University of Bologna

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.

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 introduces students to humanitarian and social communication and discusses how social problems are constructed and represented. In particular, the course explores how humanitarian issues and crises have been historically publicized through the media and examine the challenges posed to humanitarian organizations by the advent of digital media. The course discusses how the use of poverty porn, celebrity humanitarianism, and new media narrations of otherness affect the communication of organizations looking for effective ways to bring about change in the developing world. The use of case studies prepares students to lead strategic planning for NGOs’ communication and government agencies while also understanding the role that communication has in affecting social change. At the end of this course the student is able to critically evaluate and comprehend the different concepts and methods used in the field of social and humanitarian communication. In particular, through the use of examples and case studies, the student is acquainted with: the complex system of relations that connects poverty, development, solidarity and the representation of sufferance; the different forms of communication employed in the media by social and humanitarian organizations, the processes of construction of social problems, the principles regulating the design of social communication campaigns, and the different implications that the use of strategic tools (e.g. storytelling, celebrities, branding) have on this specific segment of communication.

This Italian-taught course focuses on Italian literature. At the end of the course the student is expected to have a deep knowledge on diachronical aspects of the Italian literary tradition, knows the critical discussion on the keys issues about texts and authors, and is able to use the main tools of the methodological analysis of texts and contexts. The focus of the course changes each term, review the specific term’s course details page in the University of Bologna online course catalog for information on your specific term’s topic. The spring 2023 course focuses on feminine power, from the demonic to the divine.

This course is part of the LM degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by consent of the instructor. This course explores the interplay between archaeology/archaeological interpretation and society through time, and how the former can be, and has been used by different actors to lay claims on specific aspects of the past whose strategic importance resonates today. The course goes through some of the main theoretical debates in archaeology, highlighting how current views of our past are grounded in recent and not-so-recent socio-political developments at various regional, national, and supra national scales. From this basic development the course goes on to assess the relationship between archaeology and the new emerging field of heritage studies with a specific attention to the critical heritage approach. The topics covered include: archaeology from nationalism to Colonialism; archaeology and politics in the twentieth century; archaeology between science and humanities; archaeology and socio-cultural evolution; critical archaeology and multiple voices; from interaction to New Materialism and back; identity and mobility; archaeology, Capitalism, and Patrimonialization; ownership; the critical heritage approach; archaeological and heritage value – from money to affection; and the role of the mediators today.

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 presents the main theories and empirical research on migration drawn from sociology, but with an interest in the contributions coming from history, demography, economy, political science, and anthropology, when needed. The course is centered on the European case, with an Italian focus, but within a broader comparative framework including the main active migratory systems in the contemporary world, and a period dating back no less than to the beginning of the twentieth century.