Italy

At the end of the course students understand and apply the main financial principles and concepts: they understand why and how financial intermediation exists, how the basics of mathematical finance should be applied in the evaluation of financing contracts and financial instruments; how to invest in a portfolio, taking into account both expected returns and risks; and how the monetary policy is related to what they learn in this course, and how to interpret the current issues on financial markets. The course addresses the following topics: principles of finance, financial equivalence, banking services, mortgage evaluations and amortization, principles of valuation, basic financial instruments and their pricings, uncertainty and risk measures, risk and return relation in financial markets, capital asset pricing model, and investment portfolios and performances.

As immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees move within and across Italian urban borders, they impact the familiar and the "rigid orders of the self"- to borrow the words of the German novelist Günter Grass. This course examines the fundamental links between immigration across the Mediterranean Basin with globalization, development, climate change, poverty, and present-day domestic politics. Considering the latest Italian elections, this course also analyzes how immigration incites everyday an array of responses in different contexts and forms. From the Vatican to the government, sometimes those responses are even antithetical, but they always meet in that discursive space where concepts like home, identity, subjectivity, and citizenship unravel. These concepts are shaped by various structures of power and are continuously migrating from earlier patterns and processes. This course ultimately aims at revealing them as a subject of both public concern on the one hand and violence for many migrants on the other.

This course is part of the LM degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. This course explores the genetic, epigenetic, and genomic mechanisms governing microbial physiology in a changing environment which includes selective pressure by antibiotics, vaccines, pollution, and climate. The molecular basis of the virus-host interaction is also discussed. The laboratory activity familiarizes students with molecular approaches to generate recombinant organisms, and assesses the impact of viral activity on the host’s metabolism.

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 consequences of international trade and the effects of trade policies; the main approaches to international factor movements, organization of firms, and debates regarding globalization; exchange rates and international capital markets; complex issues raised by the economic interdependence of nations The course covers the following: why do countries trade; what are the consequences of introducing a tariff on imports; why did the EU adopt a single currency; how to make sense of Brexit and Trump's protectionism. This course aims at addressing these issues and many other relevant topics in both international trade and open economy macroeconomics. At the end of the course, students have a sound foundation in international economics and they are able to critically evaluate both micro and macro trade patterns, as well as policy issues. The first module introduces the most important theories of international trade and their predictions for consumers, firms, and governments. In particular, it addresses issues such as determinants of trade flows, gains from trade, and motivation and consequences of protectionist policies. It also covers real-world areas of international trade, such as the EU, the Americas, and Asia. The second module is organized in topics, including, among others, open macroeconomics, optimum currency areas, the European Union and the Euro experience, and the historical and recent migration waves.

Italy possesses one of the richest culinary traditions in the world, with roots reaching back to ancient times. Students explore literature detailing matters of Italian food culture in a dense array of settings. Part of the course is conducted on site, exposing students to Rome's rich network of food distribution systems, as well as touring areas in proximity of Rome to discover the close linkage between the territory, its inhabitants, and consumable food products. Topics covered include the cultural ecology of pasta, the historical evolution of spices, the special character of Alpine ecosystems, the moral implications of food consumption, modern food distribution, the globalization of taste, and responses to globalization especially through the Slow Food movement. Throughout the course attention is paid to the role of food practice in contemporary Italian society and culture, with special attention to gender. In order to put principles into practice, the structured experience of food and wines is an integral part of the course.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Admission is by consent of the instructor. The course focuses on the basic aspects of contemporary constitutionalism in Western democracies, countries in transition to democracy and beyond. Emphasis is placed on comparative constitutional law because it allows for a deeper understanding of legal systems and legal cultures. Special attention is placed on an analysis of the foundations of individual legal systems and the strengths and limits of constitutional law in regulating social and political processes. Course contents: what is a constitution; why comparative constitutional law; constitutional models; judicial enforcement of the constitution and models of constitutional adjudication; horizontal separation of powers: Presidentialism and Parliamentarism; federalism vertical separation of powers; protecting fundamental rights: equality, minority and group rights; freedom of expression; freedom of religion and belief.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. This course introduces the critical study of the main tenets, the sources, and some specific fields of contemporary international law. The three fundamental legal functions on which the legal dynamics of the international community is founded – lawmaking, law determination, and law enforcement – are analyzed within the contemporary social context. International law is presented in its different dimensions: as a tool in the hand of international actors able to handle change in the international society and safeguard stability and predictability of international legal relations; as common language useful in reaching consensus or, at least, peaceful disagreement; and as key to understanding the reality of contemporary international relations. Bringing together different perspectives, the course demonstrates how international rules, while made by governments and mostly addressed to them, can be of great relevance to private actors and to their interests.

The course analyzes how the labor market works, how agents in this special market behave, and how governments regulate and set up institutions to govern the labor market. Whether and how much to work, how much to invest in human capital (skills), unionization, and whether and where to migrate are all examples of decisions on the supply side of the labor market. The combination of labor (or different types of labor) and other factors in production, and job creation and job destruction are examples of decisions on the demand side of the labor market. Minimum wages, unemployment insurance, employment protection legislation, and collective bargaining, are examples of institutions governing the labor market. The course covers the following topics: labor supply and demand; labor market equilibrium; human capital, education, and training; compensating wage differentials; immigration; and automation and the future of work.