University of Bologna

The course provides students with knowledge of the major theories and approaches to the analysis of international relations. In order to do so, it will focus on the structure of the international system, the dynamics of cooperation and conflict in the international arena, and the evolution of war in international politics. At the end of the course, students are able to distinguish the key factors underpinning cooperation and conflict in world politics and to use the major theories in international relations to understand contemporary international political phenomena. 

The course introduces students to the main theoretical traditions in international relations, including realism, liberalism, constructivism, the English School, and critical approaches to IR. It explores how these traditions conceptualize power, security, interests, institutions, and ideas, and how they contribute to our understanding of international politics. Students engage with the core theories of the discipline, such as balance of power, hegemonic stability, institutionalism, democratic peace, and capitalist peace. The course also examines the constructivist emphasis on norms and identity, the English School’s analyses of the evolution of the international order, as well as critical IR perspectives, which challenge mainstream theories by highlighting issues of inequality and colonialism.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. This course focuses on the main data mining methods used in knowledge discovery in business employing internal and external data. With an emphasis on data analysis and on the use of a software, special attention is devoted to techniques that help to single out the relationships of interdependence and patterns in business and market research phenomena. Students learn, hands-on, how to organize and analyze market research data. In particular, at the end of the course students are able to: independently run a complete data mining process (from data pre-processing to the interpretation of obtained results); choose the best suited statistical methodology for the problem at hand; to critically interpret empirical results.

The course content is divided as follows:

1. INTRODUCTION: data-analytic thinking, overview of Data Mining, from business problems to Data Mining tasks, the Data Mining process; real-world business challenges.

2. DATA EXPLORATION AND PREPARATION: data objects and attributes type, data matrices and their transformations, data cleaning.

3. STATISTICAL AND DATA MINING SOFTWARE: introduction to SAS; SAS LAB tutorial on data organization  and data preprocessing using real datasets.

4. MULTIDIMENSIONAL DATA ANALYSIS & DIMENSIONALITY REDUCTION: Principal component analysis and its variants (e.g., PCA of ranks); Multiple Correspondence Analysis - categorical pattern detection. Theory and practice with SAS.

5. PROXIMITY MEASURES: distance and similarity for mixed data.

6. CLUSTERING: hierarchical, partitional and hybrid clustering. Understanding the Results of Clustering.

7. PROFILING: deriving typical behavioral segments. 

8. CO-OCCURRENCES AND ASSOCIATIONS: Finding items that go together. Theory and application of main association rules algorithms in SAS.

9. Data Mining SCORING: Theory and practice.

10. Causal ML and Advanced Lab:  causal inference fundamentals; application of causal ML algorithms in the context of business analytics for decision support; evaluate a marketing campaign using causal ML in SAS; targeting and interpreting causal results.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. By the end of the course, students know the material sources available for reconstructing the production processes and the function of objects and structures found in the archaeology of the ancient world, coping with the technical and anthropological aspects. They recognize and critically examine the archaeological documentation relating to production sites and places of consumption in ancient finds; they also know how to identify the diagnostic elements of material culture and have the tools to frame information in its correct chronological, historical, political, and social context.

The course deals with Archaeology of Production in both theoretical and practical perspectives. A diachronic overview is offered, focusing the examples on the Mediterranean and European areas in Antiquity. The course is broadly divided in three blocks of lessons:

1. Theoretical and methodological issues

2. Craft processes

3. Thematic studies related to the discipline

Readings and discussions, visits to museums and laboratories with hands-on activities, and seminars are scheduled during the course.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. This course provides students with the advanced knowledge of the mechanisms underlying perception and multisensory integration. Students are able to understand the perceptual and behavioral consequences of multisensory integration and the key determinants of these intersensory bindings: the role of attention on cross-modal perception and multisensory integration; the multisensory brain's representation of the body and of peri-personal space and the cortical plasticity across sensory modalities and the effects of sensory deprivation.

The course describes and evaluates the results of recent research on multisensory integration. First, the mechanisms underlying multisensory integration are outlined. It then examines the perception of multisensory events, the advantages afforded by the ability to combine different sensory modalities and the key determinants of intersensory interactions. Another key question addressed is how multisensory interactions are linked to and modulated by attention, specifically considering the latest evidence assessing the role of exogenous and endogenous attentional mechanisms on cross-modal processes. In addition, there is a focus on recent research concerning how multisensory information is used to create multiple spatial representations of our body parts and of the spaces within which they can act. We see how these representations that are used to guide body movements through space show a considerable degree of plasticity. Finally, we consider how the cortical system for perception may become radically reorganized after sensory deprivation and evaluate this surprising degree of cross-modal plasticity.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. By the end of this course students are able to: master all the necessary tools and knowledge to interpret modern phenomena relative to international economics evolution; understand the role of optimal currency areas and the most important theories on exchange-rate determination.

This course provides all necessary tools and knowledge to interpret modern phenomena relative to international economics evolution. The focus of the course is on monetary aspects of international economics. In particular, we study the role of optimal currency areas and the most important theories on exchange-rate determination. Moreover, attention is devoted to the analysis of balance of payment crisis as a mechanism derived from the internal economic policy contradiction of a given country. Therefore, what is going to be the optimal exchange-rate regime? How an inadequate choice about exchange-rate regime will translate into a Balance of Payment Crisis?

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The course focuses on advanced methods and models to predict the vulnerability of a water body to natural and anthropic pressures and evaluate the risk of water scarcity or poor quality under current and future conditions. In particular, the course addresses the following main contents: analytical and numerical models of flow and contaminant transport, data-driven and risk assessment methods, and laws of similarity for model tests in hydraulics. It is divided into two modules: 

Module 1: 

• Analytical and numerical modeling of flow processes in natural domains
• Analytical and numerical modeling of transport processes
• Risk and sensitivity analysis
• Monitoring and data-driven methods for the analysis of water bodies
• Introduction to geostatistics

Module 2: 

• Dimensionless numbers and laws of similarity for model tests in hydraulics
• Hydraulic measurements

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. Using the perspective of political science, this course offers an understanding to the political economy of money and finance. Understanding, and questioning, the evolution of the global monetary and financial order and its democratic accountability is also an integral part of the course. Students learn to: 1. understand the political drivers of globalization and of global monetary and financial orders over time; 2. familiarize with the theoretical debates and methodologies used to measure and assess global economic and financial integration; 3. identify the key actors and institutions that pinpoint the contemporary monetary and financial order as well as its distributional consequences; 4. understand why policy space is reduced for many countries, especially developing and emerging market countries; 5. develop the analytical tools to reflect about alternative institutional and policy arrangements.

The course provides students with the political analysis of the global monetary and financial order, its historical evolution and contemporary challenges such as those associated with climate change and the use of new technologies. The first part of the course presents the main theoretical approaches, themes, and horizontal questions that characterize the analyses relating to the monetary and financial order. The second part of the course deals with specific themes linked to the current political challenges that the monetary order faces.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. This course advances students' understanding of structural behavior and enhances their ability to apply structural analysis methods to civil engineering structures. Students acquire knowledge in the following areas: Structural Matrix Analysis, i.e., techniques for analyzing 2D truss and frame structures using the Direct Stiffness Method and FEM software. Buckling Analysis, i.e., methods for buckling and post-buckling analysis of discrete and continuous systems, with FEM applications. Plastic Analysis, i.e., concepts of plasticity, incremental and limit analysis for truss and beam systems, also using FEM tools. The main skills developed during this course include: Proficiency in matrix analysis and the Finite Element Method (FEM) for analyzing truss and frame structures. Ability to evaluate buckling and post-buckling behavior of rigid and continuous systems, using equilibrium and energy methods. Competence in conducting plastic analysis of structural systems, including an understanding of plastic hinges. Software Proficiency: hands-on experience with FEM-based software for solving structural, buckling, and elasto-plastic problems. Analytical and critical thinking: enhanced ability to approach complex structural issues with theoretical and computational tools. The course contributes to the objectives of the master’s program related to the application of mathematical tools for interpreting, describing, and modeling structural problems.

A prior knowledge and understanding of the static behavior of planar truss and beam structures is recommended. The course includes theoretical lectures (module 1), exercises and laboratory sessions (module 2). 

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The objectives include: Critical Analysis: Train students to critically analyze how culture and social structures both shape and are shaped by the physical environment. Spatial Awareness: Help students understand the spatial dimensions of social phenomena, exploring how territories impact social interactions and cultural expressions. Cultural Appreciation: Foster an appreciation for cultural diversity by examining how different cultures manifest within specific territories, and how cultural practices are influenced by geographic locations. Research Skills: Develop research skills by teaching students how to investigate and analyze the relationships between social structures, culture, and territory through empirical studies and literature reviews. Globalization Impact: Explore the effects of globalization on local cultures and identities. Emphasize how global forces interact with and sometimes challenge local customs and territorial boundaries, fostering critical thinking. 

This course focuses specifically on the spatial and cultural dimensions of contemporary life. It begins by exploring the historical development of the discipline and its intersections with other social sciences, then moves toward a more focused examination of how territory and culture interact within the context of consumer society. Particular attention is devoted to understanding how consumption shapes and is shaped by both physical and digital environments. Consumer culture is not approached merely as an economic phenomenon, but as a complex system of practices and meanings that contribute to the production of social identities, symbolic landscapes, and territorial imaginaries. From shopping malls and theme parks to social media platforms and algorithmically curated spaces, students investigate how consumption environments function as sites of cultural production and negotiation. Throughout the course, students engage with theoretical perspectives and empirical case studies that highlight the interplay between material culture, globalization, prosumption, and the hybridization of space. The physical and the digital are not treated as separate spheres, but as interconnected and co-constructed domains that define how individuals navigate, appropriate, and give meaning to their social worlds. By combining lectures, seminar discussions, and multimedia materials, the course fosters a critical understanding of how contemporary spatial practices reflect broader cultural transformations. In doing so, it encourages students to reflect on the ways in which space and culture co-evolve in the context of late modernity, shaping both inclusion and exclusion, identity and belonging.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. By the end of the course students show acquaintance with the main trends of archaeological thought, from the earliest days to recent times. They are familiar with important theoretical areas of contemporary archaeology, including processual and post-processual archaeology, the archaeology of identity and gender, and the relationships between archaeology, history, and politics. They know about central themes such as the evolution of strategies and methods of field research (excavation and survey), the representation and communication of archaeological data. The skills acquired enable students to study different types of archaeological contexts starting from solid theoretical and methodological bases, equipping them to address the planning of field research and interpretation of collected data. Students are also be able to conceive different forms of presentation and communication of archaeological data, based on an in-depth knowledge of the many options existing in this field.

This course explores the main practical and theoretical issues in the field of archaeology. The course starts with a brief history of the discipline, followed by the analysis of some of the most relevant fieldwork case studies (i.e. excavations, surveys and other kinds of archaeological investigations). By the end of the course, students are able to tackle archaeological data from a critical point of view, as much as to understand the theoretical bases which lay behind other scholars' fieldwork.