Educational offer 2025 / 26

1st-2nd-3rd year, 12 hours in total, with final verification.
The course aims to provide useful tools for those who are engaged in academic writing and wish to produce clear, correct, and effective texts. It is aimed specifically at doctoral students who are undertaking thesis writing and who need practical guidance in argumentative writing. The first part of the course (Prof. Gola) introduces the topic of academic writing; the second part (Prof. Ervas) presents the structure of argumentative texts; and the third part (Prof. Sergioli) presents the main argumentative fallacies or errors that can occur in argumentation.
Paths: Philosophy and history of concepts; Logic and epistemology; Pedagogical and psychological sciences.

1st-2nd-3rd year, 20 hours in total, with final verification. Aimed at all doctoral programs.
The aim of the course is to promote among doctoral students from all scientific fields a critical analysis of the phenomena of horizontal and vertical segregation that continue to shape profound asymmetries in the disciplinary distribution and career paths between men and women in the context of high-level academic and research. The focus of the training activity is based on this contextual analysis to highlight the social, cultural, and organizational practices and mechanisms that produce these asymmetries and to explore the policy tools and strategies implemented at the local, national, and international levels, from a comparative perspective, to counter all forms of discrimination based on gender and gender identity and to promote equality, inclusion, and the valorization of diversity, from an intersectional perspective (e.g., Gender Equality Plan, Diversity Plan, Gender Balance). The priority thematic areas of the lessons are: work/family/life balance and organizational culture; gender balance in senior positions and decision-making bodies; promoting gender equality in recruitment processes and career progression; integrating gender into research and scientific training; strategies to combat all forms of discrimination and all expressions of gender-based violence in academia; and promoting gender-sensitive language and communication in universities and research settings.
Paths: Philosophy and history of concepts; Logic and epistemology; Pedagogical and psychological sciences.

1st-2nd-3rd year, 20 hours in total, with a final exam. Suitable for all doctoral programs.
The aim of this course is to introduce the European Community framework programs, specifically the Horizon Europe program, its structure, work programs, and calls for proposals. It provides information on how to frame one’s research activity within this context, the tools for submitting a proposal, and the evaluation criteria, starting with practical examples. It includes a detailed description of how to write a successful proposal, exploring the three main components: excellence, impact, and implementation. Each lesson consists of a theoretical component and a practical component, consisting of independent work on project proposals. Best practices and suggestions from researchers at the University of Cagliari who have received funding in this field will be presented.
Paths: Philosophy and history of concepts, Logic and epistemology, Pedagogical and psychological sciences.

1st-2nd-3rd year, 12 hours in total (3 modules of 4 hours alternating between theoretical reflections and laboratory activities), with no final exam.
The aim of the course is to provide an opportunity to explore current knowledge in the field of disability, with the goal of promoting equity, equal opportunities, and participation for people with disabilities across different life domains and at different stages of the life cycle. Based on the approach of Clinical Psychology of Disability, it focuses on inclusive pathway models in research and in the school/university context, through the comparison and integration of approaches based on Reasonable Accommodation and Universal Design.
Paths: Pedagogical and Psychological Sciences. Link to dedicated page.

1st year, 16 hours (8 classes), from January to March 2026. Prerequisites: Proficiency in the metatheory of classical propositional logic. Basic notions of algebra (order, lattice) and universal algebra (variety, quasivariety, class operator). The course will be held in person. Please first contact Prof. Nicolò Zamperlin (n.zamperlin@gmail.com) to join the course.
The course is a quick introduction to the theory of algebraizability of Blok and Pigozzi. Through the study of the first chapters of Font’s handbook on abstract algebraic logic we will explore the necessary notions for any further investigation of the modern approach to algebraic logic. The goal of the course is to provide students which the minimal tools to access to the current literature about abstract algebraic logic. We will review the basic notions (consequence relations and closure operators) that precisely specify the definition of logic we will be working with and we will adapt these notions to classes of algebras. We will then move to the core of the theory of algebraizability, introducing the fundamentals (algebraic semantics, Lindenbaum-Tarski process, definition of algebraizability), exploring equivalence results (syntactic characterization, Leibniz congruence and isomorphism theorem), concluding with a glimpse to the semantics of matrices (logical matrix, Leibniz-reduced model).
Path: Logic and Epistemology. Link to dedicated page

1st-2nd-3rd year, 10 hours in total, without final verification.
The course provides knowledge in the theory of metaphor and argumentation, including an experimental approach. In the first session, the theoretical foundations of the study of metaphor within various argumentative frameworks are laid. In the second session, the main experimental findings on the persuasive effect of metaphors in various types of argumentative fallacies are presented. In the third session, the course presents some studies on the effect of metaphorical framing in health communication.
Paths: Philosophy and history of concepts; Logic and epistemology; Pedagogical and psychological sciences. Link to dedicated page.

1st, 2nd, and 3rd year course, 2 hours total, no final evaluation, taught in English, of potential interest to philosophers, psychologists, and pedagogists, given the interdisciplinary nature of the teachers’ work.
The seminar focuses on a series of little-explored phenomena, at the intersection of philosophy of mind and aesthetics, which often straddle perception and cognition: these include appearances, glances, mirages, illusions, and impressions. These phenomena have a real impact on many aspects of our lives and deserve much more in-depth philosophical analysis than they have received. Although (Western) philosophy has traditionally contrasted appearance with reality, the project aims to demonstrate that the phenomena in question are best studied not as a negative counterpart to reality, but as aspects of reality in their own right. Link to the dedicated page.

1st-2nd-3rd year, 9 hours (3 lessons of 3 hours), May 14, 21, 28, without final evaluation.
The course offers an interdisciplinary introduction to the theoretical, methodological, and conceptual foundations of economics, with particular attention to their relevance to philosophy, psychology, and logic. The aim is to provide critical tools for understanding economic language and models, as well as for reflecting on their normative and epistemological implications. Link to the dedicated page.

1st-2nd year, 21 hours in total, without final verification.
It aims to establish a comparative study of information and inference in psychology and offers a historical/epistemological perspective on the topic. There are no prerequisites for prior knowledge or skills. It is open to both students with no prior knowledge of cognitive and decision sciences and students with extensive research experience in this field.
Paths: Philosophy and history of concepts; Logic and epistemology; Pedagogical and psychological sciences. Link to dedicated page.

1st-2nd-3rd year, 10 hours in total, with a final exam. Designed for all doctoral programs.
It includes 4 introductory hours covering the principles of effective communication, managing the planning of a speech, preparing supporting materials, and preparing and presenting a research topic according to the principles of effective communication. These theoretical lessons will be interspersed with exercises where doctoral students will have the opportunity to practice presenting content related to their ongoing research.
Paths: Philosophy and History of Concepts; Logic and Epistemology; Pedagogical and Psychological Sciences. Link to dedicated page.

1st-2nd-3rd year, 14 hours in total, with a final exam. Open to all PhD paths.
It introduces the topics of scientific communication, copyright, open access, and research evaluation. It also presents the main tools for conducting effective bibliographic research on sector resources (the module varies based on the doctoral student’s field of expertise). Upon completion of the course, students will have a better understanding of electronic research infrastructures, the tools and services available for publishing, including open access, and the methods for evaluating researchers’ scientific productivity.
Paths: Philosophy and History of Concepts; Logic and Epistemology; Pedagogical and Psychological Sciences.

1st-2nd-3rd year, 2 hours, 17 March 2026, 15:00 to 17:00, no final evaluation. The course will be held in person and online.
“Many people, at various times, places, and cultures, have believed that language has special magical power. Spells, enchantments, blessing and curses, exorcisms and summonings, have all been thought to rely on certain distinctive uses of language. In this paper, I examine three ways of understanding the alleged magical power of language, as illocutionary, as perlocutionary, and as something analogous to mechanical. I argue that none can work as a general account of the magical uses of language, as seen from the point of view of those who engage in such practices. I conclude with the suggestion that such a power is not just non-existent but conceptually impossible.”
Link to the dedicated page.

(expected in autumn 2026), 1st-2nd year, 6 hours in total (three 2-hour sessions: Mind/Brain – the current state of research and debate; Causes/Motives – comparing perspectives; The contributions of hermeneutics and phenomenology), with a final exam. Despite the prevailing tendency toward causal modeling, we are far from cognitive advances and theoretical developments capable of fully explaining/justifying the absorption of motivation into causality, or the exclusion of motivation from constructs that include mental functioning and the dynamism of psychic life. In this regard, not only does psychoanalytic theory continue to constitute an important point of comparison today—specifically with regard to the question of causes/motives—but the contributions of hermeneutics and phenomenology are also strategic, both in relation to this question and in the context of research aimed at constructing an integrated model of mind-brain “reality.”
Paths: Philosophy and history of concepts; Logic and epistemology.

1st-2nd-3rd year, 6 hours in total, without final exam.
The course aims to provide the foundation for successfully completing the doctoral program and the initial postdoctoral phases in the current competitive and international academic world. It addresses topics such as, among others: how the job market works in Italy and abroad, how to organize one’s time and energy during the doctoral program, how to write funding applications, and what opportunities are available in Italy and abroad. The course is interactive and includes individual and group work by participating students, as well as lectures by the instructor. Before and during the course, students are encouraged to present their difficulties and questions for discussion and individual and group learning. There is also a post-course phase where students can interact with each other and with the instructor to continue their learning.
Paths: Philosophy and History of Concepts, Logic and Epistemology, Pedagogical and Psychological Sciences. Link to dedicated page.