BUA490 Independent Study/Guided Research in Business (Fall, Spring)

BUA490 Independent Study/Guided Research in Business (Fall, Spring)

Independent Study during Module C allows students to conduct in-depth guided research on a subject related to Hong Kong, China, or Asia. Students should have background in the subject area based on prior study and often focus on specific interests developed during Modules A and/or B. During this five-week period, students are supervised by a faculty member in Hong Kong who teaches in a discipline related to the research subject. Faculty guide the research process, assign readings, provide resources and grade the final paper. Students are able to take advantage of excellent on-site resources to conduct both library and primary research (through interviews, surveys, etc.). Students should attend all lectures and meetings in order to complete the research and paper.

BUA470 Internship/Experience Credit in Business (Fall, Spring)

An Experience Credit course or Internship, formally known as “Hands-on Attachment Training,” consists of a full-time placement during Module C for at least 40 hours per week for five weeks. Students are screened and matched based on their interests and background and academically guided by a member of the Hong Kong Program faculty. Students meet regularly with their faculty sponsors, who assess students’ performance based on these meetings, a company evaluation and a final paper. The Hands-on Attachment Training experience will be coached with a combination of pre-internship workshops, mock interview and, discussion to get fruitful field experience. Pre-internship workshops introduce the process of intern placement, the business culture of Hong Kong, business practices in Asia, and business decision making in Chinese enterprises. During their five-week placement, students continue to meet for discussion of internship experiences, lectures, and comparative evaluation of topics of decision making, interpersonal industrial interaction, corporate policy creation, social responsibility, and business hierarchy. Students should participate in all of the meetings and be prepared to discuss, consider, and reflect, to achieve the end goals of a richer understanding of the lasting implications and values of accomplishing an overseas internship. Internships are available for qualified students only who meet the following criteria: cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and relevant educational coursework and/or prior business experience in requested business sector. Module C internships cannot be taken for a Pass/Fail grade. Interested students should submit the Internship Request Form and resume as part of the application process and speak with their college advisor to find out whether there are any limitations or restrictions on how internship credit counts in their degree.

IRP480.2 Human Development and International Cooperation (at the U. of Florence) (Fall)

Open only to students accepted to the special program Florence Center & University of Florence (courses taught in English). 

Taught in English by the University of Florence and open to Syracuse University students. The course covers theories, objectives and instruments as well as the analysis of the economic and social effects of international cooperation programs, economic aid and development projects. Following some introductory lectures on the changing landscape of international cooperation and general theoretical and descriptive issues (part A), the course will address key theoretical and empirical issues regarding international assistance and cooperation for development (part B) which is accompanied by case studies. Some seminars will also be held during the course (part C).

May also be registered as ECN 380.5.

Prereq: Introductory economics course and introductory statistics course

IRP380.1 International Conflict Transformation (Fall)

Taught in English by the University of Florence on the Syracuse Florence campus; open to both Syracuse University program and University of Florence students. 

This course focuses on the role of international organizations and NGOs, and their use of both diplomacy and “soft” power, in the resolution of international conflicts, with examples derived from Italian, European, and global peace initiatives.  Managing, resolving and overcoming violent conflicts always entails social change, and this course will provide a theoretical overview of and foster a critical reflection on conflict resolution and social change.  The course will combine four dimensions of work: theories of conflict and its transformation; practical skills related to conflict transformation; analysis of country and sectoral case studies; the experiential dimension of personal attitudes and experiences toward conflict and positive social change.

Meets with PSC 380.1.

This course follows the Syracuse Florence Center calendar.

Special enrollment: to be considered for permission to take this course, students must list course among the Primary Course Selections on their Student Advising Form and submit the form by the deadline.

HST454 Family and Gender in Contemporary Italy (Fall, Spring)

Family structures and gender relations in Italy from the Unification to the present.

From the extended family of the 19th century to the nuclear family of today, the history of family and gender in Italy is characterized by reversals and often ambiguous attempts to resist change. Provides critical understanding of sources and methods used to unravel complex developments of this period. Cross-listed with SOC 454 and WGS 454.

Counts as an IDEA course requirement for Syracuse students.

HST453 Twentieth-Century Europe (Spring)

Politics, society, war, and peace in Europe, 1919-1992. Nazi Germany, WW II, the Cold War, post-war reconstruction, social and economic transformations, and the revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe.

Lectures and readings from a general text focus on a single topic each week. Novels, primary documents, and films and documentaries offer additional perspectives. Major topics include the division of Europe, Eastern Europe in the 1950s and 1960s, and current developments.

Cross-listed with PSC 453.

HST409 A History of Witchcraft: Popular Culture, Folk Magic, and Religious Reform in Europe in the 14th–17th Centuries (Fall)

History of witchcraft from various perspectives: its intellectual roots, the causes and dynamics of the witch-hunt, and the beliefs and self-perceptions of those who were called “witches”.

Examines the foundations of magic and witchcraft in the West. Starting from the categorization of such beliefs in the Late Antiquity, the course moves on to the formation of the stereotypical image of the witch between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance. After an exploration of the connections between the witch-hunt and the religious persecutions of the Reformation period, we take a “grassroots” look at the role of popular magic and witchcraft in the village context.

Cross-listed with ANT/REL/WGS 409.

HST355 The Italian Renaissance (Fall, Spring)

Renaissance in Italy, between 1330 and 1500. Political, economic, and intellectual developments.

Special emphasis on urban societies and civic traditions, and how these were transformed with the decline of the medieval city-states and the adoption of an increasingly aristocratic ethos and lifestyle by the Italian elites. Comparisons of republican and princely governments and political cultures; trends in intellectual life, especially the spread and influence of humanism and patronage of the arts; early 16th-century crisis of Italy and the political writings of Niccolò Machiavelli; the Council of Trent and the Catholic Reformation of the 16th century. Readings encompass both general studies and primary sources.

HST418 The Italian Mafia (Fall, Spring)

Sociological and historical approach examining the social, political, and historical conditions for and consequences of the rise of the Italian Mafia. Analyzes the strategic relevance of the absence of a political monopoly over the use of state power and its impact on the Sicilian social fabric. A major focus is the identification of the root causes of the Mafia and its political connections. Topics include: the difficult relationship between Sicily and the Italian state; the strategy adopted by the Fascist regime to cope with the Mafia; the revival of the Mafia in post-war Italy; the “social antimafia”; the Pizza connection and the heroin distribution network; the challenges of anti-Mafia activists; the work of the judiciary; the eco-mafias; the Mafia business today. Students will be able to understand how the power vacuum created in any failed state can give rise to powerful criminal organizations, how these organizations consolidate and use power to maintain their hegemony, and how, in such conditions, political governance becomes increasingly problematic.

Meets with SOC 418.