English

This course provides a study of the techniques used to prepare, integrate, manage, and visualize complex data using modern software environments. It introduces the fundamental concepts of data science through practical use of the industry-standard software environment R. It covers how to program in R, how to effectively manage and manipulate data in R, and the "round trip" of data science (import, tidy, transform, visualize, model, and communicate).

This course introduces African oral and written literature in the indigenous languages. Students discuss literary aspects of both oral and written literature and the various functions and purposes they serve in society. The course includes a description and analysis of various genres of African oral and written literature.

This course examines the connection between land and culture to the continuity and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Students learn about Country and Indigenous relationships with, responsibilities to and care of place, and the maintenance of land, language and culture. A rights based perspective is used to explore Indigenous political history and activism in maintaining and protecting Country and culture. 

This course uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine various Gross Human Right Violations (GHRV). Students are introduced to a different GHRV each with its own psychological theories, mechanisms, and underpinnings. In addition to a theoretical understanding, students apply their knowledge to specific case studies by analyzing them through four parts. First, a historical incident where Human Rights were violated is introduced followed by a documentary on the specific situation. Second, students examine now declassified governmental cables, reports, and other sources thus reading influential documents in their original version without being dependent on anyone else’s interpretation. Third, a Perspective Challenge in the form of a scientific paper that has been controversially discussed is used to adopt a different perspective. Fourth, students analyze a currently ongoing or a recent violation of Human Rights to test if they are able to explain the psychological mechanisms at play.

This course covers the tumultuous history of the Soviet Union, as seen through the eyes of those who experienced it first-hand. Through English-language translations of primary sources, the course introduces students to the perspectives of the visionary actors who called for the creation of a revolutionary new society, following them into their participation in projects of vision and of violence, the perspectives of the many victims of revolutionary upheaval and their forms of opposition, and the ambivalent voices of the many who were caught in between. Our discussions address many of the prominent themes in the historiography of the Soviet Union: the relationship between state and society and center and periphery; forces of change and continuity in political, intellectual, scientific, social, and cultural life; the development of Soviet nationalities policy; revolutionary politics and the cultural revolution; Stalinism; mass mobilization during World War II; the development of Soviet influence in East-Central Europe and of the Communist world; the re-launch of the Soviet project under Khrushchev; stagnation and the rise of Russian nationalism in the late Soviet period; and the causes of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program and is intended for advanced levels students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course considers the Indian Ocean as an interregional arena created by the intersection between maritime trade and cultural connections. It focuses on the circulation of people, goods and ideas across the oceanic space as a way to understand the connections and disconnections that created a unified system of cultural and economic exchange. The course adopts a longue durée perspective, in order to unravel the rise and development of an Indian Ocean regional identity. It considers the Indian Ocean as the first global economy produced by the decoding of the monsoon wind system and then explores the rise of Islam and the consequent development of the Swahili civilization along the East African coast. It analyses the indigenous responses to the European commercial intrusions that started in the 16th century and explores the impact of the development of formal colonial rule in the 19th century. Elements like port cities, littoral societies, trade diasporas, religion networks, long-distance trade routes, and different forms of slavery will be used as analytical tools to unravel the elements of unity and disunity in the Indian Ocean space. Particular attention is given to East African societies and their role in the Indian Ocean world. During the course, the students analyze travel accounts, novels, historical sources, and scholarly works and critically engage with the historiographical debates that characterize the Indian Ocean Studies field. At the end of the course, students reach an understanding of the Indian Ocean cultures, economies, and societies that transcends national histories and be able to engage with a non-Eurocentric approach to processes of globalization.