Mini-Courses 7-18 giugno
Durante le prime due settimane della Ca’ Foscari – Harvard Summer School 2010 si svolgeranno i "Mini-Courses" associati alle tre aree disciplinari offerte all'interno di questo programma unico: Economia, Scienze Ambientali e l'area Umanistica.
1) ALTINUM: The Roman Roots Of Venice
Structure: 2 lessons and 2 on-site visits
Dates: Lesson 1 – June 8th at San Basilio (2D) from 10am to 12:30pm
Visit to Altino – June 10th. Meeting point at piazzale Roma at 9:10am
Lesson 2 – June 15th at San Basilio (2D) from 10am to 12:30pm
Visit to Altino – June 17th. Meeting point at piazzale Roma at 9:10am
According to recent geo-satellite researches, Altino – known in Roman times as Altinum – about seven miles north of the city, close to Marco Polo airport, is the most likely Venice ancestor city. The folk memory of Altinum is preserved in the names of several Venetian islands which are derived from districts of the abandoned Roman town: Torcello (from Torricellum), Murano (Ammurianum) and Burano (Porta Boreana). Today, the area of the old town –apparently an important trading and seafaring centre on the Adriatic, before being overrun by Attila in the mid-5th century – is under systematic archaeological scrutiny by a team of the University of Padua and the Archeology Department of the Region of Veneto. The general plan of the Forum, the Amphitheater, the Odeon, and other urban monumental assets are recognized by now thanks to high definition satellite photographs interpreted by the Italian scientists. A new national museum is going to be inaugurated shortly on location and excavation season will be running only in the first half of June 2010.
The stage will be conducted by a Ca’ Foscari lecturer and will include 12 hours of lessons, on-site visits, illustrations of the Museum collections of epigraphs and Roman sculptures and the opportunity of sharing the every-day life of an active archaeological site with interviews with the archaeologists and the director of the Museum.
2) Readings in European Literature Post-World War II: Italo Calvino, Cosmicomiche
Structure: 4 seminars
Dates: Seminar 1 – June 7th at San Basilio (2D) from 10am to 12pm
Seminar 2 – June 10th at San Basilio (2D) from 10am to 12pm
Seminar 3 – June 14th at San Basilio (2D) from 10am to 12pm
Seminar 4 – June 17th at San Basilio (2D) from 10am to 12pm
The course, held by Professor Enrico Palandri, offers an insight into some of the problems of contemporary creative writing through four short stories by one of the most innovative Italian writers since WW2, Italo Calvino:
- The Distance of the Moon
- The Dinosaurs
- All at One Point
- Without Colours
We shall explore the following themes:
- realistic and fantastic techniques
- Historical, political and personal perspectives
- Writing stories and writing essays
Hand-outs will be provided but these text are easily available in a variety of editions, both in English and in Italian.
3) ARMENIAN MEMORIES IN THE LAGOON: A Survey of Armenian Music, Arts, and Book Production in Venice (16th- 20th centuries)
Structure: 4 lectures at the Venetian Mekhitarist School
Dates: Lecture 1 – June 8th from 10am to 1pm; Meeting point at San Sebastiano church at 9:30am.
Lecture 2 – June 9th from 10am to 1pm
Lecture 3 – June 15th from 10am to 1pm
Lecture 4 – June 16th from 10am to 1pm
Venice has been, since its earliest history, a milestone for the Armenians. Especially the commercial relations between the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and Venice were very intense and very fruitful for both sides.
In the early phases of the modern era this relationship assumes also a very remarkably cultural character: the earliest Armenian books were printed in Venice in a short space of time between 1511-1513 (1509-1513, according to others). From then onwards Venice will be one the most important centres of Armenian print. During the 18th through the 19th centuries Venice will play an incomparable role in the Armenian culture and through it in the culture of the countries in which the Armenians used to live. For instance, the decisive contribution given by the Armenians to the creation of the Turkish theatre had its roots in Venice, since modern Armenian theatre was originated by the Mekhitarists in Venice. Venice has been indeed, in those centuries, the cradle of the Armenian cultural rebirth, and the main ring of the chain linking the Armenians to European modernity, especially through the deep revival of humanities promoted by the Mekhitarist School.
In this frame, a seminar course on the relationship between Armenians and Venice will shed light on different aspects of both the Venetian and the Armenian cultures whose range of action went beyond their own entities.
The stage will have three main focuses:
- A survey of highlights in Armenian history and of the Armenian settlements in Italy and in Venice, starting especially from late Middle Ages.
This section will be developed under the guidance of Prof. Boghos Levon Zekiyan
(3-4 units of lectures)
- An introduction to the Armenian musical tradition, guided by Minas Lourian, researcher and general secretary of Centro di Studi e di Documentazione della Cultura Armena, Venice
(3-4 units of lectures)
- Elementary notions for playing duduk, one of the most ancient and typical Armenian wind instruments, accompanied by performance of some pieces for duduk, by Aram Ipekjian, MA, from the National Conservatory of Yerevan, Armenia.
(3-4 units of lectures)
4) Corporation Mini-projects
CORPORATION ORGANIZATION and CORPORATE FINANCE AND RISK
Each student will be given the opportunity to carry out a mini-project which will ultimately contribute to an overall collection of projects presented by the CFHSS students to a specific company.
You will spend the first day visiting the company itself along with the other students assigned to that company where you will receive the information you need, and will have the chance to meet the company representative. There will then be at least 3 meeting times in Venice so as to allow you to work on your project together, assisted by a Ca’ Foscari economics tutor, with an additional visit to the company during the second week. Finally, at the conclusion of your elective, you will present your project along with the other students taking part in this initiative to the companies with whom you are placed at a public presentation organised by the Ca’ Foscari – Harvard Summer School.
Project themes could be one of the following:
Organization
- Analysis of organizational structures change in the last decade: how structure change and main drivers of transformation
- Evolution of workforce composition: new emerging trend of competences needs
- Implementation of new business models: analysis of main barriers
- Description of organizational mechanisms to improve innovative capacity
- New linkages between strategy and organizational frameworks: how to match competitive needs with organizational resources
- Short analysis of main trends in some industries (comparison between fast and slow growth industries)
Corporate Finance and Risk
- Analysis of the capital structure of the corporation, focusing on the optimization of the debt-to-equity ratio
- Corporate asset analysis, focusing on the optimization of funding the working capital-fixed asset ratio
- Corporate asset analysis, focusing on the optimization of funding the intangible-to-tangible asset ratio
- Corporate Risk Mapping for the operating activities (measuring corporate exposure to quantity and selling-price risk)
- Corporate Risk Mapping for the financial activities (measuring corporate exposure to leverage risk)
- Corporate Risk Mapping for the international activities (measuring corporate exposure to exchange rate risk)
5) Mini-course on Microeconomics
Structure: 4 lectures
Dates: Lecture 1 - June 8th at San Basilio (2D) from 1pm to 3:30pm
Lecture 2 – June 10th at San Basilio (2D) from 1pm to 3:30pm
Lecture 3 – June 15th at San Basilio (2D) from 1pm to 3:30pm
Lecture 4 – June 17th at San Basilio (2D) from 1pm to 3:30pm
This mini course, taught by Jenn Larson, will review the principles of mainstream microeconomics and will cover demand and consumer choice; production and competitive market supply; and the claim that markets serve the public interest.
It is intended for students enrolling in Economics S-1072 or any other econonmics course, who may feel less than comfortable about their grasp of mainstream micro; it may be useful as well for students enrolling in other economics courses.
Students intending no further work in economics are also welcome.
The course will meet four times for 2.5 hours each, and will roughly cover the material in the following chapters of Baumol and Blinder, Economics: Principles and Policies, 10th or 11th editions:
Ch 1, 3, 4-6, 18 (10e: pp 387-393; 11e: pp 385-391), 7-8, 10, 19 (10e: pp 399-402; 11e: pp 397-400), 20 (10e: pp 428-430; 11e: pp 425-427), 34 (10e:pp 727-731; 11e:pp 727-731), 14, 16.
Supplementary reading will also be available.
6) Environmental Science at Thetis
Structure: 2 visits to Thetis and a final presentation
Dates: Visit 1 – June 7th at Thetis from 10am to 2pm; Meeting point at San Sebastiano church at 9:30am.
Visit 2 – June 14th at Thetis from 10am to 2pm
Presentation – June 18th at Thetis from 10am
Thetis is a highly innovative engineering and environmental services company which operates within the sphere of developing and managing projects and innovative technological applications within the environmental energy and territorial fields, civil engineering and works management, intelligent transport systems and knowledge systems.
The company has built up its skills on the field through over a decade of work safeguarding the delicate Venetian lagoon ecosystem.
This elective will discuss the theme of ‘integrated coastal zone management and climate change’ over the course of lessons, seminars and tutorials held at Thetis in Venice’s historic Arsenal.
