The educational objective of the two-year degree course is to transmit knowledge and skills in the fields of social, economic, demo-ethno-anthropological, political, historical and juridical sciences and of particular practical skills related to the resolution of problems related to setting, planning and execution of cooperation and economic development interventions in areas, in various capacities, defined depressed or lagging behind, on a global scale.
The training aims at transmitting the attitudes needed to operate within organized contexts such as the public administration, both at local and national level, governmental and non-governmental international and third sector organizations, as well, in all the private, national and international, companies with a specific interest in undertaking investments in less developed economic areas.
The course aims at training professionals active in the field of cooperation and development, providing them with the tools for understanding the realities of underdevelopment, the problems inherent in economic growth and sustainable development, the policies to combat poverty and the modelling, democratization, globalization and international regulation processes.
The course also intends to prepare students for research and field analysis, both public and private, capable of providing, within university and extra-university work contexts, indications and scientific interpretation on the effectiveness of existing interventions and of the their economic value.
The educational path includes mandatory and optional teachings, and is designed according to some specific criteria: allowing students to formulate their own choices based on their own professional perspectives and their previous university course; guaranteeing the mobility of students in the existing double degree programs; guaranteeing a wide range of practical activities and field experiences alongside basic educational activities.
The teachings, of which more than 50% are provided in English, include among the first year mandatory activities: teachings related to Statistical Indicators and Measures of Poverty, Human Rights, Anthropology of Development, Contemporary History in the post-colonial perspective, and studies on globalization and international politics; in the second year: international economics, statistical analysis for public policies, international law and comparative law studies, geopolitical and environmental studies and migration studies.
The training course includes a significant number of educational internationalization programs, with two double degree programs and two integrated study programs, providing a further contribution to the training course in the field of international relations in the MENA area (Middle East and North Africa) in partnership with the University of Tunis El Manar in Tunisia and in the field of Anthropological and Development Studies in the Central American area with the Universidad Tecnologica de Bolivar in Colombia.
The training course also includes seminar-type activities, laboratories and practical and theoretical in-depth studies carried out also in collaboration with sector experts and foreign professors, the acquisition of further linguistic knowledge in Italy and during periods of mobility abroad, internships in Italy and abroad within cooperation and development aid projects, in agreement with associations and NGOs, and the acquisition of knowledge useful to enter the labour market, with planning seminars, educational visits and other activities always in agreement with NGOs. Development planning specifically analyses the reference contexts on which to operate, ensuring the best functionality and impact of available financial resources.