European Studies

In Part I of this course, students are introduced to studying in an academic environment, the Problem Based Learning (PBL) system, the library, and the structure and content of the European Public Health program. Students examine the many dimensions and complexity of the concept of health, reflect on how health has been defined within various traditions over time, and elaborate on concepts of "public" and "European." In Part II, students examine determinants of health at various levels with the most influential models. The topic of health inequalities is introduced.  Part III focuses on the European Union by addressing issues such as the history of the EU, the main economic purpose of the EU, the EU treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, the EU institutions, and the decision-making processes on EU level. The course ends with a reflection on several ethical issues and dilemmas at play when thinking about public health in Europe. 

This course focuses on the history, institutions, actors, and policies of the European Union (EU) from its beginnings in the aftermath of the Second World War to more recent developments such as the Eurozone crisis, migration and Brexit. It also analyses some of the current challenges and controversies that the EU is facing, including an increasing domestic contestation, the democratic deficit and the future of integration. In so doing, it sets the basis for the final year core courses on the EU, in which specific policy areas are discussed in greater detail.

Country of tulips, windmills, bicycles, and canals, with friendly and open-minded people. There must be more to the Netherlands than is being suggested by such stereotypical images. This course explores peculiarities, intricacies, and dynamics of Dutch culture and society in a global context.
The course provides various perspectives on contemporary Dutch society and culture, discusses themes such as national identity, toleration, ethnic diversity, and the echo's of two world wars in the previous century. Each theme is presented within a historical dimension and includes case studies from Dutch literature, architecture, film, or painting. With reference to the concept of "cultural memory", narratives about the past featuring in today’s realities are explored. The course is designed for international exchange students, to familiarize them with Dutch society and culture as they find it during their stay in the Netherlands.

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. There are two versions of this course; this course, UCEAP Course Number 188B and Bologna course numbers 29886 and 81714, is associated with the LM in Modern, Post-Colonial and Comparative Literatures and the LM in Geography and Territorial Processes degree programmes. The other version,  UCEAP Course Number 188A and Bologna course number 78696, is associated with the LM in Language, Society, and Communication degree programme.
This course examines languages as cultural features linking the human communities to their territories, history, and geopolitical evolution, with a particular analysis of the changes occurred in the spatial dimension of languages, in connection to acculturation processes and to linguistic policies. In this respect, the course deals with the regional division of the European languages and with the EU language policy both in respect to minority languages and to the process of linguistic education of its citizens. The relationship between linguistic diversity and biological diversity is also explored with a geographical focus on the issue of language death. The course examines the relationship between space/place and language from different perspectives. At the beginning of the course, the students explore the field of cultural geography and its main themes, concepts, and keywords. After having explored the differences between linguistic geography and geographies of languages, the course focus on the second and using both theories and empirical cases, looks at the interconnections between culture, cultural geography, and language geography; language as cultural phenomenon; toponyms and culture; and semiotics of space. Moreover, the course observes how the relationship between geography and language expresses itself in different configurations of bodies and spaces: digital and media spaces, literary spaces, migratory fluxes, terrorism discourses and place-bound semiotics, tourism performance, and cultural and intercultural spaces.

This course introduces concepts and theories of Political Economy to shed light on Europe’s history and presence: the course askes and tries to answer questions on how the EU developed from a peace-making into a market-making project, what conflicts and dilemmas this has entailed, what the most recent and future challenges are, and how the EU responds to them in institutional and policy regard.