Sociology

This course emphasizes the pivotal role of data and innovation in transforming society, with a deep dive into the implications of data utilization and technological advances. It highlights the transformative power of AI in fostering innovation and societal change. Starting with an overview of innovation in service systems, with a particular focus on public services, the course offers a comprehensive curriculum that explores the foundational principles of AI technologies such as machine learning and natural language processing. Students will investigate how these innovations drive significant changes across various public sectors, including healthcare, urban development, education, arts and culture, and the operations of international organizations. Enhancing the learning experience, the course will feature guest speakers from diverse fields, providing firsthand insights into the challenges and successes of AI implementation. Additionally, case studies will be integrated throughout the course to offer real-world contexts for the concepts discussed, and on-site visits to organizations actively utilizing AI will give students practical exposure to the dynamics of AI in action. The course aims to equip students with the knowledge, analytical frameworks, and practical skills to: •Develop strategies that enhance service efficiency and value, particularly in the public context; •Create innovative solutions to societal issues using AI and Machine Learning.

In this course, students will learn design tools for social justice and put them at the service of local organizations that promote environmental justice. The course puts the A+S (Service Learning) methodology into practice and aims for students to develop their social and public vocation, facilitating opportunities for environmental organizations to increase their autonomy and potential.

This course provides a step-by-step approach to tackle any personal, professional, or world issue imaginable. Learn techniques to clearly define problems, research solutions, weigh options, and implement plans. Gain the skills to transition from panic to possibility. This course takes an interactive, hands-on approach to building problem-solving skills. Through case studies, team projects, and simulations, students learn and practice key frameworks including defining problems, researching context and analyzing root causes, brainstorming creative solutions, evaluating options, planning implementation, and communicating and collaborating. The course provides abundant opportunities to apply problem-solving techniques to real-world issues. Students develop critical thinking, teamwork, communication, and creativity skills to become decisive, strategic problem solvers.

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This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. Why do people commit crime? Why and how do we punish offenders? This course addresses all these fundamental questions through engaging with core criminological and sociological theories and debates on crime and its responses. At the end of the course unit, students: know the most important concepts of sociology as applied nowadays with reference to criminal phenomena and their punishment, with an emphasis on the evolutionary dimension of relevant theories and the comparison between European and North American approaches; and are capable to apply those concepts independently, especially in fields covering deviance and social control.

This course addresses various dimensions of social problems both theoretically and empirically using a social constructionist perspective.  The course begins with brainstorming social problems, categorizing them by its nature, extracting common features of these various problems, as well as discussing key concepts of social problem construction such as “claims-maker,” “audiences,” “constructing victims/villains,”  "objectivism vs constructivism" by the text book. The class then engages in a “social problems game," addressing their own topics, or following big issues: Anthropocene, Domestication, Zoonosis, Climate change, One health approach, SDGs (contradiction or compromise), Sufficiency economy, Green new deal, etc.

The second half of the term focuses on problem solving, particularly poverty alleviation. Students are invited to one mountain village in an Asian country, virtually, where they analyze the problems in that village and formulate the development project using PCM (Project Cycle Management) tools. After this practical exercise, the class further studies the theoretical base of social deviation, or the formation of social order, reading Adam Smith on moral philosophy and Amartya Sen's capability approach. 

Throughout the course, participants are expected to consider: i) whose social problems we address; ii) causes and consequences of them; and iii) what changes needed. The contents of the course are subject to change according to participants’ interests and progress.

This course examines a variety of social and cultural issues analytically as well as critically. Focusing mainly on Japanese culture and society, this course requires students to read books written on topics such as groupism, communication, government bureaucracy, environmental protection, the education system, gender relations, internationalization, and/or political culture. Students will write short papers, participate in discussion, and make a group presentation. In 2025, the course focuses on cities in the developing world. 

The course explores everyday relationships and their sociological significance for contemporary debates on family, personal life, and kinship; as well as illuminating the importance of relationships in all aspects of everyday life,  provides theoretical frameworks and empirical materials to allow students to explore for themselves how personal relationships are played out through all aspects of everyday life, and explore and critique different relationships through different institutions and practices.

This course provides basic knowledge of the culture of the Viking Age, such as it is presented in contemporary sources and in interpretations and applications from the past two centuries with a special focus on how this culture has gained considerable importance then and in modern times, in the Viking homelands, and the surrounding world. The course provides skills in interpreting, understanding and discussing certain contemporary sources both written (Old Norse literature, rune inscriptions, chronicles) and archaeological, and to analyze the nature of Viking culture's depiction in high and popular culture in fiction, film, media, monuments and cultural-political contexts with a certain emphasis on its relationship with the romantic tradition. The course highlights how the modern spread of Viking culture has been marked by academic and political disagreements.