Italy

This is an introductory level art studio course in mosaics for students who have no prior experience in mosaics and are not art studio majors. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course is held at the Accademia di Belle Arti during the first and second semesters. Students are required to attend both the theoretical part and the studio laboratory and to complete individual projects. Mosaics are generally synonymous with decoration, although historically they have been used especially in the large pictorial projects in cathedrals. The aesthetic qualities of mosaics and their resistance to atmospheric agents and the wear and tear of foot traffic have made them the ideal choice for the decoration of important palazzi and public buildings which the Art Nouveau style (1890-1910) has reclaimed and re-utilized on a large scale. Thanks to this recent revival of mosaics it is necessary - for those who are interested in this art form - to review some of the basic elements of mosaic production, both in the project phase and the actual execution in order to be able to advance to new models and techniques and to create a personal repertoire. A significant portion of the course is dedicated to the Accademia's tradition in the field of ornamentation as it was envisioned by the renowned Bolognese artist Antonio Basoli (1774-1843).

The course provides fundamental and exhaustive knowledge regarding the main aspects of astronomy and astrophysics, including up-to-date topics (e.g. extrasolar planets and astrobiology, black holes, dark matter, dark energy). The course focuses on the following main topics: from positional astronomy to the solar system, stars, galaxies, and cosmology. Topics covered include: basic spherical astronomy (solid angle, great circle, spherical triangles, shape and size of the Earth, Eratosthenes experiment), terrestrial coordinates (latitude, longitude), celestial coordinates, Doppler effect, perturbation of coordinates (precessions, nutation, parallax, proper motion, aberration), the motion of planets (including historical background), the Kepler laws, the Earth (properties, seasons, tides), the Moon (properties, motion), solar and lunar eclipses, the Solar system (planets), and notions on extrasolar planets, the electromagnetic spectrum, astronomical observations (terrestrial atmosphere, astronomical sites, seeing, adaptive optics), telescopes (reflection and refraction optics, submm-mm, radio, space telescopes, HST, Herschel, Planck, X-ray telescopes), astronomical data (images, spectra), radiation from astrophysical objects (luminosity, spectra, flux, 1/r^2 law), apparent magnitudes and Pogson law, color indices, extinction and atmospheric extinction, absolute magnitudes, black-body radiation, Planck, and Wien laws, relation between black-body and color indices, Stefan-Boltzmann law, atoms and radiation (electronic transitions, hydrogen atom, types of spectra, emission and absorption lines, continuum spectra, emission nebulae, 21 cm transition, basic thermodynamics), the classification of stars and relation with black-body, types of stellar spectra and absorption lines, luminosity classes, Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, binary stars (visual, photometric, spectroscopic, astrometric), mass of visual binary stars, the luminosity-mass relation, the four equations of stellar structure, energy transfer mechanisms, energy production in stars and timescales, thermonuclear reactions, proton-proton chain, CNO cycle, triple-alpha reaction, stellar evolution (HR diagram, time on main sequence, mass and internal structure), open and globular clusters, age estimate with HR diagrams evolution of low-mass stars, evolution of high-mass stars (Novae, Supernovae, Pulsars, Black Holes), interstellar medium (gas phases, composition, types of nebulae, H II regions, molecules, dust, star formation, chemical enrichment), our galaxy (properties, structure, components, observations across the electromagnetic spectrum, stellar populations, spiral structure, star formation, differential rotation, bulge, rotation curve, dark matter, central black hole, the local Group), galaxies (Hubble classes, colors, spectra, Schechter function, luminosity functions, spirals, ellipticals, starbursts, merging, large scale structure, groups, clusters, galaxy formation), supermassive black holes and active galaxies, basic cosmology (Hubble law, age of the Universe, Big Bang, cosmic microwave background, large scale structure, density parameter, dark matter, dark energy, possible destiny of the Universe). Required reading: FUNDAMENTAL ASTRONOMY by H. Karttunen, P. Kröger, H. Oja, M. Poutanen.

This is a special studies course involving an internship with a corporate, public, governmental, or private organization, arranged with the Study Center Director or Liaison Officer. Specific internships vary each term and are described on a special study project form for each student. A substantial paper or series of reports is required. Units vary depending on the contact hours and method of assessment. The internship may be taken during one or more terms but the units cannot exceed a total of 12.0 for the academic year.

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 principles of health care organization and policy in a comparative perspective. The course analyzes the evolution and contemporary state of health care systems in different Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. The course covers the following: the evolutionary path of OECD health care systems; main models of health care funding including the differences between tax based models, SHI-models, and models based on voluntary insurance; models of health care provision; health care reforms over the last decades; and health policy and politics.

The course focuses on the history of North American cinema and in particular the identifying elements of production and industry (the genre system, the studio system, and the star system). Special attention is placed on cultural and formal elements as well as economic and distribution factors that have determined the success of North American cinema worldwide in a comparison with European cinema production. The topic for the 2017-2018 year is "Comedy and Comedians: comic forms in American cinema, from the dawn of sound to Jim Carrey". Required readings includes: SOGNO E REALTÀ AMERICANA NEL CINEMA DI HOLLYWOOD (2014). Students select six films from the following list: FRANKENSTEIN (1931), LITTLE CAESAR (1931), QUARANTADUESIMA STRADA (1933), TOP HAT (1935), THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939), THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940), CITIZEN KANE (1941), CASABLANCA (1942), CAT PEOPLE (1942), PERDUTAMENTE TUA (1942), DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950), A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951), SINGING IN THE RAIN (1952), KISS ME DEADLY (1955), THE SEARCHERS (1956), INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956), VERTIGO (1958), IMITATION OF LIFE (1959), THE GRADUATE (1967), THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971), NASHVILLE (1975), CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977). Students choose six additional films from the following list: MANCIA COMPETENTE (1932), LA SCALA MUSICALE (1932), LA GUERRA LAMPO DEI FRATELLI MARX (1933), ACCADDE UNA NOTTE (1934) L'IMPAREGGIABILE GODFREY (1936), L'ORRIBILE VERITÀ (1937), LA SIGNORA DEL VENERDÌ (1940), IL GRANDE DITTATORE (1940), LADY EVA (1941), VOGLIAMO VIVERE! (1942), L'ISPETTORE GENERALE (1949), LA RAGAZZA DEL SECOLO (1954), ARTISTI E MODELLE (1955), A QUALCUNO PIACE CALDO (1959), L'APPARTAMENTO (1960), LE FOLLI NOTTI DEL DOTTOR JERRYL (1963), HOLLYWOOD PARTY (1968), PER FAVORE NON TOCCATE LE VECCHIETTE (1968), AMORE E GUERRA (1975), IO E ANNIE (1977), ANIMAL HOUSE (1978), FUORI ORARIO (1985), RICOMINCIO DA CAPO (1993), MAN ON THE MOON (1999). Assessment is based on a written exam that covers the general part of the course and a ten-page paper on a topic approved by the instructor that is directly related to the thematic part.

The course is part of the Laurea Magistrale Program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by consent of the instructor. This course explores the role that visual imagery plays in contemporary society, by means of looking at the visual as a key communication as well as economic and cultural resource. The course offers both an overview of established critical theories of visual communication and more contemporary takes on visual analysis and visuality at large. To gain a critical understanding of the central role that visual communication plays in global and local contexts alike, the course relies on a wide range of examples and case studies from key communication industries including advertising, film, stock photography, branding, social media, and news media. As well as studying visual communication theories, methods for critical visual analysis and specific examples and cases, students develop their own original research on specific dimensions of visual communication.

In this course, anthropology is approached from a philosophical point of view and with philosophical methods. The course consists of three units. The following main topics are addressed: key concepts for the epistemology of anthropology, philosophical accounts of human nature from antiquity to modern age, and evolutionism and anthropology.

This course offers a study of neuroimaging. The course explores topics including basic methodological notions for the use of neuroimaging techniques as a tool to explore structure and function of the brain; structural techniques such as computational morphometry, diffusion (DTI) and tractography; and functional techniques such as functional magnetic resonance (fMRI), basics of magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and positron emission tomography (PET). The course requires adequate knowledge of brain anatomy and recommends knowledge of the basic concepts of inferential statistics as prerequisites.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by permission of the instructor. Students master a variety of North American literary productions in relation to their cultural, social, and technological realities. Students learn to appreciate literary productions as part of complex, trans-media, and inclusive contexts. Course topics vary each term. For the most up to date course topics, access the University of Bologna Online Course Catalog. The fall 2023 course topic is on “Counterecycling: Science Fiction and Cognitive Pollution.” Through an assessment of traditional North American Science Fiction stories (and media adaptations), this course investigates whether using (in fact reusing) this genre traditional literary language helps to truly understand new complex phenomena or whether, instead, it induces cognitive pollution, therefore inhibiting our ability to observe. Recycling is certainly a useful action for the environment, but recycling literary language is not necessarily useful for seeing the limits and potential of a situation, especially where ontological levels are confused through a shared semantic. Among the themes discussed are: inventing the future: literature and technology; the evolving semantics of Science Fiction; the evolving semantics of Technology; environmental explorations: from cyberspace to metaverse; and artificial or artful Intelligence.