World society

The course aims at enabling students to analyse in a critical way and explain the salient features of globalization processes and of the world's growing interconnectedness and global networks of power, exchange and culture. In so doing, students will be provided with the conceptual and empirical tools to understand the most relevant changes, and their drivers, affecting society all over the world, in the cultural, economic and political realms. Particular emphasis will be placed throughout the course on the analysis and discussion of the controversial issue of the increasing global convergence toward a "world society".

By the end of the course, students will understand the main features of globalization processes and of the world's growing interconnectedness and global networks of power, exchange and culture. They will also acquire the ability to apply knowledge and understanding of the processes of global interconnectedness to specific cases. In particular, students will have developed a number of soft skills, in terms of making judgements, communication and lifelong learning abilities. These skills will be acquired through active participation in classroom discussion, and the preparation and public presentation of a research paper.