Sociology

This course explores the spatial manifestation of urban dynamics. Over half of the entire world population now live in cities and this proportion is estimated to rise further. This means urban space, as an intensified, technologically augmented, and rapidly changing space, is the basic setting of living for most human beings. Also, this “built-environment” not only has become our direct, first-hand environment in our everyday experiences but also has significant natural-environmental implications.

This course examines the nature of “urbanity” as it is spatially played out, and its economic, political, environmental, and human rights implications, specifically keeping in mind the possibility of more democratic control of urban space.

The subject of this class is the modern period of urban space, especially in relation to the changes in the human-material relationship since the 19th century. It is mainly related to technological changes in the 20th century, but it also deals with the spatial implications of recent innovations such as artificial intelligence and smart devices.

The focus of this course is twofold: firstly, to study the nature of representations and the impact they have on our society through philosophy, cinema, literature, and art; and secondly, to develop a critical analysis of the image through aesthetics, political theories, cultural studies, and the philosophy of humor. It analyzes different scenarios of the image in order to circumscribe its "field of action," in particular, to understand the motives behind the objects of the representation, the impact on the spectators, and the socio-political consequences that they generate. The course discusses how technology facilitates the spread of images in our society and mirrors, to a certain extent, our way of life. It considers how, as means of communication, images convey our personal and public experiences on a daily basis, captivate our attention, influence our perception of the world, and, if images are to be considered representations, contain aesthetic and political components. 

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by permission of the instructor. This course focuses on the main sociological concepts related to health, with a focus on the intersections between medicine and new technologies. More specifically, the course explores concepts including: medicalization, social determinants, health literacy, bio-socialities, genetization, and pharmaceuticalization. The course analyzes social phenomena related to health by sociological concepts, evaluates the consequences of the technology and social networks related to medicine from the standpoint of sociological theories, and analyzes the relationship between new technologies in the health field and social inequalities. Main concepts discussed in the course include: medicalization; health cultures and healthscapes; social theories for global health; prevention health risks; structural violence pharmachologization; wellbeing and mental health; biomedicalization; genetification; human enhancement; reflexive longevity; STS; digital health; sociology of diagnosis; neurochemical selves; quantified self, gamification, syndemic epidemics; and endemic future.

This course examines Socio-ecologies in 1491; Spanish colonialism and biological imperialism; contemporary coloniality and neoliberalism; and social movements.

This course investigates minorization, how it relates to categorization and differentiation, and to what extent minorization plays a role in mass violence and colonial situations. It introduces the concept of minorization, one of the fundamental questions in sociology for understanding the issues of today's society yet missing from the French university catalog, and its place in academic debate.

This course takes as its starting point the description of cultural places and moments in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, whose role in both the building and the representations of the global stage has increased and diversified since the late 1990s. It then focuses on contributing to the definition of power in those political entities and understanding their place on the global stage through the lenses of political sociology. 

This course explores key themes in political sociology, a major sub-field of sociology with strong linkages to political science and political philosophy. The focus is on the dynamics and relations of power in society, specific problems and issues related to ‘power’ are examined across the grassroots and global levels of sociological investigation. Intersectional and global comparative perspectives are stressed through an exploration of diverse case studies that span different historical eras and contemporary settings. Principles of ‘research-based learning’ (RBL) are emphasized throughout the course to stress the intimate link between sociological theory and methodology. Salient themes explored include democratization, active citizenship, nationalism, neoliberalism, elitism, populism, authoritarianism, repression, protest, and revolution. A working knowledge of introductory sociology and social science research methods is required.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by permission of the instructor. There are two versions of this course; this course, UCEAP Course Number 152B and Bologna course number 93217, is associated with the LM in Geography and Territorial Processes degree programme. The other version, UCEAP Course Number 152A and Bologna course number 90543, is associated with the LM in Sociology and Social Work degree programme.

At the end of the course, students are able to: have a general overview of international migrations, their main interpretative models, and some related issues; and manage the main concepts for the study of migrations, without limiting to the classic economy and the demography ones, but paying attention also to some most recent approaches. The course provides the main conceptual and analytical tools for a sociological analysis of migrations, presenting the most accredited interpretation models, the most recent trends, and the social impact of this phenomenon in the Mediterranean area. The first part of this course considers the figure of the stranger and the interaction models with society as it emerges from the classical sociological debate (Simmel, Park, Thomas). The second part introduces the contemporary debate on international migrations and the interpretation models of this phenomenon from different disciplines. Special attention is given to: 1. theoretical contributions from the Chicago School of sociology in the 1920s; 2. considering migrations as a "total social fact," according to the Algerian sociologist A. Sayad; and 3. interethnic and cohabitation relations in urban settings. During the Laboratory experts and workers of the socio-sanitary field present their professional experience, in order to enlarge the debate with students about the main issues of the course of sociology of migrations.

Population aging is a global trend, especially in East Asia. In Taiwan, the population of those ages 65 and over will reach 20% of the total population in 2025. Though the total number of the aging population is relatively small compared to developed countries, the speed at which it is occurring is one of the fastest in the world, thus leaving Taiwan less time to prepare policies and reconstruct an aging society. 

Aging-related social policies are major challenges for many countries. This course introduces various policy areas among different countries: health and mental health, social care, economic security, lifelong learning, senior employment, voluntary services, age-friendly community development, social sustainability, and SDGs, etc. 
 

This course first focuses on history and culture, starting with a brief historical view of Danish society since 1800. It then analyses culture both from a history of ideas perspective and by exploring Danish cultural values. The course thereafter takes an institutional approach to various sectors of Danish society, providing more in-depth descriptions of, among other things, the Danish political system, its labor market structures, welfare regime, education system, most important industries, civil society, and the relationship with the European Union. This version of the course also focuses on the international institutions in which Denmark is embedded and on the internationalization of the Danish economy and Danish firms. This entails a dual focus on internationalization and comparison with other countries and markets. The course comprises a student project work module where students do either a comparative study with a focus on a particular feature of Danish society, (e.g. elements of the business regime, welfare regime, labor market and their development) or an analysis of how a given Danish sector has been transformed by internationalization.