the comprehension of the fundamental principles of how ecological systems work. It focuses on the ecological problems caused by human activities as well. Fundamental and applied aspects of ecology are emphasized. An understanding of the scope of the problems facing us (climate change, unsustainable use of resources, pollution, extinctions, and the erosion of natural biodiversity) and the means to counter and solve these problems depend on a proper grasp of ecological fundamentals. Although the course analyzes all the main types of ecosystems, it works in particular on aquatic ecosystems, covering concepts such as sustainable development, ecosystem services, and environmental monitoring in detail.

The course content is divided as follows:

1. Introduction: the cultural roots of ecology, the aims of ecology, the levels of ecological organization, temporal and spatial scales, ecology as a science, ecological methods and tools
2. Interactions between organisms and their environment: ecological niche, life cycles and energy acquisition
3. The populations: life histories, growth models, life cycles, carrying capacity, the concept of metapopulation, examples of methods of sampling and estimations
4. Biotic interactions: competition, predation, parasitism, facilitation and other positive interactions, direct and indirect interactions
5. Communities and biodiversity: community structure, ecological successions, distribution, biodiversity and biodiversity indices, factors affecting biodiversity.
6. Ecosystems and their dynamics: food chains and food webs, ecosystem functioning, trophic cascades, disturbances and resilience, regime shifts, alternative stable states.
7. Ecosystem, general concepts: energy flow, biogeochemical cycles, biomass on earth, decomposition and detritivores, biomes, microclimate and Biotic pump.
8. Different types of ecosystems: lentic ecosystems abiotic dynamics, lentic ecosystems communities, terrestrial ecosystems, biomes and microclimate.
9. River ecosystems: lotic environments and their catchments: Hydrology, geomorphology and river community.
10. Natural depuration process (NBSs): riparian ecotones, characteristics and function, wetlands, natural phytodepuration systems, other NBSs.
11. Threats to biological diversity: habitat degradation and loss, pollution, eutrophication, overexploitation of natural resources, invasive species, climate changes.
12. Introduction to conservation biology: the natural capital, ecosystem goods and services
13. Conservation of populations and ecosystems: vulnerability and conservation status, reintroductions, restorations, protected areas, spatial planning, current legislations, examples of management of anthropogenic exploitation, success conservation and management stories, monitoring

The course focuses on the significance of rhetoric for human rights and democracy. The course provides tools to communicate opinions in societal contexts in a respectful, authentic, and effective manner, considering different opinions and interests. Students practice effectively listening to, formulating, and delivering messages.

A general form of the Navier-Stokes equation is derived with a focus on the physical interpretation of the mathematical model. This equation is used to derive simplified models for bi-dimensional incompressible flows, including potential flow and boundary layer flow. The fundamentals of turbulent flow, including basic turbulent statistics, are presented.

This course provides students with an opportunity to become a sophisticated, critical, and creative user of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).  

Through this course students gain a practical mastery of current AI tools, but are also challenged and prepared to move beyond basic AI use to develop skills in prompt engineering, tool comparison, and critical output evaluation and to design and implement effective AI-powered workflows to solve complex academic and professional tasks related to research, writing, data analysis, and communication. 

Students also critically analyze the ethical responsibilities of AI use (bias, privacy, integrity) and articulate the broader philosophical implications for your work, your mind, and your identity.  

Topics include Introduction to the course's Syllabus and lab-based philosophy; What is Generative AI?; Understanding our own "mental models" of AI; The principles of effective prompt engineering; The landscape of major LLMs (open vs. closed source); Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) as a tool against hallucination; Overview of specialized AI tools for academic reading and writing; AI capabilities beyond text: Vision, Voice, and Code; Integrating multiple AI tools into a single workflow; Understanding AI "agents," APIs, and the role of local LLMs; The FOCUS Method for AI-assisted research; Finding and organizing information effectively; AI as a writing partner and coding assistant; Ethical considerations in AI-assisted writing; Designing AI-powered workflows for personal productivity, email management, and lifelong learning; Key limitations of AI (bias, privacy, hallucinations); Principles of ethical AI use; University policies on academic integrity; The broader societal impact of AI on science, equity, and the future of work; and The nature of intelligence, creativity, and consciousness in the age of AI. 

This course focuses on investigating the types of societies that occupied Europe in the Bronze Age and the role they played in shaping an emergent European civilization. A range of themes are addressed including patterns of production, exchange, and interaction, the role of warfare, and the exceptional social and economic developments evident in central Europe, the Aegean, and Iberia. Following these thematic treatments, students investigate more critically the nature of Bronze Age societies in Europe by focusing on how the concept of "chiefdoms" has been developed and used by anthropologists and archaeologists. This involves a close look at some Polynesian chiefdoms that have been used as interpretive models to help understand Bronze Age European societies and then specific European case studies focused on Denmark, Wessex in England, and the Munster region in Ireland.

The course is an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Environmental Humanities, providing insight into this dynamic and emerging area and demonstrating how to integrate humanities subjects and perspectives into other domains of research and policy. Through a series of case studies (e.g., what can be learned from literature, history, and philosophy about climate change, the human relationship with nature, and the role of emotions in sustainability debates), the course offers basic knowledge on how to broaden, understand, and critically examine environmental issues and sustainability efforts.

This course examines theories and concepts related to political development in Southeast Asia, focusing on the factors that explain variations in political, economic, and social progress across the region. Weekly themes highlight different countries, exploring influences such as colonialism, economic development, ethnic identity, religion, and culture. The course also addresses key questions, including why some nations democratize while others do not, the challenges of democratic consolidation, and the processes of autocratization in Southeast Asia.

This course develops foundational skills in statistical reasoning and data analysis, with an emphasis on parameter estimation and model interpretation. Throughout the semester, students will learn how to estimate and interpret key statistical parameters that describe both individual variables and relationships between variables.