University of Bologna

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course is intended for students who already have a strong background in literature and critical theory. The course focuses on the institutions of literature, the relationship between text and context, and the dynamics of literary communication and its political, ideological, socio-economic and editorial influence. The course explores the use of critical tools and forms of investigation that belong to the field of sociology and applies them to literature. Emphasis is placed on the thematic and sociological components of literary texts. The topic for the Spring 2018 semester is: The Other Nation–The Italian Migration. The course is divided in 6 sections with assigned readings: history of migrations, migration and literature, novels, new migrations; the question of Brain Drain, narrations. The course includes visual materials and a guest speaker series with international experts in the field of migration and authors who have addressed the question of migration in their writings. Assessment in the course is based on a final oral exam.

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 the historical development of consumer capitalism, the fundamental elements of contemporary sociological theories of consumer action, and the main issues related to the politics of consumer culture. Emphasis is placed on how theories work in practice, by addressing key contemporary empirical phenomena in the sphere of consumption, with particular attention to social boundaries and social identities, commercial institutions, and the new challenges posed by environmental issues and the process of globalization/localization. The course aims at providing a theoretically informed sociological understanding of contemporary consumer cultures and practices. While adopting an interdisciplinary outlook, it deals mainly with the sociology of consumption, concentrating on contemporary social phenomena of global relevance. The course begins with a discussion of the historical development of so-called consumer capitalism, highlighting the relevance of urbanization, colonialism, changes in social stratification (class, gender) and international commerce. It then focuses on the most important theories of consumer action, considering how economics, sociology, and anthropology have provided several distinctive perspectives on the functions, meanings, and mechanisms of consumption. Finally, the course considers the politics of consumer culture and addresses cultural industries as a vehicle for hegemonic views of the “consumer,” commercially mediated spaces as institutional contexts for a variety of dominant or alternative consumer practices and identities, and the process of globalization/localization that takes place through the global standardization of commodity chains and alternative, locally grounded market circuits.

The course provides fundamental and exhaustive knowledge regarding the main aspects of astronomy and astrophysics, including up-to-date topics (e.g. extrasolar planets and astrobiology, black holes, dark matter, dark energy). The course focuses on the following main topics: from positional astronomy to the solar system, stars, galaxies, and cosmology. Topics covered include: basic spherical astronomy (solid angle, great circle, spherical triangles, shape and size of the Earth, Eratosthenes experiment), terrestrial coordinates (latitude, longitude), celestial coordinates, Doppler effect, perturbation of coordinates (precessions, nutation, parallax, proper motion, aberration), the motion of planets (including historical background), the Kepler laws, the Earth (properties, seasons, tides), the Moon (properties, motion), solar and lunar eclipses, the Solar system (planets), and notions on extrasolar planets, the electromagnetic spectrum, astronomical observations (terrestrial atmosphere, astronomical sites, seeing, adaptive optics), telescopes (reflection and refraction optics, submm-mm, radio, space telescopes, HST, Herschel, Planck, X-ray telescopes), astronomical data (images, spectra), radiation from astrophysical objects (luminosity, spectra, flux, 1/r^2 law), apparent magnitudes and Pogson law, color indices, extinction and atmospheric extinction, absolute magnitudes, black-body radiation, Planck, and Wien laws, relation between black-body and color indices, Stefan-Boltzmann law, atoms and radiation (electronic transitions, hydrogen atom, types of spectra, emission and absorption lines, continuum spectra, emission nebulae, 21 cm transition, basic thermodynamics), the classification of stars and relation with black-body, types of stellar spectra and absorption lines, luminosity classes, Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, binary stars (visual, photometric, spectroscopic, astrometric), mass of visual binary stars, the luminosity-mass relation, the four equations of stellar structure, energy transfer mechanisms, energy production in stars and timescales, thermonuclear reactions, proton-proton chain, CNO cycle, triple-alpha reaction, stellar evolution (HR diagram, time on main sequence, mass and internal structure), open and globular clusters, age estimate with HR diagrams evolution of low-mass stars, evolution of high-mass stars (Novae, Supernovae, Pulsars, Black Holes), interstellar medium (gas phases, composition, types of nebulae, H II regions, molecules, dust, star formation, chemical enrichment), our galaxy (properties, structure, components, observations across the electromagnetic spectrum, stellar populations, spiral structure, star formation, differential rotation, bulge, rotation curve, dark matter, central black hole, the local Group), galaxies (Hubble classes, colors, spectra, Schechter function, luminosity functions, spirals, ellipticals, starbursts, merging, large scale structure, groups, clusters, galaxy formation), supermassive black holes and active galaxies, basic cosmology (Hubble law, age of the Universe, Big Bang, cosmic microwave background, large scale structure, density parameter, dark matter, dark energy, possible destiny of the Universe). Required reading: FUNDAMENTAL ASTRONOMY by H. Karttunen, P. Kröger, H. Oja, M. Poutanen.

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 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 the principles of health care organization and policy in a comparative perspective. The course analyzes the evolution and contemporary state of health care systems in different Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. The course covers the following: the evolutionary path of OECD health care systems; main models of health care funding including the differences between tax based models, SHI-models, and models based on voluntary insurance; models of health care provision; health care reforms over the last decades; and health policy and politics.

The course focuses on the history of North American cinema and in particular the identifying elements of production and industry (the genre system, the studio system, and the star system). Special attention is placed on cultural and formal elements as well as economic and distribution factors that have determined the success of North American cinema worldwide in a comparison with European cinema production. The topic for the 2017-2018 year is "Comedy and Comedians: comic forms in American cinema, from the dawn of sound to Jim Carrey". Required readings includes: SOGNO E REALTÀ AMERICANA NEL CINEMA DI HOLLYWOOD (2014). Students select six films from the following list: FRANKENSTEIN (1931), LITTLE CAESAR (1931), QUARANTADUESIMA STRADA (1933), TOP HAT (1935), THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939), THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940), CITIZEN KANE (1941), CASABLANCA (1942), CAT PEOPLE (1942), PERDUTAMENTE TUA (1942), DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950), A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951), SINGING IN THE RAIN (1952), KISS ME DEADLY (1955), THE SEARCHERS (1956), INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956), VERTIGO (1958), IMITATION OF LIFE (1959), THE GRADUATE (1967), THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971), NASHVILLE (1975), CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977). Students choose six additional films from the following list: MANCIA COMPETENTE (1932), LA SCALA MUSICALE (1932), LA GUERRA LAMPO DEI FRATELLI MARX (1933), ACCADDE UNA NOTTE (1934) L'IMPAREGGIABILE GODFREY (1936), L'ORRIBILE VERITÀ (1937), LA SIGNORA DEL VENERDÌ (1940), IL GRANDE DITTATORE (1940), LADY EVA (1941), VOGLIAMO VIVERE! (1942), L'ISPETTORE GENERALE (1949), LA RAGAZZA DEL SECOLO (1954), ARTISTI E MODELLE (1955), A QUALCUNO PIACE CALDO (1959), L'APPARTAMENTO (1960), LE FOLLI NOTTI DEL DOTTOR JERRYL (1963), HOLLYWOOD PARTY (1968), PER FAVORE NON TOCCATE LE VECCHIETTE (1968), AMORE E GUERRA (1975), IO E ANNIE (1977), ANIMAL HOUSE (1978), FUORI ORARIO (1985), RICOMINCIO DA CAPO (1993), MAN ON THE MOON (1999). Assessment is based on a written exam that covers the general part of the course and a ten-page paper on a topic approved by the instructor that is directly related to the thematic part.

The course is part of the Laurea Magistrale Program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by consent of the instructor. This course explores the role that visual imagery plays in contemporary society, by means of looking at the visual as a key communication as well as economic and cultural resource. The course offers both an overview of established critical theories of visual communication and more contemporary takes on visual analysis and visuality at large. To gain a critical understanding of the central role that visual communication plays in global and local contexts alike, the course relies on a wide range of examples and case studies from key communication industries including advertising, film, stock photography, branding, social media, and news media. As well as studying visual communication theories, methods for critical visual analysis and specific examples and cases, students develop their own original research on specific dimensions of visual communication.

In this course, anthropology is approached from a philosophical point of view and with philosophical methods. The course consists of three units. The following main topics are addressed: key concepts for the epistemology of anthropology, philosophical accounts of human nature from antiquity to modern age, and evolutionism and anthropology.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by permission of the instructor. Students master a variety of North American literary productions in relation to their cultural, social, and technological realities. Students learn to appreciate literary productions as part of complex, trans-media, and inclusive contexts. Course topics vary each term. For the most up to date course topics, access the University of Bologna Online Course Catalog. The fall 2023 course topic is on “Counterecycling: Science Fiction and Cognitive Pollution.” Through an assessment of traditional North American Science Fiction stories (and media adaptations), this course investigates whether using (in fact reusing) this genre traditional literary language helps to truly understand new complex phenomena or whether, instead, it induces cognitive pollution, therefore inhibiting our ability to observe. Recycling is certainly a useful action for the environment, but recycling literary language is not necessarily useful for seeing the limits and potential of a situation, especially where ontological levels are confused through a shared semantic. Among the themes discussed are: inventing the future: literature and technology; the evolving semantics of Science Fiction; the evolving semantics of Technology; environmental explorations: from cyberspace to metaverse; and artificial or artful Intelligence.

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 addresses recent topics in the field of Global Health. Specific topics critical assessment of recent health care reforms in LMICs; efforts to extend coverage of health care and improve universal coverage; issues in financing schemes of health care in LMIC; definition of healthcare policy priorities and the assessment of economic burden of disease in LMICs; the role of NGOs and multilateral institutions; key policy interventions on prevention, workforce planning, and capacity building. The course examines global health issues from the standpoint of health policy and systems. It aims to provide an overview of key global health policies and an introduction to the main challenges, issues, and solutions in global health. The course covers the following topics: global health trends and estimates of health indicators; global health policy landscape; health systems approaches to global health challenges; global governance and health; global health financing architecture; financing health systems and universal health coverage; and evidence for global health policies. The course includes lectures, case studies, group discussions and presentations.