International Studies

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 consequences of international trade and the effects of trade policies; the main approaches to international factor movements, organization of firms, and debates regarding globalization; exchange rates and international capital markets; complex issues raised by the economic interdependence of nations The course covers the following: why do countries trade; what are the consequences of introducing a tariff on imports; why did the EU adopt a single currency; how to make sense of Brexit and Trump's protectionism. This course aims at addressing these issues and many other relevant topics in both international trade and open economy macroeconomics. At the end of the course, students have a sound foundation in international economics and they are able to critically evaluate both micro and macro trade patterns, as well as policy issues. The first module introduces the most important theories of international trade and their predictions for consumers, firms, and governments. In particular, it addresses issues such as determinants of trade flows, gains from trade, and motivation and consequences of protectionist policies. It also covers real-world areas of international trade, such as the EU, the Americas, and Asia. The second module is organized in topics, including, among others, open macroeconomics, optimum currency areas, the European Union and the Euro experience, and the historical and recent migration waves.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. This course introduces the critical study of the main tenets, the sources, and some specific fields of contemporary international law. The three fundamental legal functions on which the legal dynamics of the international community is founded – lawmaking, law determination, and law enforcement – are analyzed within the contemporary social context. International law is presented in its different dimensions: as a tool in the hand of international actors able to handle change in the international society and safeguard stability and predictability of international legal relations; as common language useful in reaching consensus or, at least, peaceful disagreement; and as key to understanding the reality of contemporary international relations. Bringing together different perspectives, the course demonstrates how international rules, while made by governments and mostly addressed to them, can be of great relevance to private actors and to their interests.

This course introduces the arts of diplomacy and negotiation. To this end, the course offers both a theoretical and practical approach and presents the key concepts and tools behind the arts of diplomacy and negotiation. It analyzes the links between diplomacy and negotiation as well as the main challenges attached to traditional and modern diplomatic practices; discusses the impacts of globalization on the evolution of diplomatic practices and more specifically the impact of culture on international negotiation; identifies the main tools and strategies for successful negotiations: therefore, the course also serves as an introduction to communication techniques. It provides an opportunity to practice all these tools and concepts during workshop sessions, exchange in group debates, crisis and negotiation simulations. The course is designed to be very interactive: students are expected to actively participate in class and their communication skills will be assessed.

This course introduces the nuances of gender in relation to the international human rights law framework. This interdisciplinary course provides an understanding of international human rights law; exposure to the main human rights conventions and their gendered objectives; and the manner in which gender is of relevance from a human rights perspective. Further, students develop critical thinking and analysis skills whilst comparing different instruments of international human rights law.

Our increasingly globalized world presents us with advantages and disadvantages, with both opportunities and challenges, and therefore also with paradoxes. The annually updated, UN-sponsored Millennium Project identifies 15 challenges our world faces: climate change; insufficient clean water; population growth; authoritarian regimes; lack of global foresight; sharing the benefits and reducing the threats of new information and communications technologies; the widening gap between rich and poor; new and reemerging diseases; educational deficiencies; ethnic conflicts, terrorism, and the threat of weapons of mass destruction; the unequal status of women; transnational crime networks; growing energy demands; the need for accelerated scientific and technological breakthroughs; and incorporating ethics into global decisions. This course navigate all these challenges through the lenses of geography, politics, and trade. This course only introduces theoretical perspectives on how these challenges can be analyzed and addressed, but also contextualize them in real-world cases. The ultimate goal is to make students able to think independently and formulate their own views on critical world affairs.