Italian

This is a graduate level course that 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 focuses on the genesis, development, and evolution of sociology of education. Emphasis is placed on the sociological contribution to the study of institutions and educational processes in the field of education. Special attention is placed on specific knowledge/sociological skills functional to the assessment of the impact of educational interventions in reference to equality and inequality of opportunities in education. A separate section of the course is devoted to how to read and evaluate statistical-sociological data and indicators used in analyzing data pertaining to school systems. The course is divided in two portions. The first portion of the course focuses on the analytical models of educational processes and institutions and on the transition from a school centric to a polycentric model of training. Starting from the definition of the field of study and research in sociology of education and the contributions of various authors (Durkheim, Marx, Weber, Parsons, Simmel, etc.) the following topics are addressed: the relationship between education and society, socialization and theoretical models of reference, social self and theories of identity, equality of opportunities in education, and actors and agencies. The second portion of the course deals with specific issues such as inequalities in education and educational pathways for students who do not have Italian citizenship. The course includes traditional lectures, seminar activities, and in class discussions, as well as PPT presentations, slides, and videos. Assessment is based on a final written exam with essay questions and an oral exam on course materials during which students can discuss an essay on a pre-approved topic related to course materials.

This is an advanced course in Fashion Design that is part of the Biennio program (equivalent to the Laurea Magistrale program). The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course is a year-long course that runs over the entire year, however students may participate in just one of the semesters with special permission from the instructor. Part A, during the fall semester, is worth 6 quarter units and Part B, during the spring semester, is worth 6 quarter units. The course focuses on fashion and communication, and considers the relationship between art and fashion. Students analyze visual phenomena of behaviors present in society and research instruments available for recognizing new trends, such as cool hunting and trend setting. The course includes site specific projects – research projects in the area of space selection and installation projects for fashion events involving project design, photography, video, and applicable software. The course further discusses cross overs between art, literature, cinema, music, and fashion. Emphasis is placed on the role played by media in creating and promoting fashion trends beyond the clothing sphere through modes of communication, types of body language, and social behaviors and sensibilities. The course includes workshops and site visits to exhibitions, seminars, studios, laboratories, and fashion houses. Assessment is based on the completion, presentation, and installation of three personal works. Students also present a binder documenting the various phases of the work, both in digital form and paper based. Students are required to present a short research paper on a theoretical aspect connected to their work that is tied to the required readings. Generally, in part B students prepare a fashion show and participate with three of their creations.

The course focuses on the ancient history of the Emilia Romagna region through the direct analysis of various sources: literary, epigraphic, and archaeological. Students are introduced to research methodology regarding the study of the ancient world, in particular institutions, society, and culture. The course offers a general outline of Augustus' VIII region, starting from the Roman conquest of the Po valley. Various aspects of the Romanization process in the Cispadana region are covered (social, economic, religious, institutional) based on different types of data. Different methodological examples are used in the analysis of general historical value. The last section of the course focuses on the most recent archaeological discoveries concerning the ancient town of Mutina (Modena). The course includes visits to Emilia Romagna regional Museums (Museo Civico Archeologico di Bologna, the Antiquarium di Marzabotto, and the Museo Archeologico di Ferrara). Assessment is based on a final oral exam covering class materials, general knowledge, and the fundamentals of research methodology. Main topics are: the different types of sources available in the reconstruction of the ancient history of a specific geographic area and their correct methodological use in the historical reconstruction process; the political and economic history of the Emilia Romagna region; basic history of a number of Roman colonies including Ariminum, Bononia, Mutina, and Parma; the most recent archaeological discoveries and their relationship to previous knowledge.

This course introduces students to the grammatical structures and vocabulary necessary to understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases in Italian. Students learn to express themselves using verbs in the present tense. They introduce themselves and others and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where they live, people they know, and things they own. They engage in simple interactions as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly. They ask for or pass on personal details in written form and produce short and simple texts like postcards, greetings messages, isolated phrases, and sentences. Attention is given to the correct pronunciation of the language. All four abilities (writing, speaking, listening, reading) are developed in the class, also with the support of authentic audiovisual materials such as Italian movies, short videos, tv programs, and songs. The course uses a communication-based approach: students engage in daily role-plays, group activities, games, and class discussions. Out of class activities are designed to take advantage of the opportunities for interaction and language practice, as well as immersion in Italian culture, that the city provides.

The course deals with basic themes, concepts, and thinkers in international relations. The purpose is to provide students with essential conceptual and linguistic tools for understanding the underlying structure and fundamental features of international politics, as well as its material and immaterial changing aspects. The objective is to explain the dynamics through which men and women understand international politics as well as to achieve a coherent capacity to think about international life, both in its theoretical and practical dimension. The course covers seven specific topics: The first part of the course is dedicated to theory: international relations as a field of western knowledge; a fundamental theoretical framework: realism/idealism; war and ways of peace; beyond domestic analogy; justice and order in world politics The second part is dedicated to practice with the analysis of specific cases: the international political space; homogeneity, heterogeneity, and conflict; the global age and international relations.

This course is an introduction to the history of Africa South of the Sahara from the 19th century to the 1990s. To balance historical breadth with depth, the course analyzes some selected case-studies to highlight major historical trends and see their effects on the local level. The first lectures are an introduction to the history of the continent. The course discusses the idea of “Africa without history,” the evolution of the historical studies on Africa and the sources that Africanists have at their disposal. The course then analyzes the slave trades - local, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean- and highlights their economic, social, and political effects on the African societies involved. The course continues with the origins of imperialism, to see how Western scientific and technological discoveries, the European political and economic situation, the 19th-century racism as well as the work of missionaries and explorers, put the basis for the scramble for Africa. The course then sees the reactions of African societies to the colonial occupation and analyzes the different forms of colonialism. Particular attention is given to the early developments of African nationalism. The course investigates the participation of Africa in WWI and WWII and the development of international movements, especially panafricanism and négritude. The course then considers the most important phases of the decolonization process, from the independence of Ghana in 1957 to the end of apartheid in South Africa in 1994. The last part of the course focuses on specific case-studies to provide examples of the political and economic choices of the leaders of post-independence Africa. The course discusses some of the most prominent political leaders, such as Julius Nyerere, Thomas Sankara, Patrice Lumumba, Amilcar Cabral, and Nelson Mandela, and their writings. The course investigates the impact of colonialism on independent African countries and analyzes the relationship between history, nationalism, and the formation of the post-colonial state.

This is an advanced level course for studio art students who already have experience in drawing techniques. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course is held at the Accademia di Belle Arti during the first and second semesters: 160A for fall and 160B for spring. Students are required to attend the theoretical part and the studio laboratory, and to complete individual projects. The course teaches students to perceive the human form through a structural view in order to grasp and identify the structural and plastic components and to reach an interpretation of the form in both analysis and synthesis.

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 focuses on the theoretical skills necessary for placing twentieth-century Italian poetry within the context of European history of thought and ideas. Special attention is placed on the appropriate methodology for analyzing modern and contemporary poetry. The course emphasizes the role of rhetoric, stylistics, and linguistics and favors intertextual and interdisciplinary comparisons. The topic for the Spring 2018 semester is: Origins, Poetry, Verticality, and Perception. This course focuses on a selection of Italian poetry from the second half of the twentieth century that highlights the idea of origin, and in particular the feelings of unbridgeable distance, and loss. The idea of distance and loss is also analyzed through the formal choices that shape the texts as well as their friction and opposition to the literary codes of the time. Prerequisite for the course is basic knowledge of twentieth-century Italian literature at the undergraduate level. Poetry selections are from the following sources: ORAMAI and DICIASSETTE VARIAZIONI SU TEMI PROPOSTI PER UNA PURA IDEOLOGIA FONETICA by Emilio Villa, LA BUFERA E ALTRO and SATURA by Eugenio Montale, LABORINTUS and POSTKARTEN by Edoardo Sanguineti, IL SEME DEL PIANGERE and IL MURO DELLA TERRA by Giorgio Caproni, SU FONDAMENTI INVISIBILI and PER IL BATTESIMO DEI NOSTRI FRAMMENTI by Mario Luzi.