Altinópolis, una utopia brasiliana. Analisi di una esperienza di educazione alla pace e non violenza come pratica alternativa dell'educazione popolare

The present thesis has as its object of study a project called “Education towards Peace and No Violence”, developed in the town of Altinópolis, in the inner part of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Based on the analysis and the studies that were carried out, it was possible to identify the difficulties in the implementation of the project, as well as the positive results evidenced by the reduction of the reports of violence in the town. Through a careful research of the historical facts, it shall be demonstrated the progress of education, particularly in Brazil, throughout the years. In addition, a panoramic view of the studies and programs for peace developed in North America and Occidental Europe will be presented. The education for peace based in the holistic concept of human development appeared as a new educational paradigm that works as a crucial instrument in the construction process towards a peaceful and more human society based in social justice.

L'anno che non fu? L'anno dell'Europa e la crisi nelle relazioni transatlantiche, 1973/74

The 1970s are in the limelight of a growing historiographic attention, partly due to the recent opening of new archival resources. 1973, in particular, has a special interest in the historian’s eyes, as many are the events that happened that year: to name but a few, the Chilean coup, the October War, the ensuing oil crisis, the Vietnamese peace treaty. So it is may be not entirely surprising that not much attention has been paid to the Year of Europe, a nebulous American initiative destined to sum up to nothing practical - as Kissinger himself put it, it was destined to be the Year that never Was.1 It is my opinion, however, that its failure should not conceal its historical interest. Even though transatlantic relations have sometimes been seen as an uninterrupted history of crisis,2 in 1973 they reached what could then be considered as their unprecedented nadir. I believe that a thorough analysis of the events that during that year found the US increasingly at odds with the countries of Western Europe is worth carrying out not only to cast a new light on the dynamics of transatlantic relations but also to deepen our comprehension of the internal dynamics of the actors involved, mainly the Nixon administration and a unifying Europe. The Nixon administration had not carefully planned what the initiative actually should have amounted to, and its official announcement appears to have been one of Kissinger’s coups de theatre. Yet the Year of Europe responded to the vital priority of revitalising the relations with Western Europe, crucial ally, for too long neglected. But 1973 did not end with the solemn renewal of the Atlantic Declaration that Kissinger had sought. On the contrary, it saw, for the first time, the countries of the newly enlarged EC engaged in a real, if short-lived, solidarity on foreign policy, which highlighted the Nixon administration’s contradictions regarding European integration. Those, in addition to the numerous tensions that already strained transatlantic relations, gave birth to a downward spiral of incomprehensions and misperceptions, which the unexpected deflagration of the October war seriously worsened. However, even though the tensions did not disappear, the European front soon started to disintegrate, mainly under the strains imposed by the oil crisis. Significant changes in the leadership of the main European countries helped to get the tones back to normal. During the course of 1974-5, the substantial failure of the Euro-Arab dialogue, the Gymlich compromise, frequent and serene bilateral meetings bear witness that the worst was over.

Environmental weathering of natural and artificial stones used in historical architecture: influence of microstructure and new restoration methods

For some study cases (the Cathedral of Modena, Italy, XII-XIV century; the Ducal Palace in Mantua, Italy, XVI century; the church of San Francesco in Fano, Italy, XIV-XIX century), considered as representative of the use of natural and artificial stones in historical architecture, the complex interaction between environ-mental aggressiveness, materials’ microstructural characteristics and degradation was investigated. From the results of such analyses, it was found that materials microstructure plays a fundamental role in the actual extent to which weathering mechanisms affect natural and artificial stones. Consequently, the need of taking into account the important role of material microstructure, when evaluating the environmental aggressiveness to natural and artificial stones, was highlighted. Therefore, a possible quantification of the role of microstructure on the resistance to environmental attack was investigated. By exposing stone samples, with significantly different microstructural features, to slightly acidic aqueous solutions, simulating clean and acid rain, a good correlation between weight losses and the product of carbonate content and specific surface area (defined as the “vulnerable specific surface area”) was found. Alongside the evaluation of stone vulnerability, the development of a new consolidant for weathered carbonate stones was undertaken. The use of hydroxya-patite, formed by reacting the calcite of the stone with an aqueous solution of di-ammonium hydrogen phosphate, was found to be a promising consolidating tech-nique for carbonates stones. Indeed, significant increases in the mechanical prop-erties can be achieved after the treatment, which has the advantage of simply con-sisting in a non-hazardous aqueous solution, able to penetrate deeply into the stone (> 2 cm) and bring significant strengthening after just 2 days of reaction. Furthermore, the stone sorptivity is not eliminated after treatment, so that water and water vapor exchanges between the stone and the environment are not com-pletely blocked.

Vedere e rivedere il non osservabile. Analisi storica e questioni concettuali aperte nel rapporto tra Cinematografia e Scienza

La ricerca è incentrata sul rapporto tra cinema e scienza e sul ruolo della cinematografia come strumento di ricerca scientifica: si articola in due parti storicamente distinte, ma al tempo stesso strettamente correlate da una riflessione critica sul ruolo delle immagini in movimento rispetto al tema comune a entrambe della visualizzazione e rappresentazione del non osservabile nella realtà fisica.

Visualising In/Equalities through Contemporary Documentary Cinema. A Diffractive Reading of Feminist Practices in Spanish and Italian Non-Fiction Films

This thesis brings together feminist documentary film theory and feminist new materialism(s) to describe how feminist material-discursive practices in a sample of Spanish and Italian documentary cinema made between 2013-2018 (can) visualise gender in/equalities. The accomplished objectives have been: 1. Building a bridge between feminist documentary film theory and Karen Barad’s diffractive methodology by approaching non-fiction cinema that deals with social inequalities as a diffraction apparatus. 2. Developing a feminist toolbox for a response-able gaze by gathering different insights from feminist film theory. 3. Identifying feminist material-discursive practices in a sample of documentary films produced in Spain and Italy over the last six years (2013-2018). 4. Analysing the effects that these feminist material-discursive practices in documentary cinema have, particularly in terms of visualising gender in/equalities on both sides of the camera and on both sides of the screen. 5. Revealing patterns between the ten case studies by reading through one another (i.e. diffractively) insights raised in each one of them. In ten documentary films/case studies, I identify patterns of continuities and differences concerning feminist material-discursive practices at four levels: content, form, production and reception. In terms of contents, I detect two patterns in which feminist material-discursive practices may operate: enacting the right to appear or enacting the right to look back and/or against the grain. As for the forms, I exemplify how feminism politicises Bill Nichols’s six modes of representation. My analysis of production practices is elaborated along the filmmakers’ self-positions/situatedness, tensions/obstructions, and effects/affects/emotions regarding four key concepts: documentary cinema, equality, gender and feminism(s). And in the case of reception practices, I identify patterns of affective identification and/or intellectual reflections.