Italy

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale in innovation and organization of culture and the arts. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course focuses on the elements of marketing within the service sector that are applicable specifically to cultural organizations. This course introduces, discusses, and analyzes several key topics in the area of service. The course explores topics including challenges inherent in marketing and managing services; developing and delivering quality service; strategies and tools for addressing the challenges of services management and marketing, the “services marketing mix,” and the complexities of service design, delivery, and communication aimed at building sustainable service brands. Students discuss producing and delivering services, the servuction model and its implication for theory and practice; customer behavior before and during the service experience; the role of employees in service delivery; the Servicescape; service quality and customer satisfaction; measuring customer satisfaction; and pricing. The course includes traditional lectures, presentations, and interactive teaching regarding concepts and theories as well as in class discussions of case studies. Assessment is based on a written exam based on essay questions.

The course provides a systematic review of the psychobiological bases of the main psychotic spectrum disorders (in particular Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, and Paranoid, Schizoid, and Schizotypal Personality Disorders). Results from genetic, electrophysiological, neurochemical, and structural/functional neuroimaging are discussed for all disorders. As much as possible, the principal models proposed to explain the pathogenesis of each disorder are presented, to integrate information from the multiple approaches of neurosciences. The course discusses topics including a brief introduction to Psychotic Spectrum Disorders, methods and experimental techniques in psychobiological research, Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, and Cluster A Personality Disorders. This advanced level course is at the second cycle degree, or masters degree level at the University of Padua. Students are required to have knowledge of cognitive processes and anatomo-physiological bases of the central nervous system as a prerequisite.

This course covers the most important areas of financial economics and investments. The course explores how financial markets work and how they price financial securities and assets. As witnessed in the recent 2008-2009 financial crisis, financial market risks can have spillovers to the whole macroeconomy. Therefore, to understand macroeconomic risks, it is important to have a solid understanding of how financial markets work. The course discusses topics including portfolio selection, equilibrium asset pricing, arbitrage, fixed income securities, and derivatives. Students are required to have completed courses in calculus and statistics as a prerequisite for this course.

This is course is a study of cross-cultural issues in personnel psychology. The course discusses topics including an overview of recruitment and selection (methods, cognition, personality, motivation), job performance (appraisal and management), training, and career development (career calling); key concepts, theories, and issues of the cross-cultural approach to the study of personnel: effect of culture on organizational process (recruitment, selection and assessment) and individuals’ characteristics (personality, cognition, values, motivation and career calling); applying personnel psychology, cross-cultural psychology, and diversity management to real-world contexts and issues (e.g., diversity training, staffing and selection bias); and reflecting on the role of culture in working with culturally diverse personnel. The course requires a basic knowledge of personality traits, motivation, intelligence, psychological testing, and industrial and organizational psychology as a prerequisite.

The course focuses on the relationship between literature and film and the connections between the two languages through the in-depth study of a selection of historically relevant and exemplary works. A section of the course is devoted to the question of the historical adaptation of literary texts to the screen–from early works to the present. The course focuses in particular on the construction of the fictional movie character through a comparative approach between literary studies and film studies that places emphasis on the peculiarly cinematic element: the human factor linked to the role of the actor. The course focuses on the construction of a particular cinematic character, the history of Hollywood production (divas and audience) and the cultural role played by Hollywood in its historical context through its role in the production of film adaptations of literary works. Required film screenings: QUEEN CHRISTINA (1933), CITY LIGHTS (1931), GONE WITH THE WIND, (1939), CITIZEN KANE (1941), NOW VOYAGER (1942), WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939), A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951), REAR WINDOW (1954), WRITTEN ON THE WIND (1956), THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL (1957). Assessment is based on a written exam that covers the required readings, the critical analysis presented in class and the required film screenings.

This course examines the role of sport (with an emphasis on soccer and cycling) in Italian society from historical and contemporary perspectives. It considers the relationship between sports and such issues as gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, nationalism, nation-building, the Italian economy, and the role of the media in order to determine how developments in sports have influenced, and have been influenced by, Italian politics and society. The course explores sport in Italy from 1860 to the present.

The banking industry is changing widely and consistently. Technology is playing an increasing role in the financial services industry, offering new opportunities to make new competitors - namely FinTechs and BigTechs - enter the financial services market, empowering existing players and threatening the way incumbents’ business models are changing. The course exposes students to this fast-growing intersection between technology and finance, under a double perspective: disruption versus evolution. Also covering the juncture of modern technology and banking. The curriculum is organized by vertical-product areas that are the spectrum of concepts driving innovations of the principal financial intermediation functions. They are also those that are most active and most prone to innovation through start-ups: money and payments, lending, saving, and investment. For each area, the course analyzes the marketplace, the incumbents, the new business cases, and strategies of the incoming technology-driven players with an emphasis on the underlying economics, technology applied, and the way competition is changing its features. Students develop a theoretical and practical understanding of the forces transforming the banking and financial services industry at an international level.

This course consists of an introduction to the major areas of interest in developmental psychology. The course explores topics such as biological, cognitive, emotional, and social development, by conceptualizing the individual as a whole at different stages of the lifespan. With an emphasis on the scientific nature of psychology, the course presents common research methodologies employed by developmental psychologists. Primary attention is devoted to the period of infancy through adolescence with some coverage of adulthood, and late life. The course focuses on questions such as: What psychological changes occur during infancy, childhood, and adolescence? What psychological processes drive the development of children? What are the psychological, neurobiological, and genetic/environmental causes of developmental disorders, such as language impairment, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and dyslexia? What can psychologists do to promote healthy development in neurotypical individuals and support development among individuals with developmental disorders? The course requires students have basic knowledge on general cognitive functions such as perception, attention, language, and memory as a prerequisite.