The aim of the course is to enable students to acquire advanced training on the theme of social institutions, with specific reference to the analysis of the different meanings with which this concept was used in the social sciences, particularly in sociology. The evolution of relevant social institutions will be examined, with particular reference to the family and marriage, in their relations with legal and political institutions. Particular attention will be paid to the theory of social institutions and to social integration through law. On the basis of the acquired knowledge, students and students will be able to develop analytical skills regarding the contents and characteristics of social and institutional change.
The acquisition of this knowledge will allow students and students of the last year of the master's degree course to verify their cultural interests and better define their study preferences also in preparation for the thesis.

 

The course starts from a recognition of the contributions of sociology to the study of social institutions, conducted with a wide recognition of the most relevant contributions produced by sociological reflection. An in-depth study of the theory of institutions will be developed, understood as intermediate social formations that lie between the individual and society as a whole.
The theoretical vicissitudes of the study of institutions, with particular reference to their relationship with social integration, will be presented paying particular attention to the positivist-functionalist current, starting from the origins of sociological thought with Auguste Comte and then retracing Emile Durkheim's conceptions, Eugen Ehrlich, Niklas Luhmann and Talcott Parsons, which will be directly examined the main written in the subject .. It will be highlighted how in all these authors the study of institutions has helped to highlight the integrative function of law, both as an answer to the problem of social order, and more recently, in relation to the inclusion of minorities in contemporary pluralist society.
The course will end with a specific study of a fundamental social institution, marriage, which in Western countries has experienced rapid and dramatic changes over the last few decades.

 

It is expected that students will acquire:
1. knowledge and understanding: mastery of basic knowledge about the course's main topics, developing critical evaluation skills, avoiding ideological simplifications; mastery of basic knowledge about the historical development of social institutions in the broader context of the formation and development of modern Western and European society, with particular reference to its constituent elements
 The students will attain these basic knowledge: by participating in lessons and the analytical study of the texts proposed by the teacher and discussed in the classroom.
2. Applying knowledge and understanding: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the concepts and theories presented in the course; svilupppare insights, both from the standpoint of both theoretical and empirical.
To be achieved through classroom discussions, confrontation with the teacher, the study of texts.
3. Capacity of judgment: critical reflection on themes, topics, authors, the texts presented.
This capability will mature in the interaction in the classroom, with the teacher and with fellow students, in the reading of essays, articles, scientific papers.
4. Communication skills: the ability to communicate their knowledge in a clear and correct
Outcomes by means of discussions in the classroom interact actively during lectures, workshops, seminars, answering questions, asking questions and also through written contributions.
5. Learning Skills: capacity for abstract thinking, methods of analysis of the problems, of independent judgment.
Skills to be acquired primarily discussing and arguing with other students and with the teacher the themes of the course. Knowledge of the presented study materials will gain a greater capacity for further learning. The teacher in the course of teaching will encourage the acquisition of such skills, which will be evaluated during the examination

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

through the Moodle platform  will be made available to students numerous materials, consisting both in texts and in significant pictures and photographs to allow them to put in context the social and legal changes that will be covered in the course. 

Teaching

Frontal lessons. Explanation of the best use of the work materials uploaded by the teacher in the Moodle platform

Attendance

Contextual study of texts and materials provided in all specified parts; frequency of at least ¾ of the hours of actually taught lessons.

Course books

Colozzi I.,  Sociologia delle istituzioni, Liguori, Napoli 2009, pp. 216

Belvisi F., Verso l'inclusione. La teoria delle istituzioni e l'integrazione sociale mediante il diritto, CLUEB, Bologna 2012 , pp.137

Parsons T.  Prolegomeni a una teoria delle istituzioni sociali Armando Editore, Roma 1998 , pp. 80

Arosio  L.,   Sociologia del matrimonio, Carocci, Roma 2017, pp. 112

Cavalli A. - Douglas M., voce Istituzioni,  Enciclopedia delle scienze sociali, Treccani, Roma 1996, pp. 28

http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/istituzioni_%28Enciclopedia-delle-scienze-sociali%29/

Elster J., Le istituzioni sociali, in A. Oliverio Ferraris, A. Oliverio, Il mondo delle scienze umane, Zanichelli, Bologna 2012, pp. 3

http://online.scuola.zanichelli.it/mondoscienzeumane/files/2012/04/sezione_G_istituzioni.pdf

A list of alternative texts in English can be provided by the teacher

Une liste de textes alternatifs en français peut être fournie par le professeur

Assessment

The purpose of this review is to assess the basic knowledge related to the current epistemological structure of the studies on the social and legal institutions, a mastery of the issues that relate to the evolution of the law and social institutions in their relations with social , economic and cultural change, the ability to critically examine the changes and evolution of these phenomena in the context of Italian and European society. 

The assessment is done individually on the occasion of regular exams and is done by a committee chaired by the form teacher, by oral examination. Students having regularly attended course lessons

At the end of the lessons, attending students and students who have complied with the attendance obligations will be able to take a written test, using open-ended questions. 

Students who have passed the written test will be able to directly use the evaluation obtained in the test itself in any subsequent official exam session. In order for the outcome of the exam to be recorded in the official minutes, students will have to register online for the exam in which they intend to validate the vote.

Attending students who have not passed any written tests, or who have not done them, can present themselves at the normal exam sessions to take the exam entirely in oral form.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Individual study of the course program in all its parts

Attendance

Not required.

Course books

Belvisi F., Verso l'inclusione. La teoria delle istituzioni e l'integrazione sociale mediante il diritto, CLUEB, Bologna 2012

Colozzi I.,  Sociologia delle istituzioni, Liguori, Napoli 2009, pp. 216

Belvisi F., Verso l'inclusione. La teoria delle istituzioni e l'integrazione sociale mediante il diritto, CLUEB, Bologna 2012 , pp.137

Arosio  L.,   Sociologia del matrimonio, Carocci, Roma 2017, pp. 112

Cavalli A. - Douglas M., voce Istituzioni,  Enciclopedia delle scienze sociali, Treccani, Roma 1996, pp. 28

http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/istituzioni_%28Enciclopedia-delle-scienze-sociali%29/

Elster J., Le istituzioni sociali, in A. Oliverio Ferraris, A. Oliverio, Il mondo delle scienze umane, Zanichelli, Bologna 2012, pp. 3

http://online.scuola.zanichelli.it/mondoscienzeumane/files/2012/04/sezione_G_istituzioni.pdf

Assessment

The assessment is done individually on the occasion of regular exams and is done by a committee chaired by the form teacher, by oral examination.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

The student can request to sit the final exam in English with an alternative bibliography in this language.

L'examen et la bibliographie seront en langue française à la demande de l'étudiant/e.