Sociology

This specific part of the course will deepen the concept of social sustainability, correlating with the emerging dynamics within contemporary urban territories. These are increasingly marked by processes of exclusion in a context marked by a socio-economic crisis, as a consequence of risks, external societies (pandemic) or self-produced by inadequately governed sociological dynamics (poverty, social exclusion). The course aims to identify, on the basis of the study of urban contexts in which inequalities emerge more than others, experiences of social sustainability to be taken as good practices. The goal is to contribute to the construction of policies shared by the various actors, aimed at contrasting marginalization and social exclusion and overcoming educational, social and economic disparities, especially among young people. The idea is that experimenting with new modes of action in this sector can generate positive impacts capable of bringing about sustainable changes in the medium and long term in the communities and territories in which they occur. 1. Knowledge and understanding. After successfully taking the exam, the student will need to know: the difference and similarities between the concepts of modernity, innovation, development, and growth; the constitutive elements of the ideas of social exclusion and sustainability; the main analytical approaches, methods and tools of the interpretative analyzes developed to decode the processes of urbanization, modernization, sustainable social development; the most recent theories on inclusive public policies. 2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding. From the point of view of empirical research, after passing the exam, the student must have acquired the ability to: thematize a research problem with specific reference to the forms and contents of the processes and structures that favour or oppose social and economic development sustainable; build a research project based on the categories and tools of the approaches presented in the course, read and comment on texts on topics related to studies on social innovation and sustainability, social exclusion and inclusion policies; build a research project on a case study, with particular attention to the identification of research problems and questions and the definition of the research methodology. 3. The development of critical and judgment skills will be fostered by activities aimed at a)evaluating the main strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches to the study of sustainable development processes, especially in the most deprived urban contexts, from an economic and social point of view. b) To identify and apply the research methods and tools most appropriate to the cognitive objectives of the survey with competence and critical ability. 4. The ability to communicate what has been learned will be developed through public display activities; the content of complex texts on the issues of sustainability, social exclusion, and marginality; the results of the analyzes carried out; of a research project and the main results of a research carried out. 5. The ability to autonomously pursue the study of the topics addressed will be fostered by learning to conduct bibliographic research and write a literature review.