Italy

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.

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 focuses on the roles of microbial populations in natural and contaminated habitats and the main microbial and technological aspects related the conduction and optimization of the prominent environmental biotechnological processes currently applied in the remediation of industrial wastewaters, sediments, and sites contaminated with xenobiotic compounds. The course includes class lectures, as a series of seminars, and optional laboratory training.

This is an advanced 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. There are three versions of this course; this course, “GEOGRAPHY OF DEVELOPMENT,” UCEAP Course Number 176 and Bologna course number 19695, is associated with the LM in Local and Global Development degree programme. One of the other versions, “GEOGRAPHIES OF GLOBAL CHALLENGES,” UCEAP Course Number 177A and Bologna course number 81952, is associated with the LM in History and Oriental Studies degree programme. The final version “GEOGRAPHY OF GLOBAL CHALLENGES,” UCEAP Course Number 177B and Bologna course number 95931, is associated with the LM in Local and Global Development degree programme.
Climate change offers the opportunity for a multidisciplinary analysis. The course discusses various aspects of the topic through a primarily geographical approach. The course is structured into three parts. Part one introduces climate change as a global phenomenon, with its natural and anthropogenic root causes. Students discuss and reflect on the socio-spatial inequalities inherent in the climate crisis. Part two analyzes climate governance, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Post Kyoto adaptation and mitigation strategies. In addition to the policy-making process, the course critically examines theoretical frameworks of adaptation, notions of climate justice, and intersectional approaches to addressing the climate crisis and its colonial roots. Part three concerns climate change and mobility. The course examines the complex interconnections between climate change and (im)mobility. Empirical examples are drawn from the #ClimateOfChange [https://climateofchange.info/publications-press/] interdisciplinary research project to contextualize the climate crisis as it is manifested, resisted, and understood from diverse locations across the globe. At the end of the course students show understanding of some of the global challenges the population of the planet has been facing since the second half of the twentieth century. Among these, the critical relation with the natural resources and with the concept of development and, above all, climate change, with its connections to territorial development, ecological risk, food security, and the consumption of natural resources. At the end of the course, the students have acquired the theoretical and empirical tools to critically analyze the global strategies of climate resilience and cooperation and the relation between climate change and tourism.

Recently, in the decades since the 1970s, millions of people from many countries and religions have flooded into Italy, sparking a profound change in the social fabric of the once homogenous Italian peninsula. This course reviews the key teachings and beliefs of several world religions present in Rome, and introduces undergraduate students to the principles and practices of “interfaith dialogue,” using local dialogue case studies and site visits to give context to our discussions. Students grapple with the complex nature of religious and social diversity in the Eternal City, and the concrete steps many inhabitants of Rome are taking to bridge social divides. Inspired by Enzo Pace, students learn to “deal with the unprecedented religious pluralism that has been increasingly characterizing life in Italy.”

The mission of this course is to get students ready for the growing complexity of the international business and to equip them with a toolkit for decision making in the modern global context. The main learning goal of this course is to formulate or contribute to the formulation of international strategy for any kind of business. This course covers topics including globalization trends and internationalization goals; differences among markets and adaptation decisions; internationalization strategy definitions; foreign markets selection; entry modes to foreign markets and cross-border alliances; and implementation of internationalization strategy. Prerequisites: prior background knowledge of key terminology and theoretical frameworks of general management and business administration.