Italian

This is an advanced level art studio course for students with prior experience. Course contents: Using and knowing tools, materials, and techniques; function and possibility to use of the following materials: plaster and scagliola, modeling clay, gelatin, synthetic silicone rubbers, waxes, foundry sands, nails or pins, metal rods, irons, burners, etc.; function, knowledge, and application of various molding techniques: piece molds, gelatin molds, synthetic rubber molds, lost molds, etc.; reproducing wax models, retouching, arranging channels (pouring and vents), creation of molds with refractory earth mixtures (core and external shells), firing molds in electric and gas furnaces, etc.; degree of metal fusion, composition, characteristics, and behavior; knowledge of casting techniques: lost-wax casting, pressure casting, cuttlebone casting, flask casting, centrifugal casting, casting in porcelain-based molds and chemical agglutinates; types of furnaces used for casting: reverberatory, crucible, electric, etc.; different procedures for pouring molten metal (with crucible, with ladle, etc.); analysis of defects and methods for finishing castings: sandblasting, chasing, gilding, patination, etc.; historical and cultural references to past casting processes.

Lessons involve individual or group design and realization of a project through foundry techniques under the supervision of the instructor. In addition, the course includes hours dedicated to the discussion and review of projects, until the final exam. The exam is an evaluation of the project and of the theoretical knowledge acquired by the student. To pass the exam, students must attend regularly, complete the project, and submit a final report with pictures illustrating the work phases, as well as the content and stylistic choices.

This is course that runs for the entire year. Part A, offered during the fall semester, is worth 6 quarter units.

This is an advanced level art studio course in the field of drawing for students with prior experience. 

The course investigates how the cultural and creative industries (CCI) work and their capacity to generate economic value for all the stakeholders involved in conceiving, financing, producing, valorizing, releasing, and preserving the cultural goods. The analysis of the CCI business models and organization is integrated by the analysis of the public policies (at supranational, national, and local level) that regulate and support culture and the companies working in this sector.

The class includes meeting with professionals working in cultural companies or institutions and group work with final presentations during the final lectures. Student groups are asked to develop a crowdfunding campaign for a cultural initiative. At the end of the course, the student: knows the principles that regulate the demand and the supply of culture in the contemporary scenario; knows the mechanisms of private and public financing of culture; and is able to reconstruct the policies of support for cultural activities. 

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 provides students with notions of comparative grammar, which allows them to recognize the main differences between east-Slavic (Russian in particular), west-Slavic (Polish) and south-Slavic (Bulgarian) languages. The course also provides an accurate knowledge of Slavic medieval history, within the broader context of European and Mediterranean culture and civilization. Students will acquire the knowledge and skills to read and comprehend short Slavonic texts.

In Fall 2025, the course concerns the figure of Michael Trivolis, a Greek monk who lived between the end of the 15th and the middle of the 16th century, known in Russia as ‘Maximus the Greek’ (Maksim Grek). Born in Arta, in the Epirus region of Greece, pupil of John Lascaris in Corfù and Florence, collaborator of Aldo Manuzio in Venice, at the service of the court of Mirandola, once again in Florence as Dominican monk, Michael Trivolis trained at the school of Italian humanism. When he was about 35 years old, he returned to his fatherland and entered the Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos. After 12 years, in 1518, he was sent to Muscovy with the task of correcting the church-Slavonic translations which were in use there (with particular reference to the Psalter). In the Rus’, the first half of the 16th century was a time characterized by the struggle against heresies on one hand, and by an harsh debate on church properties on the other. Maximus the Greek’s friction with the political and ecclesiastical power earned him imprisonment and ostracism: up until the moment of his death, which took place almost 40 years later, he has never been allowed to leave the Rus’. It’s been written that Maximus “had been prepared for a mission to Muscovy, but Muscovy was not yet ready for him”. Nevertheless, besides being one of the most prolific writers in the entire Slavic Middle Ages, Maximus the Greek has been read and loved by many people, to the point that he became very soon worthy of veneration (but the Russian Church canonized him only in 1988).

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. This advanced course provides students with the ability to: acquire basic critical and methodological tools for the study of works and authors linked in an interdisciplinary sense to the philosophies of theatre and to the theories of representation, in an intercultural context; acquire advanced knowledge of the main historiographic, critical, and aesthetic perspectives of theatre studies in the contemporary international scene, also thanks to the analysis and collective discussion of works that are paradigmatically susceptible to a philosophical reading; arrive at a complete overview of the aesthetics and theories of theatre whose area of application includes both past theatre works and contemporary performances. In terms of skills, this knowledge provides the student with analytical and philosophical-aesthetic tools that enable him/her to inscribe past and present performances in a wide and conscious framework of meaning, within a polyphonic history of scenic culture marked by systemic continuities and paradigm shifts.

The course begins with a reflection on some fundamental philosophical ideas within the symbolic grammar of the theatrical event, namely space, time, body, and voice. These concepts are connected to corresponding theatrical experiences—not as mere illustrations or examples, but as scenic moments inherently full of meaning—belonging to different historical and cultural periods. In the second part of the course, the focus shifts to the actor and the complex relationship between person and character. To explore this relationship, attention is given to mimesis as both a process of identification and imitation. To ground these theoretical considerations in specific practices, Diderot’s Paradox of the Actor is read and analyzed, situating this work within the context of 18th-century French theatre. The final lessons of the module are devoted to experimenting with individual and collective critical-philosophical writing exercises. These exercises are related to performances that students will have attended during the course period, either live or via video.

This is a beginner level French language course for students who have previously completed one or two semesters of French. It focuses on the four skills of listening comprehension, spoken production, reading comprehension, and written expression. It develops skills to understand audio and video with multiple speakers, talk about events that happened in the past, describe objects and images, conduct a simple discussion and give an opinion, read and understand short texts, write a short informal letter or email. It covers adjectives, comparatives, superlatives, pronouns, adverbs, indefinites, prepositions, verbs, vocabulary for real-life situations, phonetics and spelling. 

This is a beginner level Italian language course for students with no prior Italian language background. It teaches listening comprehension, spoken production, reading comprehension, and written expression in Italian. It focuses on understanding instructions and following a very simple conversation that relates to everyday life, introducing and talking about ones self, asking questions about someone else, understanding a very simple text relating to daily life, writing a dialogue, short text or email. The course covers articles, nouns, adjectives, demonstratives, possessives, pronouns, adverbs, numbers, prepositions, interrogatives, verbs, vocabulary for real-life situations, and phonetics and spelling.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. This course advances the student's knowledge in the main criminological approaches explaining the relationship between crime, culture, and media; they will be able to critically analyze media narratives and recent crime, deviance, and control phenomena emerging in digital societies, relying on contemporary examples and on the related scientific literature.

The course explores the intersection between crime and the media, with particular attention to how deviance and criminality are represented across various mediums, including television, newspapers, cinema, literature, and social media. It also examines criminologically significant phenomena that characterize contemporary digital society, such as digital vigilantism and the spread of fake news. The course fosters a critical and sociological approach among students toward the narratives, images, and phenomena of deviance, crime, and social control that are constructed and reproduced through the media.

In the first part of the course, students are introduced to the main theoretical frameworks developed within criminology in the broad field of crime and media studies, with a particular focus on traditional media. The second part addresses forms of deviance, criminality, control, and harm specific to today’s digital society, drawing on examples from recent literature in digital criminology. The third part focuses on what can be considered ‘classic’ themes within the cultural criminology of media, such as the criminalization of music (and other creative cultural expressions), representations of policing in literature and television, and the phenomenon of trial by media.

This is an advanced level art studio course for students with prior experience. The course develops an understanding of the defining features and structural elements of fine art graphics in many forms, while teaching engraving and printing techniques both theoretically and practically. Course contents include: familiarizing with studio spaces, safety regulations, and respectful conduct; introducing the concept of original fine art print and distinguishing among intaglio, woodcut, lithography, and screen printing; analyzing original prints and reproductions to study the graphic work of professional artists and to understand the different engraving techniques and their opportunities for expression; using equipment and tools; graphic design and project development; differences between direct and indirect intaglio techniques; preparing printing plates; methods to transfer drawings; etching techniques for coverage and additions, soft ground (line and impression), drypoint, and aquatint; understanding etching times; inking, cleaning, and printing methods; paper soaking and drying; constructing a register; cleaning and preservation of plates. 

More experienced students in the course also experiment with new techniques. Students develop personal projects, with particular attention to the formal and compositional aspects and to the modulation of the sign. Students are guided, throughout their artistic research, to understand the close relationship between content and sign. Teaching methods include: theoretical lessons and collective and individual practical demonstrations; individual discussions on current projects. A classroom platform is available for general communication. Educational outings, exhibitions, and participation in workshops may be proposed.

This is an advanced level art studio course for students with prior experience. The course focuses on from drawing to sign, learning to see and observe as a starting point for drawing. Students learn about pictorial materials and classical and modern drawing techniques. Students engage in self-analysis and inner exploration, and they learn how to use the sign to translate the emotion of gestures. The sign becomes an opportunity for analysis and research for students, who use their own expressive language. Teaching methods include drawing from life with posed models.