University of Naples L'Orientale

Master's Degree in Relations and Institutions of Asia and Africa

These objectives will be achieved by following three learning areas:

• the first includes internationalist courses within compulsory disciplinary areas (International Relations; Law; Economics; Social Sciences) mainly placed in the first year;
• the second includes a two-year course of a non-European language and culture (e.g. Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, etc.) at an advanced level. Knowledge of the area language directs the choice of the regional area of specialization and the related area teachings, while not excluding the possibility of relating different areas and/or themes;
• the third includes a core of area teachings from the sectors L/OR-10, SPS/13, SPS/14, L/OR-23 of historical-political, socio-economic and internationalist nature, as well as an exam chosen from a wide range of subjects from different scientific-disciplinary sectors.

The study path is completed by:

• exam of the student's free choice. This option allows the student to further deepen his/her specialist area skills or, vice versa, to enhance his/her disciplinary knowledge in the fields of, for example, economics, political science, contemporary history, etc.;
• professional internships and other training activities, including linguistic ones, field research in Italy and abroad, made possible by the vast network of contacts, relationships and agreements of the University with foreign universities, especially in the areas of interest of the Degree Course. In particular, professional internships contribute to the acquisition of practical skills that prepare students for entering the world of work and their ability to adapt to transnational multicultural contexts;
• preparation of the degree thesis, which must demonstrate, at the end of the course, the full achievement of the educational objectives in terms of the ability to apply knowledge and understanding to research topics never previously explored.

The Master's Degree in Relations and Institutions of Asia and Africa aims to:

• to train graduates capable of competently and autonomously managing contexts characterised by a strong international dimension, with particular reference to non-Western realities, such as those of the countries of Asia, Africa and the Middle East;
• provide advanced skills on specific issues of development, social and political change, and the growing interdependence with the economies, societies and cultures of the above-mentioned areas and the Western world;
• provide multidisciplinary skills, which connect teachings belonging to different fields (economic, political, sociological, historical, legal, linguistic-cultural, etc.) with constant attention to area issues and their connections with the global processes and movements underway in contemporary society;
• encourage the study of the dynamics of relationships between the various emerging regional areas along a horizontal (South-South) as well as vertical (North-South) perspective with a training approach that appears particularly adequate to respond to the growing demand for internationalist skills that affects the Italian system with regard to both the processes of foreign policy formation and the role of Italy in international and supranational bodies, as well as the dynamics of internationalization of the economy and society, and finally the formulation of policies on major global issues such as development, environment, equal opportunities, citizenship rights, population movements, conflict prevention, etc.

The course aims to train graduates capable of operating in contexts such as those of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, characterised by a strong international dimension, with particular reference to the issues of development, social and political change, and growing interdependence at an international level.

The main employment opportunities for this profile are to be found in the field of diplomacy and international and supranational organizations: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, European Union, United Nations and other international organizations, international offices of Regions and local authorities.

The Course also trains professionals capable of carrying out their activities in the fields of international development, peacekeeping, protection of human rights and promotion of democracy, in the field of intercultural mediation and in the promotion of integration/management of migratory flows. Graduates will also be able to direct themselves towards institutions and offices for the promotion of foreign trade and investments at a national and international level, towards national and foreign companies, towards territorial offices responsible for internationalization.