University of Bologna

This course is part of the LM degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. This course discusses bioinformatics and data science, with direct applications on molecular biology, genetics, genomics, and transcriptomics. The course discusses topics including next generation sequencing, bioinformatics file formats, the UNIX environment, online bioinformatics tools, gene networks, bioinformatics databases, cancer bioinformatics, sequence acquisition, phylogenetic analysis, R statistical environment, and graphics with R.

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. The course offers an overview of: how health economics theory and methods can be applied to understand the challenges facing health systems in low and middle income countries; the patterns and key issues of health systems and policies in developing countries, with an emphasis on critical assessment of current and future policy options. By the end of the course students are expected to be able to: appreciate the relevance of applying health economics methods in low and middle-income countries; assess alternative methods of raising revenue to fund health systems in low and middle-income countries; assess equity of access to health services and how health system can identify and respond to health inequities; assess policy options to improve health systems performance in low and middle-income countries; adopt a systematic view of health and health systems in developing countries, and develop independent thinking on future perspective regarding health sector reforms. Topics covered: the outlook of LMICs and overview of their health systems; assessing the performance of health systems in LMICs; identify key areas of debate that remain unresolved; the relationship between health and development: how much does disease depress development in human capital and income around the world?; effects of childhood health on adult income; effects of adult health on adult productivity; reverse causality; macroeconomic implications; health behavior and demand of health in LMICs; health disparities and policy interventions; access to Health Care in LMICs: supply side; the role of governments and budget allocations; international organizations; the quality of medical care as a function of competences and practices of providers; policy interventions; parental inputs, parental time, transmission, and children's health.

ADVANCED BEGINNING ITALIAN (A2) This course is designed to provide students who already have some familiarity with Italian, a more comprehensive knowledge of the language. The course follows the language proficiency guidelines set up the European level and is equivalent to the A2 level according to the European framework. At the end of the four-week intensive program, students are expected not only to be able to express themselves in a simple, fluid, and clear manner, and describe events that have taken place in the past and express personal preferences, but also to be able to talk about plans and projects using the future tense, express desires and hopes, and give suggestions using the conditional, and give commands, using the imperative in both the (Lei) and (tu) forms. Finally, the course focuses on storytelling, and the use of the IMPERFETTO vs. PASSATO PROSSIMO verb tenses. The course is designed to cover the second semester of Italian, and prepares students for the B1 Level according to the European framework. All four abilities including speaking, listening, reading, and writing are emphasized with the support of authentic materials (videos) and real-life situations such as visits to local venues and cultural sites. The course follows a communicative approach to language acquisition and involves opportunities for role playing, group activities, games, class discussions, and exchanges with native University of Bologna students. Activities outside the classroom are organized in order to reinforce observation and communication skills that facilitate immersion in Italian culture. The course includes a major field trip. Students select the number of quarter units from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 6. The course is organized by Inlingua with supervision from the Study Center. Course materials are provided by Inlingua. The basic text for the course is: Nuovo Contatto A1 (Loescher, 2018)

The course focuses on the main theoretical accounts of Psychology, of the most important cognitive processes, of the main experimental methods of cognitive psychology and their applications in the field of ergonomics. The first part of the course covers the general aspects of Cognitive Psychology. Special attention is placed on the historical aspects of the most important psychological schools and about the main cognitive processes studied in Psychology. The second part covers cognitive processes in greater detail and focuses in particular on the main experimental methods employed in research. The course includes lectures and power point presentations. Regular attendance is advisable since details from the lectures can be part of the final exam. Assessment is based on a final written exam with multiple-choice questions. Students are strongly encouraged to collaborate on a laboratory research project in order to increase their experience with different research models.

This intensive language and culture course is conducted in Italian and is designed for students who have generally completed 2 years of Italian or have an entrance test that places them between the B and C levels according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The course is offered by inlingua with supervision from the Bologna Study Center and is designed for students in the UCEAP year-long and semester programs. The course prepares students for coursework in Italian at the Università di Bologna and focuses on writing, reading, listening, and especially speaking in preparation of the traditional final oral exams. The principal subject of the course is the history and culture of the city of Bologna and the Emilia Romagna region as microcosms of Italy itself. The course includes a major review of Italian grammar naturally linked to the topics of the course. The course has two parts. The first part of the course focuses on Bologna from its origins (5th century BCE) through the Middle Ages. Special attention is placed on the Etruscans and the Romans in Bologna, the Celtic heritage of the Emilia Romagna area, and the birth of the Università di Bologna (1088), considered to be the oldest university in the Western world. A special section of the course is dedicated to the birth of the Comune and the construction of towers (originally about 100) and porticoes (slightly over 38 km within the city walls), both outstanding examples of Medieval architecture. Students visit museums and historical sites and are introduced to historical documents such as the Liber Paradisus, which decreed the liberation of the serfs with public funds from the Comune in 1256. This part of the course also introduces students to the Italian university system, with special attention devoted to the Università di Bologna today. Between the first and second part of the course, students participate in a major field trip. The second part of the course focuses on Italy from the Renaissance to the present. It includes guided tours to Renaissance Palazzi in Bologna, as well as the Pinacoteca di Bologna. Among the themes highlighted in this part of the course are the creation of the unified Italian state (1880), WWII and Bologna's role in the resistance movement, U.S. casualties on the Gothic Line, and the Nazi massacre of civilians in the Marzabotto-Monte Sole area in the Fall of 1944. Topics in recent history (post-1980) include analyses of terrorist acts: the bombing of the Bologna train station by neo-fascist forces (1980), and the murder of Professor Marco Biagi in 2002 by members of the Red Brigade. This part of the course also provides an analysis of contemporary Italy through various media: cinema, newspapers, magazines, and graphic novels, and focuses attention on census reports regarding birth rate, marriage, abortion, divorce, life expectancy, immigration, schooling, work force composition, unemployment (North vs. South), retirement, tax evasion, corruption, and political participation. A review of the principal grammatical structures of Italian is incorporated and naturally linked to specific topics. For example, in the section devoted to the Italian university system, the grammar points reviewed include the “Lei” form with the use of imperatives and double object pronouns while in the section devoted to Italy today and the media, the grammar points reviewed include the subjunctive, the passive voice, and “reported speech.” The course includes formal lectures, visits to museums and local historical sites, a night at the movies, and an all-day field trip. Students are required to keep a daily journal and to complete daily workbook assignments. Other requirements include a quiz, a longer test, compositions, a 10-minute ppt presentation on a topic related to the student's principal field of study at the Università di Bologna, and a final oral exam modeled on a typical final exam at the Università di Bologna. All course materials are provided by inlingua. Students select the number of quarter units from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 6.

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 basic knowledge of public law topics related to the digital evolution of our societies; how digital ICTs have challenged our legal systems; how government in different countries have provided means to facilitate, spread or even control the use of digital technologies; how they have managed the evolution of their own organization and actions, given their fundamental role in offering full access to knowledge. Special attention is also placed on the most recent rules approved for speeding up the affirmation of digital administration, and around specific topics of particular interest to course participants.

The first part of the course deals with the general aspects of the main cognitive processes such as perception, attention, memory, thought, and reasoning, with particular reference to the theoretical models used in psychology. In the second part of the course, more applicative themes are discussed in relation to experimentation and application in an ergonomic context of some general principles of cognitive psychology. Particular attention is given to the experimental paradigms used in laboratory psychology and some of the best known experiments of cognitive psychology are analyzed. Required reading includes PSICOLOGIA by Rumiati Nicoletti and L'USABILITÀ. MODELLI E PROGETTAZIONEby Roberto Nicoletti and Claudio Vandi. Assessment is based on a final written exam.

The course focuses on the fundamental concepts that define the organization and metabolism of prokaryotes as well as the main phylogenetic and physiological correlations of Bacteria and Archaea in natural environments and in biotechnological applications. Emphasis is placed on basic concepts of virus structure and replication as well as bacterial growth and exchanges of genetic material between prokaryotic cells in order to understand the recombination mechanisms. The first part of the course is devoted to microbiology. Topics in the first part include basic principles of microbiology; principles of microscopy; evolutionary history and microbial diversity; structure and functions of prokaryotic cell; metabolism, regulation, and growth of microbial; phototrophy, chemolithtrophy, and major biosynthesis; catabolism of organic compounds; symbiosis and pathogenicity; antimicrobial agents; and groups of pathogenic bacteria. The second part of the course is devoted to virology. Topics in the second part include structure, composition, and classification of animal, plant, and bacterial viruses; genome, capsid, and viral envelope, and structure-function relationship; different entry mechanisms of viruses into host cells (bacteriophages, plant, and animal viruses); different steps in viral replication cycle; virus-cell interactions, outcomes of infection, and cultivation and quantification of viruses; and replication strategies of RNA viruses, DNA viruses, and retroviruses such as HIV and AIDS. Assessment is based on a written exam with essay and multiple-choice questions covering the two parts, the assigned readings, and the biotechnology section.