University of Bologna

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 content includes the following: Elements of noncooperative game theory, and solution concepts; The basics of oligopoly theory: price and quantity competition and product differentiation; Supply function competition; Mergers: private and social incentives; Cartels: implicit collusion and the theorem; Discrete choice theory: horizontal and vertical differentiation; R&D, process and product innovation and the indirect debate between Schumpeter and Arrow; Network externalities, technological standards and switching costs; Sketch of the environmental implications.

At the end of the course, the student is expected to be acquainted with: basic game theory instruments; the evolution of the theory of industrial organization, including the basic oligopoly models of Cournot, Bertrand and Stackelberg; and the manifold issues connected with the impact of firms' unregulated strategic behavior on the environment and natural resources.

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 acquire an updated knowledge about the main phenomena characterising the archaeology of settlements and environment of the Middle Ages. They will be familiar with the main methodological approaches of contemporary research, as well as be able to assess the reliability of the data presented and to highlight their limits. The students acquire a general knowledge about the main aspects of the settlement patterns evolution and the transformations of the environment during the Middle Ages in several geographic contexts. By knowing the different methodological approaches adopted by the contemporary research, the students gain the skills that they need to plan by themselves further studies or fieldwork itself, starting with the best methodological approach and the right research questions.

The course presents a series of research topics and processes through which the history and archaeology of Italian medieval landscapes are explored and compared with those of other areas in medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. To address this subject effectively, the course also delves into key methods and strategies in the archaeology and history of landscapes. The topics covered include: Archaeology, history, and medieval landscapes: methods and strategies; Fortifications and castles; Villages and other rural settlements; Uncultivated and agrarian landscapes; Urban landscapes; New towns and secondary settlements; Churches, monastic landscapes, and deserta; Archaeology of rural lords and peasant communities; The end of the Roman period; Italy: comparative landscapes of the north, center, and south; Italy in comparison with the eastern and western Mediterranean and northern and southern Europe.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by permission of the instructor. At the end of the course unit students have the tools for an integrated approach to the study of the archaeological sites around Vesuvius, attentive to their specific nature of historic sites, which have their status as the best sample of classical archeology, not because of their real excellence in the ancient world, but because of the fate and their exceptional material preservation. Students demonstrate critical consciousness about the “vulgata” and develop a self-sufficient ability to review their “topoi”, enabling them to read the Vesuvian archaeological sites back to their actual nature as privileged case-study, but not as a benchmark of universal value. At the end of the course students are able to orientate themselves in the rich scientific literature, to identify potential research topics, to independently design a circumscribed research project, and to elaborate the results in an original form, both oral and written.

The course explores the Vesuvian area, well known but still poorly investigated and studied. After an introduction about the status quaestionis, the course follows the analysis of some specific cases study, both investigated by other research institutions and equips, and in regard to the projects (Pompeii, Herculaneum, Torre del Greco) of the Vesuviana program lead by the University of Bologna.

This course involves singing with the choir of the University of Bologna. Students are invited to join the choir after they pass an audition with the Choir Director. The course involves weekly and biweekly practices as well as public performances. There are about 60 members in the choir every year, and musical selections change yearly. Local performances are held in various locations around Bologna.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by permission of the instructor. 

The student is expected to learn the frameworks of visual art produced by artists from the last decades and living today. In this perspective, contemporary art responds to a global system that is culturally diverse, multifaced, and technologically advanced. This ample focus wants to evidence critical methods for the comprehension of various contemporary art styles, through developing a deep understanding of their historical background. At the end of the course, the student is able to apply methodologies for analyzing works of art and examine the contemporary art scenario.

This course is an exploration of contemporary visual art forms and their international cultural connections for the student with little experience in the visual arts and history of contemporary art. It includes a brief study of art history of the last three decades, and in-depth studies of the elements, media, and methods used in creative thought and processes. The course takes into the latest visual expanded scenarios in which visual art is engaged with sociological and anthropological practices of now. The course underlines the many possibilities of our postmodern and post-contemporary actuality inside and outside the museum. This course defines the meaning of aesthetics and its relationship to cultural conventions, describes specific processes used by visual artists, art as a social activity and a singular creative act, historical forms of artistic training.

This course develops in three fundamental moments. The first unit (10 hours) introduces a theoretical deepening in order to identify the Contemporary Art History. The second unit (10 hours) is dedicated to deepening of some contents of contemporary art. The third unit (10 hours) is an immersive experience into different artistic spaces (galleries, museum, art association, temporary art practices), including the city, where it’s possible now to meet contemporary art.

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 two main topics: summary of fundamentals (deformation, stress and strain, porosity and permeability, brittle and ductile regimes, kinematic and dynamic approach to deformation), and faults and fault-related structures (fault core vs. damage zone; permeability changes along and across fault zones; basic elements of discrete fracture modelling.)

This course provides an overview of the role deformation plays in both the genesis and spatial distribution of ore deposits. This is done by combining traditional class lectures and lab style exercises with seminar-style classes based on reading and student presentations and a few days directly at the outcrop. This combined approach allows students to develop theoretical and practical skills related to asking and assessing scientific questions as well as summarizing and presenting the results of scientific studies dealing with the role exerted by rock deformation and fluid/rock interaction in deformed contexts. The course reviews the concepts, theoretical knowledge and techniques of Structural Geology that are relevant to understanding ore genesis and exploration of ore deposits. It also provides hands-on field work to help strengthen the theoretical knowledge and provide the students with a solid understanding of the involved mechanisms and processes. Students thereby learn the simple principles of “Structural Control” and how to elaborate the best practices for structural data collection and analysis in mineral exploration and mining.

In Spring 2025, there is a 5-day field trip to the Island of Elba and southern Tuscany, which exposes students to outstanding examples of hydrothermal deposits. Fieldwork is used to unravel and constrain the genetic relationships between brittle deformation, fluid ingress, and flow and ore genesis. 

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 is designed to provide advanced knowledge of fundamental issues of the human experience, such as the origins and persistence of old and new forms of social prejudice and their link with stereotyping and discriminative behaviors. A comprehensive summary and critical analysis of the state of theory and research on the causes and consequences of intergroup prejudice is illustrated. Moreover, similarities and differences among distinct types of prejudice are addressed. The Social Prejudice course involves 2 modules; Social Prejudice I: Basic processes and differences among prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination; Social Prejudice II: General theoretical perspectives, specific domains, methodology and tools, and effects and reactions to social discrimination. By the end of the course students know the theoretical models, the fundamental methods of investigation, and the practical course of actions leading to social discrimination, stereotypes, and social prejudice.