University of Bologna

This is a graduate level course that 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 is based on the sociological analysis of a selection of films produced in Italy from the end of World War II to the ‘80s with the aim of using Italian movies as telescopes on the past and to reflect on the present of Italian culture, from both the historical and social point of view. At the end of the course, students have knowledge about: Italian cinema from the beginning of the twentieth century to the 1980s; political and social transformations from the early 1900s to the 1980s; elements of Italian history from 1900 to post-war period; notions regarding sociological and anthropological models, necessary to interpret social transformations in Italy in the period under analysis. Some of the most important movies of Italian film history are screened such as 900, ROME OPEN CITY, LA DOLCE VITA, BREAD AND CHOCOLATE. This is a sociology course on Italian culture, in which movies are used as data as well as a stimulus for the debate. In addition, another level of analysis concerns the styles, the schools and the directors of the films selected, and the technical and social contexts that influence the different styles. In this light, students consider mass communication linguistic techniques (figures of speech, metaphors, analogies), to identify both clear and hidden messages in movies. The course includes traditional lectures, film screenings, and audiovisual materials.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students with adequate preparation. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course offers an overview of psycholinguistic research from the second half of the twentieth century to the present. Special attention is placed on cognitive processes involved in language comprehension and production. The first part of the course deals with theoretical issues from a psycholinguistic point of view (i.e. development and origin of language, research methods, biological bases of language, and the system of language processing) and the study of language from the point of view of cognitive science. The second part of the course addresses issues related to research on language from an interdisciplinary perspective and the study of language as interactional practice (i.e. pragmatic and communicative aspects of language and language as joint activity). Required reading includes PSICOLOGIA DEL LINGUAGGIO by C. Cacciari, USING LANGUAGE by H.H. Clark. Exchange students who are more comfortable studying in English may substitute the Cacciari text with PSYCHOLINGUISTICS: INTRODUCTION AND APPLICATIONS by L. Menn. Assessment is based on a written exam (essay format) on course materials, readings and class discussions. Students may also be asked to elaborate on a possible experiment connected to one of the topics of the course.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by consent of the instructor. The course focuses on the role of big data in modern life, as well as its uses as a tool for good or evil. The course highlights how big data can help us understand and explain social phenomena in a way that was unthinkable in previous generations. The course applies the R statistical computing environment to large-scale data sets, explores packages designed for use with big data (such as data.table and ff), and explores how parallelization can be used to analyze lots of data quickly. The course includes traditional lectures, a series of seminars, as well as visual material.

This is a graduate level course that is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Courses in the LM in Business Administration degree program are typically not available to UCEAP exchange students. Enrollment in this course is by consent of the instructor. The course refers to the most important variables for international marketing and marketing mix investments in different markets. The course explores the following questions: what is the difference between managing a domestic market and a multinational portfolio of businesses; what are the methods to analyze foreign markets and consumers; what are success stories of international marketing strategies useful to companies that are internationalizing their business?

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 trading mechanisms in financial markets: the main challenges, the economic principles, and the statistical models for analyzing the data they generate. The course explores in detail the modeling of high frequency financial data. Special attention is placed on the structure of modern financial markets, the conceptual basics of trading, and the use of economic and econometric models in the high frequency domain.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course is intended for students who have a strong background in American Literature. The topic for the Spring 2018 semester is: American Graphic Novels The course focuses on American (literary) storytelling. The course offers an overview of the cultural history of American comics, while focusing on the avant-gardes of the late 1970s and 1980s that led to the development of the American graphic novel. Special attention is placed on documents like LE MUSÉE PRIVÉ D'ART SPIEGELMAN (2012) and COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL (Ron Mann, 1988). The course focuses on storytelling and graphic devices and techniques. Special attention is placed on the relationship between the arts, and their historical, cultural, and linguistic contexts. Texts include: FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC (2006) by Alison Bechdel, GHOST WORLD (1993-1997) by Daniel Clowes, A CONTRACT WITH GOD (1978) by Will Eisner, LOVE AND ROCKETS (1981-c2001) by Hernandez Bros., JULIUS KNIPL and REAL ESTATE PHOTOGRAPHER (1988-to date) by Ben Katchor, CITY OF GLASS (1994, with Paul Karasik) and ASTERIOS POLYP (2009) by David Mazzucchelli, THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS (1986) by Frank Miller, AMERICAN SPLENDOR (1976-c2010) by Harvey Pekar, PALESTINE (1993-1995) by Joe Sacco, MAUS (1980-1991) and IN THE SHADOW OF NO TOWERS (2004) by Art Spiegelman, THIS MODERN WORLD (1988-to date) by Tom Tomorrow, THE ADVENTURES OF JIMMY CORRIGAN, THE SMARTEST KID ON EARTH (2000) by Chris Ware. Special attention is devoted to the permeability of graphic narrative into other art forms (theatre, modern dance, multimedia performances, radio, film, music). Specific autobiographical and metanarrative aspects are considered along with a number of films including: Ron Mann's COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL (1988), Terry Zwigoff's CRUMB (1994), GHOST WORLD (2001) and ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL (2006), Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's AMERICAN SPLENDOR (2003), and Mark Daniels' LA BD S'EN VA T-EN GUERRE (2009). The course is structured on the seminar model with part lecture and part discussion. The final exam is divided in two parts, one written and one oral.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course is intended for students who have a strong background in political science or international relations. The course is an overview of international relations of the East Asian region and focuses on the economic and political issues surrounding the Asia-Pacific rim. Topics covered include: historical and contemporary patterns of state relations in East Asia, US security alliances in East Asia and the new Asian Pivot, the rise of China, the nuclear crisis in the Korean Peninsula, territorial disputes, regional multilateral institutions, East Asian development models and economic integration, environmental challenges, energy security, and other related issues. Required readings include: THE INTERNATIONAL POLITICS OF ASIA-PACIFIC by M. Yahuda and POLITICS IN EAST ASIA: EXPLAINING CHANGE AND CONTINUITY by T. Lim. Specific readings are assigned on the following topics: The Korean Peninsula, The People's Republic of China, China-EU Relations, Nationalism and Territorial Disputes, Japan's Domestic and Foreign Policy. Assessment is based on a final oral exam.

This course is part of the LM degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by consent of the instructor. The course examines the history of contemporary Italy and its main historiographical interpretations. After completing the course students can communicate the knowledge acquired using the specific terminology peculiar to the subject and in line with its scientific principles, find their bearings in the historiographical debate; have learned the methodologies for researching the social classes and the tendencies of the same; and have gained an understanding of mass culture and the processes of consumption.