University of Padua

This course is divided into three parts. The first part covers Dante, topics include the evolution of the Latin language; an overview of medieval Romance literatures; Italian lyric poetry before Dante; Dante’s life; and Dante’s VITA NOVA (selected passages), DE VULGARI ELOQUENTIA, CONVIVIO, INFERNO (selected cantos), PURGATORIO, and PARADISO. The second part of the course discusses Petrarch, topics include his biography within the historical and cultural context; literary production (in Latin and Italian); his multifaceted relationship with the Roman Antiquity and the Christian doctrine (selected readings from THE SECRETUM and THE SENILES EPISTLES); in-depth study of RERUM VULGARIUM FRAGMENTA with attention on its genesis, structure, contents, and features; and Petrarch’s legacy and impact on the Italian language and literature, and on the early-modern Western literary production. The last part of the course discusses Boccaccio, topics include his biography and literary production (Italian and Latin works); his intricate links with eminent predecessors (both Dante and Petrarch); in-depth study of the DECAMERON with focus on its genesis, structure, themes, and features; Boccaccio’s erudite, humanistic, and lyrical texts; his multifarious relationship with women and the varied ways in which he depicted them; and Boccaccio’s impact on later authors. This course is taught in a degree program which introduces students to knowledge of Italian language throughout the degree. The first year of instruction in this degree begins in English and then gradually shifts to Italian by the third year. Because this course is taught in the first semester of the first year of the degree, the course is mostly taught in English with some Italian and is appropriate for students who do not speak Italian.

This course discusses topics including a general framework and short historical overview of affective neuroscience; features and functions of some fundamental brain areas/structures involved in emotional processing; research methods in affective neuroscience: strengths and limitations of animal models and neuroimaging techniques; the neural basis of fear, reward, and aggression; and the neural networks implicated in anxiety disorders, depression, and psychopathy. This course requires knowledge of the structure and functions of central and peripheral nervous system, and on general psychopathology, as a prerequisite.

The course provides analytical and critical tools aimed at knowledge, enhancement and communication of cultural heritage sites, applying the theoretical and practical methodologies of Digital Humanities. The course introduces the principal methods of investigating and visualizing urban historical contexts and their long-term transformations. The course comprises the fields of Urban History and Architectural Representation. In addition to traditional sources and interpretative models, students are introduced to digital technologies, enabling them to experiment with new applications for digital urban history. This is achieved through in-depth case studies developed through teamwork. The course comprises a number of general urban history lessons, whose content ranges from modern to contemporary cities. Their focus rests on the methods, visual and textual sources, and the analytical tools necessary for understanding urban and territorial settlements in both European and international contexts. A series of lectures will be dedicated to specific topics: the dynamics of creation of the built space; the relationships between center and periphery, urban cartography, and the development of a city’s everyday infrastructure. Lessons then focus on water cities, particularly on the case study of Venice’s lagoon. Emphasis is placed on analyzing its processes of growth and urban development, its principal buildings and their reuse, covering the chronological period ranging from the 16th century to the present day. The course also includes seminar activities and site visits to some lagoon islands. Both these experiences foster the physical knowledge of the Venetian environment and its descriptive textual and visual sources. Building on the study and critical interpretation of historical materials and using GIS and 3D modeling tools, students, divided into small working groups, reconstruct the historical stratigraphy and the ancient conformation of over sixty islands shaping the Venetian archipelago, investigating them either at the urban or architectural scale.

This course presents some basic techniques for the analysis of the uncertainty inherent in statistical information, with the goal of providing a correct evaluation and communication of risk. Basic notions of elementary probability theory and of Bayesian probability are introduced and discussed, and their application is illustrated in problems connected with the medical and psychological practice, also within the framework of recent Italian legislation on informed consent which imposes to all health care professionals a correct risk assessment and the adequate communication of it to patients. The course discusses topics including uncertainty in statistical information; problems related to the evaluation of risk and communication of risk; real-world examples; Bayesian inferences through the use of probabilities and by means of natural frequencies; suitability of the natural frequencies for a more intuitive and direct insight in both risk estimation and in a transparent representation of risk; examples focusing on the correct judgement of the probabilistic predictive value of medical diagnostic tests, and aiming at avoiding misleading risk information; cases related to the ongoing Covid-19 public-health emergency; evaluation of the effect of interventions, including relative risk and absolute risk, and relative and absolute risk reduction (or increase); and number needed to treat or to harm.

During the course the main topics in Health Psychology will be considered including health definition; health-risk and protective behaviors; reducing risk of disease at individual and population levels; symptoms perception, interpretation, and response from the psychological perspective; the consultation in health psychology; stress health and illness; the impact of illness on quality of life; pain perception and response; and the improving the quality of life in illness. The course addresses topics in health promotion including health risk and protective behaviors, health and illness definition and conceptualization, promoting health-protective behaviors and reducing risk behaviors, and promoting and developing intervention programs in health psychology. The course discusses health psychology in clinical contexts such as assessing psychosomatic issues including causal, maintaining, and exacerbating factors; definition of stress, stress effects on health, and stress management; effects of the illness on patients’ and caregivers’ quality of life; the psychological effect of pain on patients’ and caregivers’ quality of life; main illness model and illness perception; and understanding interventions in psychosomatic patients and caregivers. The course requires students to have basic clinical psychology knowledge and basic epidemiological knowledge as a prerequisite.

The course explores experiments on language and psychological theories about language processing. At the theoretical level a special emphasis is devoted to differences in the architecture and mechanisms of cognitive models of language processing. At the empirical level a specific attention is devoted to the different experimental methods that are apt to study specific linguistic processes. The course discusses topics including general linguistics, speech production and comprehension, word processing, sentence processing, discourse processing, advantages and difficulties of bilingualism, and models of literary language reception. The course requires students to have knowledge of experimental methods in psychology and of cognitive psychology concepts as a prerequisite. Knowledge of linguistics is welcome but not necessary.

This course presents the theoretical and computational foundations of brain-inspired artificial intelligence. The focus is on machine learning based on artificial neural networks, from simple models up to state-of-the-art deep learning models. The final part of the course introduces the use of neural networks as models of perception and cognition. Laboratory classes introduce students to computer simulations with artificial neural networks. The course discusses topics including artificial neural networks: mathematical formalism and general principles; supervised learning: perceptron, delta rule, multi-layered networks, and error backpropagation; generalization and overfitting; supervised deep learning; recurrent networks; unsupervised learning: associative memories and Hopfield networks, latent variable models, and Boltzmann machines; unsupervised deep learning; reinforcement learning; computer simulation as a research method in cognitive science; and connectionist models of perception and cognition. This course requires basic knowledge of mathematics (high school level), including notions of linear algebra, calculus, and probability, as well as knowledge of statistics and neuroscience as prerequisites for the course. Computer literacy is required for the lab practices.

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 examines the biological, psychological, and environmental bases of human pathological behavior and the main methods for psychiatric assessment. The course reviews psychiatric diseases in adulthood and adolescence, as described in recognized diagnostic systems, such as DSM and ICD. Course topics also include diagnostic methods; diagnostic instruments including neuroimaging techniques (TAC, RMN, SPET E PET), neuroendocrinology, neuropsychology, and neurophysiology; treatments, including drugs, psychotherapy, remediation techniques, prevention, and interventions; psychopharmacology; differential diagnosis; and neuropsychological and structural/functional neuroimaging correlates of psychiatric diseases. The course explores the etiopathogenesis, clinical and prognostic features, epidemiology, prevention, pathophysiology and neuropsychological, and neuroimaging correlates, biological, and psychotherapic treatments of the main psychiatric diseases: delirium and dementia, alcohol and substance abuse/dependence and correlated diseases, schizophrenia and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, dissociative disorders, somatoform disorders, suicidal behavior, and eating disorders: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, personality disorders.

This course examines how genetics translate into normal and pathological behaviors. The course discusses topics including basic concepts of genetics and heritability; how the interplay between genes and environment can influence behavior; behavioral implications of some of the main genetic and chromosomal disorders such as Down syndrome, Williams syndrome, and fragile X; and genetical underpinnings of some behavioral traits in the normal and pathological field. Students are required to have knowledge concerning the basics of biology and genetics as a prerequisite.