Italy

This course explores social and political issues concerning the city of Rome. It provides background on the role of the city in the unification of Italy, and then focuses chiefly on the period following the Second World War. Topics include the image of Rome in popular culture, the modern evolution of the city as a physical entity, the migration of southerners to the city, the dynamics of family, and the role of gender. Soccer is examined with particular reference to citizen participation. Local criminality is put in a national context. Other topics include the church, the education system, and government. Final consideration is given to Rome as a European capital city. Throughout the course, attention is paid to relevant administrative issues and social contexts in an attempt to gain a vision of Rome as seen in Italian and European perspectives.

This course s part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. Globalization dramatically changed the environment of political and economic activity, widening the context of social action and speeding up its pace. This course tackles the new ethical issues inherent in a globalized world of social change from a theoretical perspective, without neglecting the historical side. At the end of the course students have a deeper appreciation of the new ethical issues facing mankind in an era of globalization, have knowledge of the most interesting contemporary theories of the just society, and are capable of historically situating the current developments in society. This course examines three broad themes connected to the contemporary geopolitical circumstances: the question of the just society and the challenge of relativism, the dilemmas of globalization, and environmental ethics. The course examines how and to what extent globalization has changed politics and, strictly connected to this question, the issue of the just society in such different circumstances and the challenge posed by cultural relativism. Finally, the course tackles the problem of our responsibility towards the environment and towards non-human creatures.

This course discusses the role of power and power relations in psychology and mental health. Course topics include: health, mental health, status, and inequality; embodiment of inequality, power, and status; the experience of injustice and powerlessness; power and manipulation in interpersonal relationships; the power of passion and purpose; the power of compassion and empathy; psychopathologies of omnipotence and impotence; psychopathologies and the global financial crisis; media manipulation, propaganda, and mind control; the psychology of neoliberal ideology; perceptions of inequality and redistribution preferences; and empowerment and liberation psychology. The course recommends students have completed a course in global health psychology and have good knowledge of statistics, epidemiology, and econometrics, as prerequisites.

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 focuses on the tools necessary to evaluate the main themes and issues related to questions of cultural memory from a semiotic perspective. Memory studies is a relatively young academic field that aims at an interdisciplinary study of collective forms of remembering and of processes of construction, transmission, and communication of the past in contemporary societies and in contexts characterized by an inherent "semiotic complexity" At the same time, memory studies is often in constant dialogue with other disciplines dealing with memory (philosophy, sociology, psychology, semiotics, cognitive science, anthropology, history, archaeology, etc.). The course introduces and critically discusses the current debate in the field of memory studies, considering the main issues and questions from a semiotic perspective. Starting from a critical discussion of the concept of collective memory, the various "discursive arenas" (media discourse, historical discourse, legal discourse, political discourse, artistic discourse...) that shape shared - as well as individual - memories (and consequently collective and individual identities) are highlighted. Part of the course focuses specifically on the processes of construction and transmission of Cultural Heritage, particularly in terms of its semiotic, political, and conflictual character. Special attention is given to notions of dissonant and difficult heritage.

This course delves into 20th- and 21st-century nationalism, trans-national exchanges, and identity formation in the Mediterranean, examining the unique foodways of Florence, Syracuse, and Istanbul. Exploring the roots of 19th-century nation-state formation and the subsequent emergence of nationalist propaganda and authoritarian ideologies in 20th-century Italy and Turkey, the course analyzes post-WWII economic development and the societal impacts of agricultural modernization and food industrialization. It critically evaluates the role of Neoliberalism in reshaping ethnic and national identities. The course explores the central role of food, food practices, and public food policies in nation-building projects. Additionally, the course investigates the rescaling of national economies and identities in the Mediterranean region. Through a critical lens, the course examines the intersections between the
local/national and the global, exploring the new relations, tensions, and conflicts that emerge. Topics of inquiry encompass contemporary ethnic politics, migration, the rise of new forms of racism and religious tensions, 20th-century modernization, evolving habits of mass consumption, and the effects of globalization on food systems. Special attention is given to the intricate dynamics of internal and international migration flows in the Mediterranean, particularly from Africa and the Middle East.

This is a special studies course with projects arranged between the student and faculty member. The specific topics of study vary each term and are described on a special study project form for each student. The number of units varies with the student’s project, contact hours, and method of assessment, as defined on the student’s special study project form.

The course analyzes the impact of digital transformation in changing the competitive landscape of several industries. Of particular interest of the course are: the disruptive nature of technological changes; the entrepreneurial ferment across industries; the interplay between incumbents and newcomers. The goal of the course is to: analyze digitalization as a context for the transformation of cultural organizations; discuss its implications for industry configuration, value appropriation, and offering configuration; compare inter-company and inter-industry competition. 

This course covers types of comics from the 13th century to the 16th century, and poetry and theater in the 18th and 19th centuries. The first part of the course is dedicated to comic in literature and focuses on Boccaccio with in-depth studies on the DECAMERON. The second part is dedicated to the reading of Machiavelli and discusses Goldoni, Pascoli, and an in-depth study of Dante's INFERNO in the context of poetry.

This course examines the relation between a series of brain disorders and their consequences on behavior, emotion, and cognition. The course clarifies the nature, the development, and the consequences of organic disorders acquired after brain lesions, neurological diseases, or other non-neurological syndromes and their consequences. Using case studies culled from clinical work, the course provides first-hand accounts of neuropsychology and how brain illness or injury can manifest across different cultures. This application-based approach to neuropsychology provides a clear, comprehensive, understanding of what happens in a human mind after an organic damage. The course addresses the principal neurological disorders and their impact of the patient life, as well as how to recognize symptoms and their manifestation in diverse cultures. The course discusses the main pathologies with organic base in all their aspects and consequences on behavior, emotions, and cognition including cerebrovascular disease, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, dementia and neurodegenerative disease, multiple sclerosis and demyelinating disorders, neuropsychology of oncology, neurotoxicology, alcohol-related neuropathology, cultural neuropsychology, and analyses of clinical cases. The course requires background knowledge of brain and behavior relationships and a previous course in neuropsychology as a prerequisite.