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 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.

The course explores the interface of water resources management and sustainable development through the perspective of politics of water use and allocation. The course first examines different types of water and their uses and relevance to sustainable development. Secondly, the class examines politics of water use and allocation at the local, national, and international levels through issues of community irrigation, Integrated Water Resources Management and international transboundary river basin agreements. Particular focus is on the actors and institutions involved in water governance at these spatial scales. Thirdly, through discussions, group work, and poster presentations, students assess the policy responses to the problems of water resources management in developing country contexts.

Natural disasters are a part of everyday life and may cause significant economic, social, and emotional damage. Natural disasters include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, meteorite impacts, floods, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, landslides, and land subsidence. Many natural disasters act at scales so large that humans have no choice but to adapt or suffer the consequences. But in many others, it is mostly human (in)action and behavior before and after the event itself that determines the scale and scope of a disaster. This course connects several recent developments; the ongoing climate change, the increasing connections between economies which cause, for example, the next earthquake in Tokyo or California to have global repercussions, modern media showing the tsunami in Thailand real-time into our homes, refugee flows, and climate conflicts. The course is designed for bachelor students in economics, social sciences, physical geography, earth sciences, history, social geography, environmental sciences, and liberal arts and sciences.

The course presents geographic information systems (GIS)-related technologies and applications. The course introduces the theory and application of the geographic information system as well as provides practice using the software. Topics: GIS profile; GIS applications; GIS data formats and integrated systems; spatial data capture and integration; database management concepts; and spatial data analysis. The course includes a term project using GIS to investigate a topic of choice. Assessment: homework (60%), term project write up (30%), and term project presentation (10%).

This course provides an introduction to both weather and climate. Processes underlying the behavior of the atmospheric environment from local to global scales are discussed. The course commences with a discussion of atmospheric concepts in a visual and practical manner. Understanding and application of basic meteorological principles will help to explain environmental phenomena such as clouds and precipitation, tropical storms and global climate change. 

This course reviews the nature and processes of terrestrial environmental changes, focusing on those related to the carbon cycle, and to Earth’s landcover and land use. By covering variability and change in these areas of the Earth system and how they are assessed, both in relation to natural variabilities and anthropogenic influences, the course provides the scientific background necessary to better understand the causes and consequences of environmental changes in isolation and as a whole, whether they be paleo-environmental changes, studies of the contemporary environment, or future projections.

 

This course surveys the growing subfield of urban political ecology. In particular, it focuses on the material and social flows of ‘stuff’ that circulate to, through, and beyond the city. Water, sewage, electricity, garbage, plastic, carbon, and much more are all pumped, diverted, quarantined, cleansed, financed, regulated, produced, and consumed via cities. This ‘metabolism’ of material things produces varying qualities and outcomes of urban life. These flows and their outcomes are the course’s central focus, framing as urban metabolism the complex, uneven, and surprising journeys, infrastructures, transformations, politics, histories, labor, and expertise required for these flows. Drawing on a diverse set of academic, journalistic, video, textual, and audio course material, the course traces the pathways of material things through cities and their hinterlands worldwide, unpacking how their flows are constructed and regulated, financed, and managed, and contested and politicized.

This course critically examines the various key approaches which have dominated international development debate and underlie the multifarious development practices and policies of the last few decades. Using a perspective on the different channels, the main actors, and institutions involved, including new donors, private sector, international organizations, and international agreements that impact development processes in the global south. Focus is on the interfaces between academic paradigms, practitioners’ approaches, and the debate on questions of international cooperation and development in society at large. The course deals explicitly with the ethical and moral aspects related to development cooperation. The multidisciplinary character of this course makes it well suited for students of other programs, who may approach development issues from their own respective disciplinary backgrounds.