The course investigates the history of the built environment as technical, social, and cultural expressions from antiquity to the contemporary age. It studies building materials and expressions in terms of their chronology, context and stylistic developments, as well as themes, theories, and innovative practices in architecture and urban design. Among other focus topics, students are encouraged to consider architecture as a cultural expression, study its semiotic potential, ascertain its role within political aesthetics, and investigate its relationship to best practices in sustainable building. The course also considers architecture’s impact on humankind, how it shapes both human habitat and the natural environment, and how it has the potential to change human minds. In the Interim Summer Session I, 2025 the course will take place directly on site in Munich, Regensburg, and Prague from May 19-30. The emphasis will be on “architecture and its semiotic potential,” investigating individual forms and types of architecture, as well as specific building elements, and in what sense they become “carriers of meaning.” Particular topics are architecture and war, architecture and Nazism and architecture and Socialism, film architecture, corporate images as proclaimed in buildings, urban planning within specific post-war contexts, and the pressing topic of constructing sustainable buildings to respond to the manifestations of climate change and growing urbanizations. Further discussion will include what makes a smart city and architecture in the context of contemporary technology, such as AI. Specific studio workshops in drawing, photography, and storyboarding will further the understanding of how to represent architecture. A supplement may apply to the course fee. “The course cost covers accommodations in Munich, Regensburg, and Prague; transportation between cities; as well as local public transportation, museum and exhibition entrances, and some extracurricular activities. Students are required to make their own travel arrangements to Munich (arrival 19 May) and from Prague (departure 30 May). Please consult Professor Fassl prior to making your arrangements and make sure to meet all registration and deposit deadlines.”

This course introduces students to the basic concepts and tools needed to make wise and informed personal financial decisions. The content of this course is presented from a practical point of view and with an emphasis on the consumer as the financial decision-maker. The primary objective of this course is to help students apply finance practices to their own lives. For example, students will learn how to plan and manage personal finances, how to obtain credit to purchase a home or a car, and how to invest personal financial resources in stocks, bonds, and real estate. Students will also learn how to interpret financial and economic news that have an impact on personal finances.

This course focuses on the theory and practice of place-based education, helping students build leadership skills that foster active civic engagement. Through this, students learn to become involved and committed members of their chosen communities, developing the skills needed to contribute meaningfully to community life throughout their lives. Building on Franklin University’s goal “to prepare students to thrive in a diverse and interconnected world, and encourage them to explore and celebrate all voices and perspectives,” the aim of this course is to enable students to find their “sense of place” in the community organization of their choice. Through first-hand, personal experiences, students will develop a better foundation to interact with broader topics as they become active engaged members of their community. Effective oral and written communication are a fundamental part of the class, as students gain practical skills and tools to engage with their local community, and build learner-centered, interdisciplinary experiences.

(This course must be taken in conjunction with VCA 205) This course critically examines the intersection of AI and cinema through a philosophical lens, exploring how various philosophical frameworks can be applied to analyze AI’s impact on film. Topics include the ethical implications of AI-generated content, the nature of creativity in the age of AI, and the philosophical challenges posed by deepfake technology. Through readings, film screenings, and discussions, students will explore questions around AI’s potential to redefine narrative, authorship, and viewer engagement. This course encourages critical analysis, contextualizing AI’s role in cinema’s evolution and probing its ethical and aesthetic dimensions.

This course examines the intersection of language and culture: how language shapes our perception of the world and vice versa. Students will reflect on their own experiences with language and view that experience in light of readings that engage themes such as technology, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic class, bi/multilingualism, dialect, and political power. Readings will include essays from major publications, ethnographic studies, memoirs, and literary texts.

This course examines how people, particularly young people, consume media technologies and their contents in contemporary media-saturated life. Employing essential readings on media consumption, fashion, and identity as the theoretical backbone, students will engage in active site-based research project throughout the course. By offering an opportunity to undertake a field study in Milan, the course seeks to develop in-depth theoretical knowledge of the intersections of media consumption, fashion, and identity, as well as to cultivate critical reflection of students’ own consumption of media technologies. This course carries an additional fee for transportation and related activities in Milan: CHF 250 / USD 300.

This is an entry-level course in economics, covering fundamentals of microeconomics and aimed at students who choose it as an elective or plan to continue their studies in economics. This course helps students develop basic analytical skills in economics and microeconomics. It provides students with a basic understanding of the market system in advanced capitalist economies. It examines the logic of constrained choice with a focus on the economic behavior of individuals and organizations. After a theoretical analysis of the determinants and the interaction of supply and demand under competitive conditions, alternative market structures will be investigated, including monopolistic and oligopolistic forms. The course examines the conditions under which markets allocate resources efficiently and identifies causes of market failure and the appropriate government response. The introduction to the role of government includes its taxing and expenditure activities as well as regulatory policies.

This course will survey the history of Italy from the end of the Roman Empire to the dawn of the Renaissance. Topics covered in this nearly 1000-year stretch of time include, but are not limited to, the Germanic invasions of the fifth century, the rise of the papacy and the papal states, the Arab and Byzantine conquests of Sicily and southern Italy, civic government in the medieval city-states, political thought in the age of Dante, Humanism, and the early Renaissance fascination with Roman antiquity. This class takes advantage of FUS’s unique position on the doorstep of Italy and will include several guided visits to medieval churches, castles, towns, and abbeys in Ticino and the northern region of Italy. All reading are in English, a combination of medieval sources in translation and recent scholarship. (This course carries an additional fee: CHF 165 / USD 200).

Designed for students with no prior knowledge of Italian. ITA 100 employs immersive experiential learning pedagogy, providing an introduction to the essentials of Italian grammar, vocabulary, and culture. The acquisition of aural/oral communication skills will be stressed and, as such, the predominant language of instruction will be Italian. By the end of the course students will achieve proficiency at the A1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Students are expected to acquire the basic knowledge of the written and spoken structures. Students are expected to read and comprehend short passages in Italian and to draft simple compositions / dialogues. Project-based assignments will be designed to foster practical communication skills and encourage efforts towards increased student integration in the local Italian-speaking community. Whenever possible, students will be encouraged to participate actively in local initiatives, festivals, events and to apply the skills they are mastering in class to their co-curricular learning on and off campus

This course explores the direct relationship between significant historical events and their effects on musical creation. The analysis of specific works will offer the opportunity to understand the direct impact politics has on art. Important events throughout the 19th and the 20th century will be presented through the impact they had in music history. A special section is dedicated to censorship and discrimination focusing on music written and performed under totalitarian rule. From the Entartete Musik (degenerate music), discriminated against by the Nazis, to John Adams’ opera Nixon in China, which marked the end of Mao’s Cultural Revolution, the course investigates the way in which music was able to follow its own creative path.

This course provides the basic analytic tools necessary for the understanding of international relations. After a brief introduction to the realist and liberal approaches to the study of international relations, the course covers various fundamental concepts, such as national power, foreign policy, conflict, political economy, international trade, and international organizations.

This course examines the political processes that shape conflict and consensus in Middle Eastern societies. From this perspective, main regional conflicts are analyzed. The confrontation between (1)Iran and the Arab World and (2)Israel and the region at large are surveyed in light of intra-Arab antagonisms and the historical great power rivalry for hegemony in the area. Special focus is directed toward an understanding of the politics of modernization and the clash between tradition and modernity. Recommended POL 100.

(This course must be taken in conjunction with CLCS 207) This course focuses on the practical application of AI tools in filmmaking, offering students hands-on experience with AI-driven storytelling, scripting, and cinematic composition. By combining traditional film techniques with advanced AI tools, students will learn to conceptualize, produce, and edit short films, gaining skills in story structure, character development, and AI-enhanced visual composition. Through workshops and project work, the course examines AI's role in current film practices, with an emphasis on ethical considerations and creative possibilities. The course culminates in a short film project that integrates AI tools from pre-production to post-production stages. (This course carries an additional fee: TBA).

This course explores key business and entrepreneurship ideas through the lens of food and drink companies in the canton of Ticino. The class will combine readings, case studies, videos and company visits which together will examine the challenges and opportunities of founding and growing food related businesses. A central component of the course will be visits to a series of firms in Ticino that produce food stuffs or beverages including a brewery, a winery, a cheesemaker, and an organic farm: through these visits, we will discuss with the owners/founders a range of topics including a) how and why they founded the company, b) what challenges they have had to overcome and c) their vision for their firm over the next five to ten years. We will be combining these company visits with readings and class discussions regarding key topics on small business management. Some of the topics we will be exploring include: marketing and promotion strategies; funding strategies; legal issues & regulatory compliance, and market competition. (This course carries an additional fee: CHF 165 / USD 200).

(This course must be taken in conjunction with ENV 280T) It seems almost a cliché to say that the literature of New Zealand feeds off its often wild and varied landscape. And yet - from the Māori creation narrative to Eleanor Catton’s 2013 Man Booker Prize-winning novel "The Luminaries" the ideas that define New Zealand's literary history are built around and shaped by the land. Against the backdrop of the narrated landscapes themselves, this course will draw on short and longer texts by authors such as Katherine Mansfield, Keri Hulme, Janet Frame, Owen Marshall, Hone Tuwhare, Catton and Kapka Kassabova, as well as on related visual culture (e.g. work by filmmaker Jane Campion), to explore the relationship between humans and the environment in New Zealand literature, focusing particularly on the central South Island and its East and West Coasts. How does this relationship negotiate notions of belonging and a "place to stand" in a postcolonial country where land is symbolic not only of internal, but also of external conflict? How do more recent migrants make critical use of these ideas (Kassabova)? How do the sharp edges and isolated spaces of the landscape convey the "small violences" of rural New Zealand (Mansfield, Frame, Marshall)? And how does literature raise the bigger questions about the destructive power of humankind (Tuwhare)?

In its most basic definition, sustainable development is described as “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” As countries around the world struggle to tackle the issues of climate disruption, water scarcity, resource exhaustion, population growth and socioeconomic conflicts, attention to methods of sustainable development is paramount, and financing those methods is increasingly important. In this context we posit the question: Is it possible for the current system of financial markets to facilitate the shift from an unsustainable world fueled by fossil hydrocarbons to a more desirable one powered by renewable energy? This course will examine how financial and capital markets operate on a transnational scale; and investigate the type of international governance over markets that would be needed to potentially produce fair and sustainable outcomes. The course will also examine the role individuals must perform as World Citizens motivated by a sense of responsibility towards the well-being of others beyond national boundaries.

(This course must be taken in conjunction with CLCS 275) This course examines the management of environmental resources in New Zealand and the discourse of sustainability from the island's perspective. It will focus on the challenge of conserving New Zealand's flora and fauna, as well as New Zealand's aggressive management of the non-native species that have arrived since human settlement. It will examine attempts to restore natural habitats through visits to the several restoration projects, and to Christchurch to study how environmental concerns are being incorporated into the city's recovery from the devastating 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. The course will also scrutinize the effects of tourism on the New Zealand environment and the opportunities that tourism also present. Lastly, the course will explore how the Maori culture influences environmental management in the country. (Previous coursework in environmental studies recommended.) This Academic Travel course carries a supplemental fee: CHF 850 / USD 1,025.

ITA 101 employs immersive experiential learning pedagogy, providing an introduction to the essentials of Italian grammar, vocabulary, and culture. This course is designed for students who have completed one semester of Italian language study. The course provides an introduction to the essentials of Italian grammar, vocabulary, and culture. The acquisition of aural/oral communication skills will be stressed and, as such, the predominant language of instruction will be Italian. By the end of the course students will achieve proficiency at the A2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Students will be expected to be proficient in the written and spoken usage of basic linguistic structures. Students will be expected to read and comprehend short passages in Italian and to draft simple compositions / dialogues. Project-based assignments will be designed to foster practical communication skills and encourage efforts towards increased student integration in the local Italian-speaking community. Whenever possible, students will be encouraged to participate actively in local initiatives, festivals, events and to apply the skills they are mastering in class to their co-curricular learning on and off campus.

This is a full immersion course that covers the material of ITA 200 and ITA 201 in four weeks, and prepares students for advanced language and literature study. Students will be expected to sign a pledge to use only Italian in and outside of the classroom. Students will develop the intermediate language competences in the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, while discussing and exploring cultural and social issues of Italy and Ticino. Upon successful completion of the course, students will reach the B1/B2 level of the European Common Framework of Reference for Languages. (This course carries an additional fee: TBA)

Switzerland boasts one of the oldest and most stable democracies in the world. Political and other social scientists have studied the Swiss system extensively and tried to address what is sometimes referred to as "the mystery of Swiss identity". This course will take a systematic approach to the study of Swiss political and social institutions, with particular attention to the federal structures and electoral system. Readings and lectures will also review some of the economic, historical, social and cultural dimensions that underpin Swiss politics. Assignments will allow students to explore specific issues in the context of their own majors. (This course carries an additional fee: TBA).

This course will look at various topics related to white-collar crimes, and its impact on enterprises and society. The course aims to prepare students to become more aware and resilient to criminal challenges in a modern, globalized work environment and as future leaders. The lecture will introduce the phenomenon "Economic Crime" as a considerable and not only financial risk in business activity. Future managers need to be sensitized in order to prevent themselves and their companies from damage.

The focused act of drawing is known to create a deeper understanding and connection to the world around you. In this class you’ll learn how to draw, paint and collage your experiences En Plein Air on campus and around Lugano. Each student will create a personal travel log/sketchbook as they learn skill-building rendering techniques, narrative questioning and prompts. Through this process, you’ll build your ability to create a deeper and more meaningful experience for your academic travel and life.

This advanced writing course consolidates students’ academic communication skills through the theme of business and work ethics. Students will engage with philosophical texts and case studies dealing with various aspects of business and/or work ethics -- distributive justice, social responsibility and environmentally conscious business practices among others -- in order to improve critical reading, argumentative writing, and oral presentation/debating skills. The course helps students understand that academic communication primarily involves entering a conversation with others and particular emphasis will be placed on responding to other people’s arguments as well as developing their own arguments based on those responses. Using the broad theme of business and work ethics as a medium for discussion, students will not only explore what it means to join an academic community and their role in that community as purveyors of knowledge but also work towards entering the job/internship market with polished application materials. (This writing-intensive course counts towards the Academic Writing requirements.)