University of Bologna

This is a special studies course involving an internship with a corporate, public, governmental, or private organization, arranged with the Study Center Director or Liaison Officer. Specific internships vary each term and are described on a special study project form for each student. A substantial paper or series of reports is required. Units vary depending on the contact hours and method of assessment. The internship may be taken during one or more terms but the units cannot exceed a total of 12.0 for the academic year.

This course s part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. Globalization dramatically changed the environment of political and economic activity, widening the context of social action and speeding up its pace. This course tackles the new ethical issues inherent in a globalized world of social change from a theoretical perspective, without neglecting the historical side. At the end of the course students have a deeper appreciation of the new ethical issues facing mankind in an era of globalization, have knowledge of the most interesting contemporary theories of the just society, and are capable of historically situating the current developments in society. This course examines three broad themes connected to the contemporary geopolitical circumstances: the question of the just society and the challenge of relativism, the dilemmas of globalization, and environmental ethics. The course examines how and to what extent globalization has changed politics and, strictly connected to this question, the issue of the just society in such different circumstances and the challenge posed by cultural relativism. Finally, the course tackles the problem of our responsibility towards the environment and towards non-human creatures.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program and is intended for advanced levels students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course focuses on the tools necessary to evaluate the main themes and issues related to questions of cultural memory from a semiotic perspective. Memory studies is a relatively young academic field that aims at an interdisciplinary study of collective forms of remembering and of processes of construction, transmission, and communication of the past in contemporary societies and in contexts characterized by an inherent "semiotic complexity" At the same time, memory studies is often in constant dialogue with other disciplines dealing with memory (philosophy, sociology, psychology, semiotics, cognitive science, anthropology, history, archaeology, etc.). The course introduces and critically discusses the current debate in the field of memory studies, considering the main issues and questions from a semiotic perspective. Starting from a critical discussion of the concept of collective memory, the various "discursive arenas" (media discourse, historical discourse, legal discourse, political discourse, artistic discourse...) that shape shared - as well as individual - memories (and consequently collective and individual identities) are highlighted. Part of the course focuses specifically on the processes of construction and transmission of Cultural Heritage, particularly in terms of its semiotic, political, and conflictual character. Special attention is given to notions of dissonant and difficult heritage.

This is a special studies course with projects arranged between the student and faculty member. The specific topics of study vary each term and are described on a special study project form for each student. The number of units varies with the student’s project, contact hours, and method of assessment, as defined on the student’s special study project form.

This course covers types of comics from the 13th century to the 16th century, and poetry and theater in the 18th and 19th centuries. The first part of the course is dedicated to comic in literature and focuses on Boccaccio with in-depth studies on the DECAMERON. The second part is dedicated to the reading of Machiavelli and discusses Goldoni, Pascoli, and an in-depth study of Dante's INFERNO in the context of poetry.

The 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 roles of microbial populations in natural and contaminated habitats and the main microbial and technological aspects related the conduction and optimization of the prominent environmental biotechnological processes currently applied in the remediation of industrial wastewaters, sediments, and sites contaminated with xenobiotic compounds. The course includes class lectures, as a series of seminars, and optional laboratory training.

This is an advanced 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. There are three versions of this course; this course, “GEOGRAPHY OF DEVELOPMENT,” UCEAP Course Number 176 and Bologna course number 19695, is associated with the LM in Local and Global Development degree programme. One of the other versions, “GEOGRAPHIES OF GLOBAL CHALLENGES,” UCEAP Course Number 177A and Bologna course number 81952, is associated with the LM in History and Oriental Studies degree programme. The final version “GEOGRAPHY OF GLOBAL CHALLENGES,” UCEAP Course Number 177B and Bologna course number 95931, is associated with the LM in Local and Global Development degree programme.
Climate change offers the opportunity for a multidisciplinary analysis. The course discusses various aspects of the topic through a primarily geographical approach. The course is structured into three parts. Part one introduces climate change as a global phenomenon, with its natural and anthropogenic root causes. Students discuss and reflect on the socio-spatial inequalities inherent in the climate crisis. Part two analyzes climate governance, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Post Kyoto adaptation and mitigation strategies. In addition to the policy-making process, the course critically examines theoretical frameworks of adaptation, notions of climate justice, and intersectional approaches to addressing the climate crisis and its colonial roots. Part three concerns climate change and mobility. The course examines the complex interconnections between climate change and (im)mobility. Empirical examples are drawn from the #ClimateOfChange [https://climateofchange.info/publications-press/] interdisciplinary research project to contextualize the climate crisis as it is manifested, resisted, and understood from diverse locations across the globe. At the end of the course students show understanding of some of the global challenges the population of the planet has been facing since the second half of the twentieth century. Among these, the critical relation with the natural resources and with the concept of development and, above all, climate change, with its connections to territorial development, ecological risk, food security, and the consumption of natural resources. At the end of the course, the students have acquired the theoretical and empirical tools to critically analyze the global strategies of climate resilience and cooperation and the relation between climate change and tourism.

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 research problems in a wide series of topics drawn from migration history, history of ideas and their circulation, material exchange and consumption patterns, global labor history, social protests, transnational mobilizations processes, power forms and resistance strategies. Through direct contact with specific research paths, students are able to apply research techniques and methodologies and to use sources and literature in a critical manner. The first part of the course focuses on theoretical and methodological aspects concerning a world-historical approach to European contemporary history: how to study Europe and contemporary European history with reference to analytical frames drawing on World history. The second part of the courses focuses on European migration history from a global perspective. Particular attention is devoted to different forms of migration in relation to the social and political impact exerted on the societies involved. The topic is presented through case studies of anarchist migration between the second half of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century that students are asked to present in class. The third and last part of the course focuses on decolonization, related social conflicts/movements and its impact on the European political sphere from the 1960s until the 1980s. How antiimperialist and anticolonial criticism addressed Europe and how European left-wing groups and parties reacted to the rising challenges. This topic is illustrated and discussed through case studies presented by the students. Readings are presented either individually or in small groups of students on a weekly basis accordingly to the syllabus.

This course consists of an institutional part to study some of the problematic issues in the history of Italian cinema, and a monographic part dedicated to contemporary Italian cinema and public funding. At the end of the course students are familiar with the history of national cinematography; are able to relate cinema to the history of Italian culture; and can contextualize Italian film production in relation to other forms of expression and in the wider context of the cultural industry.

The course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by consent of the instructor. The course examines the political and the social conditions of contemporary Iran. Iran is one of the major players in the contemporary geopolitical situation and has a long history as a hegemonic power. It is also characterized by a vibrant civil society, a fact that is not usually acknowledged. Hence the focus of the course is on both political and social aspects. The course focuses on the historical, political, and social situation of contemporary Iran; the patterns of interaction between Iran and the various local political entities (Empires, nation-states, regional organizations); the interaction between Iran and Europe, North America, and Africa; and the influence of international factors on Iranian domestic and foreign policy. Special attention is placed on the interaction with other regional forces and the international and global dynamics affecting the region as a whole. A special section of the course is devoted to the historiographic and political debate concerning Iran, its future, and its role in international politics. The course is designed primarily to familiarize students with the pivotal events and processes of the political history of contemporary Iran and its foreign and domestic policies. Special attention is placed on Iran’s diplomacy and international relations.