Italy

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 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. This course analyzes the way the western media covers the developing world and the humanitarian emergencies. Specifically the course explores the emerging and historical humanitarian narratives, with particular reference to the way in which the activities of NGOs are reported; how we understand and explain faraway disasters; how the media representations of suffering and violence has changed in the post-cold war period and in the digital era; the relationship between media, aid, corporate communication, and branding; and the relationship between power, media, and migration. This course encourages students to think sociologically about a range of issues and “social problems” related to the different ways in which media is used to report on humanitarian situations, and what impact this has. It also serves as an introduction to some important themes and issues within humanitarianism and migration. Areas under study include: the construction of “social problems,” media, ethics, human rights, disaster relief, war, famine, refugee camps, social movements, and NGOs.  A special focus is dedicated to the mediated performances that contribute to create the spectacle of the humanitarian border, which is physically and symbolically enacted by the different actors involved in contemporary management of migration. Moving from the assumption that our awareness of nearly all humanitarian issues is defined by the media, this course looks at the literature associated with humanitarian organizations and the NGO narratives, tracing the imagined and real encounters between solidarity, participation, and citizenship in the context of larger social processes of mediation and globalization. Examining humanitarian communication through various forms of aesthetic activism - documentary, photojournalism, benefit concerts, celebrities, and live blogging, the course explores how the circulation of humanitarian images and narratives impact the peoples it aims to serve, and what can be learned about global inequality from the stories associated with it. The course also focuses on how several news media framed Covid-19 as an invisible enemy, using metaphor of war to describe the current situation. The definition of the emergency as a war conducts inevitably to the identification of an enemy. The hyper-visibility of the war against this invisible enemy leads to a generalized fear of ‘the others’ and to the identification of this invisibility in visible bodies. Finally, the course reflects on long-term implications of the pandemic on mobility justice and what Mbembe (2020) has defined the “right to breath.” There are two versions of this course; this course, UCEAP Course Number 169B and Bologna course number 75073, is associated with the LM in Sociology and Social Work and LM in Local and Global Development degree programmes. The other version, UCEAP Course Number 169A and Bologna course number 81782, is associated with the LM in Language, Society and Communication degree programme.

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 is part of the Laurea Magistrale Program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by consent of the instructor. The course offers a series of advanced analytical tools necessary to understand European economic development as well as economic policies related to EU integration and expansion, their political and economic prerequisites, and their impact on member states. The course focuses on models of political economy, institutional economics, and economic analysis in order to critically evaluate the process of economic integration in Europe in the trade, monetary, and financial areas. The course explores the economic integration of the European Union (EU) and its role in the global economy. Attention is placed on basic concepts and theory in order to understand the economic dynamics between EU member states as well as between the EU and the rest of the world. A special section of the course is devoted to evaluating current events and the debate on Europe’s economic future against the backdrop of changing dynamics in global markets.

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.

The course discusses theoretical knowledge, research methods, and innovative techniques to study, design, and evaluate human-computer interaction (HCI). The targeted knowledge is such that makes the resulting HCI effective and efficient, and the user experience simple, pleasant, and overall satisfactory. The skills acquired pertain to the domain of HCI and cognitive ergonomics; more specifically: user-centered design; basic principles of cognitive ergonomics; user experience evaluation and products usability; visual communication and data visualization; accessibility and universal design (e.g. design for older adults); and social computing and social ergonomics.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program in Sciences and Management of Nature. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The course focuses on the distribution of human biodiversity in the world and on the main adaptive processes that have influenced it through patterns of phenotypic and molecular variation in human populations. The course explores how the different and changing environments have prompted ecological and cultural shifts that have introduced new selective pressures that have impacted the human genome. Special attention is placed on cases in which ecological and cultural contexts have changed so rapidly in the modern era that they have trigger adaptive traits that were previously shaped by natural selection and now are shaped by maladaptive selection. The course also provides elements useful for understanding the evolutionary causes of differential susceptibilities to complex diseases in human populations. The course presents the main theoretical models developed so far to describe the processes by which human populations have biologically adapted to a variety of environmental conditions. Moreover, it describes patterns of molecular and phenotypic variation that underlie some of the most well-studied human adaptive traits. Finally, evidence supporting dis-adaptive processes undergone by present-day human populations due to rapid changes occurred in their environmental and/or cultural contexts is presented. The course is organized as follows: evolutionary principles, processes enabling human biological adaptation to environmental settings, contextualization of human adaptive traits in the overall landscape of human biodiversity, case studies describing adaptive processes of human populations in response to environmental stresses, and case studies describing dis-adaptive processes of human populations due to rapid environmental/cultural changes.

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 basic constructs of general psychology and the main methods in the study of human behavior. The course discusses on the basic skills necessary in analyzing cognitive and emotional processes. The course includes an experimental part linked to a laboratory that focuses on emotion and perception. Specific topics include: perception-attention, learning, memory, and emotion. Students participate actively in class discussions and carry out group work on specific topics. The course includes slides and power point presentations.