Geography

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 188A and Bologna course number 78696, is associated with the LM in Language, Society, and Communication degree programme. The other version, 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.
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.

As the global population speeds past seven billion, mounting evidence about resource depletion and climate change, and global economic inequality and social injustice, suggests current human development is unsustainable and that we are now living in the “Anthropocene” – an era in which human activity has, for the first time, become the dominant driver of environmental processes, and is causing unprecedented global change. The course shows how Geography, a discipline that draws on knowledge that spans the social and natural sciences and the humanities, is uniquely placed to understand our changing world.

This course introduces students to the world of Human Geography and human geography of the world. Starting from the proclaimed death of geography as a result of ongoing processes of globalization, this course investigates how geography is still relevant, at the global, national, regional, and local levels. Students familiarize themselves with the conceptual base of contemporary human geography, learn about different traditions within the field of human geography, and study a range of global and local issues from a human geographical point of view. The course content is divided into three thematic sections: globalization and the death of geography, from Fordism to post-Fordism, global production networks, and the impact of globalization on places; the hollowing out of the nation-state: nations, national identities, and rescaling; and the mixed blessing of tourism: economic, ecological, and socio-cultural impacts of tourism.

The course reviews the nature and extent of development theory, practice, and policy over the past 70 years (mid-20th century onwards), with case studies largely focused on the Global South. The course provides a broad awareness and understanding of the key theories and policy debates which inform humanitarian development ideas and practices, as well as the empirical context of different regions of the world. 

This course offers an introduction to the study of climate and society. The course utilizes a strong multidisciplinary approach and is open to students of several disciplines. The course's structure mirrors the structure used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC). The IPPC recently released a new series of reports on the physics of the climate system, adaption strategies and mitigation strategies, as well as a synthesis report. The course examines these reports and strategies by the IPPC through a wide scope of lecturers. The course discusses topics including physics of the climate system, adaptation, mitigation, economical aspects, legal aspects, political aspects, and anthropology. The course consists of oral lectures, exercises, work groups and discussion sections, and a short examination. There are no prerequisites for this course.

This course explores the relationship between urbanization and globalization and considers global urbanization based on the discipline of geography and its tools. After providing conceptual bases for thinking and representing the urban, the course explores the spaces and forms of urban societies, as well as the practices and social dynamics that define urbanity. It then studies the logic of interconnection between cities, particularly on the economic and migratory levels. Finally, the course focuses on the government of cities and their major development issues. It highlights differing urban realities on each continent, examining the diverse urbanity of the South in particular.