University of Bologna

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The course introduces solution algorithms for nonlinear optimization problems that are the basis of many machine learning tools which find applications in telecommunications, electronics, automatic control, and decision support systems. The course is divided into two modules. The first module introduces solution algorithms for nonlinear optimization problems. Topics in this section include: nonlinear optimization: introduction to mathematical programming, models, and algorithms; nonlinear models: unconstrained optimization and constrained optimization; relaxations and penalty algorithms; convex optimization: Lagrangian relaxation and barrier algorithm; and applications of convex optimization to support vector machine and deep learning. The second module introduces basic machine learning techniques for classification and learning. Topics in this section include: algorithms for clustering and classification; neural networks; and laboratory activity on applications for machine learning algorithms arising in real applications.

This is an advanced intermediate Italian Language course offered by the University Language Center (CLA) for University of Bologna exchange students. The course is at the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) B2 level. Enrolment in this course is based on an entrance exam. Students enrolled in this course have generally successfully completed ITAL 132 as part of the UCEAP Intensive Language Program (ILP). At the end of the course students can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in their field of specialization. They can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. They can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options. The course covers the following grammatical points: use of verbs in the past - all tenses; the conditional and past conditional; the present subjunctive vs. the imperfect; the subjunctive: all form of the past; concordance of subjunctive verbs; the passive voice; relative pronouns; and presenting the future in the past. This course is available to UCEAP students in the spring semester only. The course is graded pass/no pass only.

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 explores some of the main dimensions of Soviet and Russian history in the 20th century. The course provides an overview of the social and political evolution of the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1991 and its legacy for post-Soviet Russia. The course discusses topics including: the main stages of social changes and political governance from the 1917 Revolution to the collapse of the Soviet Union; the social and political legacies of the Soviet experience for Russia after 1991; the major scholarly debates on State/society relationships; and how to contextualize Soviet social and political history in a broader framework, analyzing key junctures when Soviet international concerns or ambitions interacted with its domestic agenda.

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 offers basic knowledge of the methodologies and of the perspectives of near eastern art history and the reading of symbolism embedded in the material record. The course examines how to recognize and critically examine visual materials, and fine tune the critical tools needed for interpreting ancient visual communication. The course explores elements on sculptural complexes of the Bronze and Iron age in Syria and South-East Anatolia with particular reference to visual communication and architectural settings. Several contexts are analyzed according to a critical approach which are discussed together with the students also through the main scientific references on the relevant subjects. The course discusses sculptural complexes of the Bronze and Iron age in Syria and South-East Anatolia: visual communication and architectural settings.

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. After completing the course, students are familiar with the main theoretical, methodological and technical tools of the historical-religious disciplines of the social sciences, which address the study of the history of religions of the ancient world with mastery of interdisciplinary methods and contents. They are able to evaluate religious phenomena and dynamics in local and global sociocultural contexts, to identify connections, developments, persistence and transformations of religious phenomena and appreciate interaction between groups in complex societies. They understand the relevance of cultural-historical studies for historical enquiry and can identify the specific contribution that the historical sciences can make in addressing issues and problems of interest to the community, such as the critical promotion of the value of religious differences and religious pluralism. Also, through direct involvement in seminar-type activities on some monographic topics (personal reading and analysis of ancient texts and modern studies), they have knowledge of the sources and problems linked to the study of religions of the classical world and the general characteristics of polytheism. They know how to use the language and tools specific to the discipline. They are able to update their knowledge and elaborate autonomous analytical perspectives, applying the methodologies of investigation to specific problems and documents and considering the scientific and international debate related to the discipline. The 2023 course topic is: Religions as communication systems. Semiotics and semantics of the veil in the Ancient Mediterranean religious systems: a comparative overview of an element of clothing.

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. This course describes and evaluates the results of recent research on multisensory integration. First, the mechanisms underlying multisensory integration are outlined. The course 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. The course specifically considers the latest evidence assessing the role of exogenous and endogenous attentional mechanisms on cross-modal processes. In addition, the course also focuses 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. The course reviews how these representations that are used to guide body movements through space show a considerable degree of plasticity. Finally, the course considers 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. The course provides an advanced and critical overview and understanding of the role of victims of crime and abuse of power, social exclusion, and repression in contemporary society with regards to the main theoretical approaches in the discipline as a reflection of the changing of structure dynamics and relations at all level in the "global era". The course provides the skills to: analyze processes of victimization in contemporary societies in a broader political and socio-economic context; set the peculiar condition of victims in the frame of multiple interactions with regards to national and supra national institutions; recognize the ambivalence of victims’ role inside the judiciary and criminal justice systems in a comparative perspective; apply the “new” victimology of human rights in an original and interdisciplinary approach that transcends current official and social perspectives of victimization and its sources.

The course focuses on the changes which occurred in urban communities in connections with the birth of universities that drew students from a broad geographical territory and employed a plurality of masters. The course discusses topics including: the meaning of urban communities through the transformations that have taken place over time; comparative view between Italian and European cities through specific examples; how to make use of satellite images of urban settlements to identify the phases of their development from Ancient times to the present day; and recognize the reasons for the formation of the cultural identity of Europe and the connective tissue of which cities are an important part.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale Program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by consent of the instructor. This course offers an introduction to genetics. The course discusses topics including: the basis of heredity: Mendel's laws, monohybrid crosses (dominance and segregation), dihybrid crosses (independent assortment), and predicting the outcome of genetic crosses; structure and replication of DNA: DNA double helix; gene expression, the central dogma: from DNA to RNA, from RNA to protein, transcription, translation, and the genetic code; the eukaryotic cell cycle, cell division, mitosis, and meiosis and the transmission of chromosomes; chromosome theory of inheritance; sex determination and sex-linked inheritance, Dosage compensation in mammals; organization of the human genome: genome projects and sequencing; genetic variability, mutation and polymorphisms, types of genetic variants, point mutations and their consequences, structural genomic variation, copy number variation, and genotype/phenotype relationship; and genetic analysis of human traits: basic Mendelian pedigree patterns, complications to the basic pedigree patterns, and extensions and modifications of basic mendelian principles.

This course aims to enhance students’ ecological and holistic understanding of education, in close consideration for the aesthetic experience. The course discusses topics including: the theoretical framework and the main operational directions of the Holistic approach applied to pedagogy and educational practice; the concepts of well-being, in its complex relationship with health and personal growth; the design of educational and training processes responsive to physical, personal, social, emotional, and spiritual needs; strategies and tools for generating self-reflection, expressiveness, communication, and cooperation skills; how to make use of the tried learning methods and of the acquired analysis tools for the development of students’ personal and professional growth; and giving value to artistic and non-verbal expressive languages.