aCademiC Catalog 2013-2014 - Lorenzo de Medici

principles and implications of humanitarian intervention, as well
as collective security, self-determination, national sovereignty
and self-defense. The course next addresses various possible
responses to intra-state conflicts, ranging from third-party
mediation to coercive measures, post-conflict management
and transitional policies. Students deal with the following
issues: a) the “peace-enforcement dilemma” (affecting
peacekeeping operations, humanitarian relief, security, human
rights and law and order enforcement); b) state-building
processes in highly divided post-conflict societies (involving
identity and citizenship, perceptions by different communities,
party behavior, institutional and political accommodation). The
final part focuses on implementation with particular reference
to the following crucial issues: a) cooperation and competition
between international players at all levels; b) the negative
impact of inter- and intra-organizational disagreement on
the whole process; c) monitoring and evaluation. Throughout
the course students analyze specific recent and current case
studies (e.g. Somalia, Bosnia, East Timor, Kosovo, Sudan),
involving the UN, NATO, and numerous NGOs.
Prerequisites: PST 190 Anthropology of Violence and Conflict,
or PST 302 Peace Education, or equivalents
A Sociology for Peace
PST 370 F; Dual listed: SOC 370 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
This course analyzes the processes through which wars become
reality, addressing methods to predict them and preventive
activities. The approach differs from that of traditional studies
of war, which focus on causes (different in each conflict), of
limited usefulness in finding ways to avoid war. The course also
considers various types of intervention such as the interposition
of peacekeepers (armed and especially unarmed), and “tertiary
prevention” activities that can be deployed after a war in order
to help prevent renewal of armed conflict. The same strategy
will be used for peace. Students analyze the process through
which peace can be attained in all possible phases such as
the construction of a culture for peace, confidence-building,
analysis of so-called superordinate objectives (common to both
adversaries), and the isolation of solutions acceptable to both
parties. The central theme of the course is non-violence viewed
as a force that can work to overcome injustice. This entails
examination of the constructivist approach (in which values and
science are connected) and of the sociological principles that
form the basis of the non-violent approach. The course bridges
theory and practice, utilizing case studies, training in nonviolent
conflict resolution and similar activities (role playing,
cooperative games, maieutic laboratories, brainstorming, etc.),
and documentary films. The course aims to give students the
capacity to utilize non-violent approaches to solve problems at
both interpersonal and international levels.
Prerequisites: Junior standing or concurrent enrolment in the
International Conflict Transformation Certificate
Philosophy and Religious
Studies
Western Philosophy
PHR 130 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
This course presents major questions and thinkers of western
philosophy. Key methods and terms of philosophical inquiry
are explored. Provides a broad overview of major historical
directions, systems and schools of philosophy in the western
tradition from the pre-Socratics to the present. Discussion
centers upon perennial themes such as the existence of God,
the nature of knowledge, proof and reasoning, and ethics.
Serves as the basis for further courses in philosophy.
Italy’s Contribution to Modern Science
PHR 180 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
This course introduces generalist students to the basic principles
and theories of modern physics, astronomy, engineering,
chemistry, and biology, by examining the emergence of these
fields starting in the Renaissance. Students learn about the
contributions of great scientists and mathematicians, such
as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, and Vincenzo Viviani,
focusing on the early modern period but attending to recent
figures such as Enrico Fermi and today’s researchers. Special
consideration will be given to the contributions of Italian
scientists to the development of modern science. However,
their colleagues in the wider scientific community, such as René
Descartes, Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, Nicolaus Copernicus,
and William Harvey, and the flowering of scientific academies
like the Accademia del Cimento, will also be studied. Ideas and
discoveries are contextualized by exploring their impact (and
that of related technologies) on history and society (the arts,
medicine and hospitals, demographics, conflict, and so forth).
The course will include visits to the Science Museum in Florence
and to sites in Italy where modern science flourished.
Introduction to Italian Philosophy
PHR 185 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
The course examines the evolution of the main schools of
Italian philosophical thought beginning with the Middle Ages,
covering the rich philosophical debate in Renaissance Italy, and
reaching the Counter Reformation and the 18th century Age of
Reason. However, since the problems discussed by these Italian
schools of thought emerged in ancient philosophy and are
directly drawn from it, it is initially necessary to review the ideas
of Greek and early Christian philosophies. Key thinkers include
Plato and Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Dante,
Petrarch, Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, Machiavelli,
Giordano Bruno and Campanella. The course ends by looking
at the revolutionary philosophical thought that marks the
beginning of the Age of Science and Reason, embodied in Italy
by Galileo Galilei.
World Religions
PHR 210 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
This course is designed as an historical and cultural survey
of the basic teachings and doctrines of the major religious
traditions of the world: Judaism, Christianity and Islam,
Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. The course will
examine a significant number of specific themes in all religions
studied such as the nature of this world and of the universe;
the relationship between the individual and the transcendent;
ultimate reality; the meaning and goals of worldly life; the
importance of worship and rituals; ethics and human action.
Excerpts from important texts of each tradition will be analyzed
such as The Torah, The Bible, The Koran, The Upanishads, The
Bhagavad Gita, The Tao Te Ching, Chuang-Tzu, Buddhist Sutras,
The Tibetan Book of the Dead, and The Confucian Canon.
During the course students will also learn the basic principles
of meditation.
Environmental Philosophy
PHR 230 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
Global warming, the energy crisis, land degradation, nuclear
issues and pollution. These are only some of the many
environmental issues caused by human activities. For many
people science and technology offer the ultimate hope for
solving these problems. However, environmental issues raise
fundamental questions about how to balance conservation
with the use of natural resources: how should we relate to
the environment? Which ends should we pursue? Hence, the
principal focus of the course will be on environmental ethics.
Science and technology can, at best, provide us with some
means for attaining these ends. The reason for calling this
course environmental philosophy and not merely environmental
ethics comes from the belief that ethical issues relating to the
environment require a wider field of discourse before they can
be intelligently settled. For this purpose, the course embraces
environmental philosophy in its broadest sense, including not
only environmental ethics, but also environmental ontology,
aesthetics and theology. The course explores a variety of
schools of environmental thought with special emphasis on
traditional human-centered as well as on alternative bio-centric
ethical theories.
School of Arts & Sciences FLORENCE
LdM Academic Catalog 2013-2014
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