Italy

This course is part of the LM degree program and is intended for advanced level student. Enrollment is by consent of instructor. This course provides an overview of the basic tools used by health economists for their empirical investigations, the linear regression model for the analysis of cross-sectional data, and under what conditions the estimated relationship has a causal interpretation. Drawing on critical discussion about some micro-economic applications, the student receives specific data to practice at the computer and learn the basic skills to perform empirical work using the software STATA. At the end of the course, the student is able to understand scientific articles using the linear regression model and is also able to perform their own analysis with this tool. The course discusses topics including an introduction to econometric methods, data, and STATA; simple and multiple regression models (advanced); and a variety of data issues.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course is intended for students who already have a strong background in literature and critical theory. The course focuses on the institutions of literature, the relationship between text and context, and the dynamics of literary communication and its political, ideological, socio-economic and editorial influence. The course explores the use of critical tools and forms of investigation that belong to the field of sociology and applies them to literature. Emphasis is placed on the thematic and sociological components of literary texts. The topic for the Spring 2018 semester is: The Other Nation–The Italian Migration. The course is divided in 6 sections with assigned readings: history of migrations, migration and literature, novels, new migrations; the question of Brain Drain, narrations. The course includes visual materials and a guest speaker series with international experts in the field of migration and authors who have addressed the question of migration in their writings. Assessment in the course is based on a final oral exam.

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 historical development of consumer capitalism, the fundamental elements of contemporary sociological theories of consumer action, and the main issues related to the politics of consumer culture. Emphasis is placed on how theories work in practice, by addressing key contemporary empirical phenomena in the sphere of consumption, with particular attention to social boundaries and social identities, commercial institutions, and the new challenges posed by environmental issues and the process of globalization/localization. The course aims at providing a theoretically informed sociological understanding of contemporary consumer cultures and practices. While adopting an interdisciplinary outlook, it deals mainly with the sociology of consumption, concentrating on contemporary social phenomena of global relevance. The course begins with a discussion of the historical development of so-called consumer capitalism, highlighting the relevance of urbanization, colonialism, changes in social stratification (class, gender) and international commerce. It then focuses on the most important theories of consumer action, considering how economics, sociology, and anthropology have provided several distinctive perspectives on the functions, meanings, and mechanisms of consumption. Finally, the course considers the politics of consumer culture and addresses cultural industries as a vehicle for hegemonic views of the “consumer,” commercially mediated spaces as institutional contexts for a variety of dominant or alternative consumer practices and identities, and the process of globalization/localization that takes place through the global standardization of commodity chains and alternative, locally grounded market circuits.

This course introduces students to the key elements in society for determining those who have power, and those who do not. This is due to the perception that race, gender, and class (or at least how these determiners are perceived and maintained by a group), interact with one another, and inform one another, to ensure that power to and from is monopolized or unfairly distributed within the group. Students are introduced to issues surrounding race, gender, and class in the microcosm that is Italy; simultaneously a unique model and representative of shared universal concerns. This course has been divided into four sections. The first part of the semester focuses on gender, the second on race, the third on class, and although the last part of the course individually looks at the theories of intersectionality, these will naturally occur throughout the course. Alongside theories of gender, race, class, and intersectionality, students are encouraged to apply theories to case studies. The course explores not only explanations of why power inequalities exist and are sustained, but also insights into how such knowledge might be used to challenge these very real issues within society. Although the concerns covered in the course are universal, the case studies focused upon, alongside field trips, root the study in the Italian, local context. Students are encouraged to compare this context to their own academic concerns and pursuits, as well as personal experience, in order to provide more robust and unique insights.

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.