University of Padua

The main objective of this course is twofold: to provide a wide perspective of Intercultural dialogue through the Human Rights lens, and to bridge the gap between the theoretical framework and the design, implementation, and evaluation of concrete interventions. The course contributes to building intercultural competences (knowledge and practical skills) respectful of human rights and facilitates the work of psychologists with both individuals and the community in a multicultural setting. The course reviews definitions and general principles including what are human rights, what is intercultural dialogue, what is their relationship; from moral claims to international human rights law; intercultural dialogue – pre-conditions: democracy, rule of law, and equal enjoyment of rights; conditions conducive to intercultural dialogue: respect for human dignity, non-discrimination, promotion of equal opportunities, and adoption of positive measures; and human rights related to intercultural dialogue: freedom of conscience and religion, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and right to respect for private life. The course discusses managing intercultural dialogue and diversity through topics including intercultural dialogue actors: the state, local authorities, civil society, minority groups, cultural institutions, the education and health sectors, private sector, media, etc. The course explores balancing diversity and unity trough intercultural dialogue including avoiding assimilation; avoiding cultural relativism; addressing discrimination and countering hate speech; protecting vulnerable groups; and psychological assistance to victims of discrimination, harassment, hate, and violence (hate speech and hate crime, including violence against women and domestic violence). The course examines case studies and best practices including the wearing of religious symbols in public areas; immigrants and the hosting society: intercultural integration as a two-sided process; freedom of expression vs prohibition of hate speech; domestic violence and violence against women: the so-called honor crimes; parental wishes in matters concerning the raising and education of their children vs the child best interest; and the notion of gender vs the notion of sex.

This course provides a comprehensive understanding of psychoanalytic theory, including the structural model, object relations theory, and self-psychology. The course develops knowledge of psychic conflict, unconscious processes, and the interpretation of dreams. The course provides skills in understanding transference and countertransference and analyzing contemporary applications of psychoanalysis. The course includes an introduction to psychoanalysis including an overview of psychanalytic model and its historical development. The course reviews the Topographic model including an analysis of unconscious processes and their influence on thoughts, emotions, and behavior; working on dreams; and the Oedipus Complex. The course discusses the Structural model including an understanding the structure of the mind, including the id, ego, and superego, and the stages of psychosexual development; psychic conflict and compromise; and an introduction to defense mechanisms and their role in psychological processes. The course reviews the object relations theory including an introduction to object relations theory and its contribution to psychoanalytic understanding, and an analysis of the role of attachment, separation-individuation processes. The course also discusses self-psychology and narcissistic personality with a focus on Heinz Kohut perspective, and the contemporary application of psychoanalysis, and its use in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) field.

This course consists of an Italian theater workshop for international students which meets for two hours twice a week, and is taught by an Italian theater director. Activities include: basic theatrical training, co-creation of an Italian text, rehearsals, and a final performance at the end of the semester. The course is for students with little to no previous background in Italian language.

This course is for true beginners to Italian language. It runs at the pre-A1 level according to the CEFR level. This communicative course develops oral skills in Italian.

This course examines some features of the disciplines that study animal behavior and focuses on the most relevant methods of investigation. The different aspects of behavior are examined from a comparative perspective and with a particular focus on cognitive and perceptual processes. The course discusses topics including a brief history of ethology and comparative psychology, approaches to the study of behavior, the evolution of behavior, phylogeny and behavior, physiological mechanisms and behavior, learning and cognition, motivation, early experience and learning, comparative cognition, social behavior, living in groups, social cooperation, predators and preys, optimal foraging theory, and anti-predatory behavior. The course recommends students have basic knowledge of general biology, psychobiology, and genetics as a prerequisite.

The contents of the class are arranged around the following topics: the concepts of health and illness, why do we care about health; the social determinants of health, why is health social, beyond mind and body, construing in inter-action; a systemic-constructivist model of health and illness; and caregiving experience. Depending on the nature of discussions and research articles, the class content may be adapted to promote students’ interests and engagement, and develop their research and evidence based readings. The course requires a foundation level of psychological literacy developed throughout the first to second year of undergraduate study in psychology as a prerequisite.

This course examines the fundamental techniques of some significant approaches within Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the solution of difficult problems. In particular, the course discusses local research techniques in a space of solutions, systems with constraints, soft constraints, planning techniques, representation and manipulation of knowledge with and without uncertainty, decision theory, reasoning techniques with preferences, and aggregation of preferences in a multi-agent context. The structure and the topics of the course is as follows: problem resolution, and local search algorithms; constraint-based systems and soft constraints; preference reasoning and preference aggregation in multi-agent systems; decision theory; treatment of uncertainty and probabilistic reasoning; planning; and artificial intelligence in society. The course recommends students have basic knowledge of programming and algorithms as a prerequisite.

The course explores theoretical and technical knowledge concerning the psychological processes underlying individuals’ behaviors at the workplace. Communication and decision-making processes are connected and continuously take place in the working environment. The course examines several types of organizational structures, and the impact of novel technologies on the working processes. Finally, the course applies the most appropriate methods and techniques for carrying out in-field studies in the organizational context. The course discusses topics including organizational theories; organizational structure and culture; occupational psychology (selection and evaluation); communication; groups and team-building; leadership and management; decision making and creativity; motivation and job design; attitudes, values, job satisfaction, and commitment; human error; health at workplace; marketing; ergonomics; eye tracking and psychophysiology at workplace; brainstorming; focus groups; affinity diagrams; and video analysis.

Bullying: Beyond common examines the phenomenon of youth bullying. The course focuses on both traditional bullying that usually takes place on school premises and cyberbullying, which occurs via information and communication technologies. With a social-ecological perspective, the first part of the course explores the boundaries of these phenomena, and analyzes the characteristics of youth involved and the social-psychological processes that underlie the different roles youth play in bully-victim-bystander dynamics. The second part of this course covers the prevention and intervention strategies available at the international level. The course recommends students have previous knowledge of theories and methodologies from developmental psychology and social psychology as a prerequisite.

The course deals with the main topics of interest in Social Psychology. The course examines the main concepts and theoretical frameworks in Social Psychology and the seminal experiments of the field. The course discusses topics including an introduction to social psychology, research methods in social psychology, self and self-presentation, social perception and cognition, attitudes, symbolic communication and language, social influence and persuasion, understanding groups, and group processes.