Politics, Economics and Sustainability
The undergraduate course titled Politics, Economics and Sustainability is a specialist course of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of the Scuola Normale Superiore, integrated with the Master's Degree courses of the University of Florence.
The course is held in English and offers the tools for the integrated analysis and interpretation of the changes in politics, society and the economy starting from the challenges of environmental and social sustainability.
The syllabus is divided into three main teaching areas plus a fourth, transversal one:
1) socio-political: democracy, political communication, associations and social movements, comparative politics;
2) socio-economic: political economy, social politics, sociology of work, including technological innovation, inequalities, gender relations and migrations;
3) socio-environmental: climate change and ecological and social sustainability, transformation of daily values and practice, forms of regulation and environmental policies, socio-technical transition;
4) methodological: qualitative and quantitative tools for research and analysis of policies.
Each area involves one obligatory course. The rest of the courses are optional and are shared with the Ph.D. course in Political Science and Sociology of the Scuola Normale Superiore, thus offering a unique learning experience side by side with students from all over the world already engaged in research projects.
Distinctive features of the course are the international environment of the Scuola Normale and the diligent study and research tutoring on the part of mentors and supervisors. The course is intended above all for those who have completed a three-year degree in political science, sociology, economics or environmental sciences.
Students of the Politics, Economics and Sustainability course of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences are enrolled concomitantly in one Master's Degree courses of the Scuola di Scienze Politiche "Cesare Alfieri" (the “Cesare Alfieri” School of Political Sciences) of the University of Florence (https://www.sc-politiche.unifi.it/vp-49-lauree-magistrali.html; https://www.sc-politiche.unifi.it/cmpro-v-p-620.html).
PIM - Politica, Istituzioni e Mercato (Politics, Institutions and the Market) (code LM-62)
SOSGLO - Sociologia e Sfide Globali (Sociology and Global Challenges) (Code LM-88)
RISE – Relazioni Internazionali e Studi Europei (International Relations and European Studies) (codes LM-52 and LM-90), which can also be taken entirely in English
For the optional examinations, students may choose courses in other Departments of the University of Florence, such as those on economic or environmental themes also offered in English by the Scuola di Economia e Management (The School of Economics and Management).
The course finishes with the preparation of a separate thesis but connected to that required by the Master's Degree of the University of Florence, on a topic pertaining to one of the courses attended at the Scuola Normale Superiore.
Admission to the Politics, Economics and Sustainability course of the Scuola Normale Superiore is by a selection process. Students admitted will have their university taxes paid for them, free lodging at the Aldo Capitini residence of the Scuola Normale in Florence and free use of the canteen service.
The venues for the course are in Florence, at Palazzo Strozzi and Palazzo Vegni. The course involves 4 courses per year for a total of 80 hours per year. The start date of the courses is 1st November 2024.
The occupational prospects of the students of the undergraduate course in Politics, Economics and Sustainability lie in both the public and the private sector. The course prepares for both social research and the analysis and communication of policies on the topics of environmental, energy and technological transitions. It offers tools both for carrying on their studies in both post-doc Master’s Degree and Ph.D.s, starting from that of the SNS, and for engaging in high-level occupations in the public sector, European institutions, international organisations, organisations of civil society (above all on topics of the environment, development and social rights), research institutes, consulting companies, study offices of companies and mass media.