Courses and Seminars
The following is a list of the courses, seminars, and reading groups I am teaching and have taught in the past years. My teaching philosophy is grounded on the principles of active learning and the universal design for learning (UDL), prioritising a multiplicity of means by which students can engage, express, and assess themselves and the epistemic contents encountered in our journey. As a reflective practitioner, I constantly review and update my teaching approach by experimenting new techniques and assessing my the result of my teach.
NATURE, MATTER, AND CHANGE: AN EXPLORATION THE SCHOLASTIC ONTOLOGY OF PHYSICAL SUBSTANCES
2023 | Research Seminar. University of Science and Technology Beijing (CN). 2023.
Details
USTB, 17 November – 8 December 2023.
The seminar delves into scholastic natural philosophy by considering the most fundamental features of the ontological constitution of physical beings as it was envisioned in the European Middle Ages. We will begin with the Aristotelian notion of movement and its application to distinguish between two different realms in the universe: the perfect celestial spheres above the moon and the world below, marked by incessant generations and corruptions. Through the consideration of forms as principles of conservation, organisation, and behaviour of natural substances, we will move on to consider change according to a theory called ‘hylomorphism’, which claimed that all natural beings partake of the same structure of matter and form. This explanatory device allowed medieval philosophers to shed light on how nature works and is structured, but it also originated a series of puzzling implications that gradually problematised their natural philosophy. We will focus on some of these problematic features related to the conceptions of ‘matter’ and ‘materiality’, like the condition of prime matter, its role in the physical constitution of bodies, the epistemological conundrum of its conceivability, and the tensions arising from a hylomorphic consideration of the elements and their mixtures.
COMMON SEMINAR: RESEARCH AS A CAREER
2023 | Course, MA and PhD level. KU Leuven (BE), Institute of Philosophy. 2023-2024
Details
Ref: B-KUL-W0R00A-2324. First semester 2023-24. Course convenors: Russell Friedman and Nicola Polloni. 4 ECST.
STRUCTURING BODIES: MATTER, FORM, AND ELEMENTS IN THE MIDDLE AGES
2023 | Seminar, BA level. Tel Hai College (IL). 19 April 2023.
UNTANGLING MEDIEVAL NATURAL PHILOSOPHY: AN EXCURSION INTO MATTERS, FORMS, AND OTHER PECULIAR ENTITIES
2022 | Seminar, MA course. UC Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve (BE), 9 May 2022.
MATTER, ELEMENTS, AND MIXTURES: CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
2022 | MA course. University of Cordoba (ES), Faculty of Letters and Philosophy. 2022-2023.
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First semester 2022-2023. Course convenor: Nicola Polloni. Ref: UCO-3492-2021: “The Universality of Scientific Knowledge: Islamicate Philosophy and Science in the Latin Middle Ages”. MA in Religious Pluralism. 4+4 ECTS.
COMMON SEMINAR: RESEARCH AS A CAREER
2022 | Course, MA and PhD level. KU Leuven (BE), Institute of Philosophy. 2022-2023.
More info
Ref: B-KUL-W0R00A-2223. First semester 2023-24. Course convenors: Russell Friedman and Nicola Polloni. 4 ECST.
HYLOMORPHIC CROSSROADS: ISLAMICATE AND LATINATE PERSPECTIVES ON MATTER AND FORM
2021 | MA course. University of Cordoba (ES), Faculty of Letters and Philosophy. 2021-2022.
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Ref: UCO-3492-2021: “The Universality of Scientific Knowledge: Islamicate Philosophy and Science in the Latin Middle Ages”. MA in Religious Pluralism. First semester 2021-2022. Course convenor: Nicola Polloni. 4+4 ECTS.
COMMON SEMINAR: RESEARCH AS A CAREER
2021 | Course, MA and PhD level. KU Leuven (BE), Institute of Philosophy. 2021-2022.
More info
Ref: B-KUL-W0R00A-2122. First semester 2021-22. Course convenors: Russell Friedman and Nicola Polloni. 4 ECST.
COMMON SEMINAR: RESEARCH AS A CAREER
2020 | Teaching Assistance, MA and PhD course, 2020-2021. KU Leuven (BE), Institute of Philosophy.
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Ref: B-KUL-W0R00A-2021. First semester 2023-24. First semester 2020-2021. Course convenors: Karin de Boer and Russell Friedman. 4 ECST. Responsibilities included grading and mentoring.
ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL VISIONS OF LIGHT AND COLOUR
2019 | Course, MA level. Technologische Universität Berlin (DE), Institute of the History of Science,
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Winter semester 2019. Course lectured by Katja Krause and Nicola Polloni.
SCATTERED MATTER: ATOMS AND REALITY ACCORDING TO NICHOLAS OF AUTRECOURT
2019 | Reading group (level: MA and PhD). Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE), Institut für Philosophie, Winter semester 2019.
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MOBILISING KNOWLEDGE IN TRANSLATION
2019 | Course, MA level, 2019. Technologische Universität Berlin (DE), Institute of the History of Science, Summer semester 2019.
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Course lectured by Maria Avxentevskaya, Robert Middeke-Conlin, Nicola Polloni, Shixiang Jin.
STRUCTURING NATURE: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY AND INTERCULTURAL SUMMER SCHOOL
2019 | Summer School. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and MPIWG Berlin (DE), Summer 2019.
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Berlin, 15 July to 3 August 2019. Organisers: Nicholas Aubin, Vincenzo Carlotta, Mattia Cipriani, Katja Krause, and Nicola Polloni.
STRUCTURES OF MATERIALITY: ROGER BACON AND THE CONUNDRUM OF PRIME MATTER
2019 | Reading group (level: MA and PhD). Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE), Institut für Philosophie, Summer semester 2019.
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THE WORLD MACHINE
2019 | Seminar, OxNet Initiative Course, 2019. University of Sunderland (UK).
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Schools Outreach and Access Programme for the OxNet Initiative, Durham University, University of Oxford, University of Sunderland. Responsibility for lecture and seminar teaching for 16-17 years old university applicants, as part of a national UK programme; preparation of teaching materials, delivery and assessment.
RESHAPING THE TRADITION: NARRATIVES OF MATTER IN CALCIDIUS AND IBN GABIROL
2018 | Reading group (level: MA and PhD). Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE), Institut für Philosophie, Winter Semester 2018.
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THE ORDERED UNIVERSE
2018 | Seminar, OxNet Initiative Course, 2018. University of Sunderland (UK).
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Schools Outreach and Access Programme for the OxNet Initiative, Durham University, University of Oxford, University of Sunderland. Responsibility for lecture and seminar teaching for 16-17 years old university applicants, as part of a national UK programme; preparation of teaching materials, delivery and assessment.
THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA AS SPACE OF PHILOSOPHICAL DISSEMINATION
2016 | Seminar, MA seminar, 2016. Università di Pavia (IT), Spring semester 2016.
HISTORY OF SCIENCE
2016 | Teaching Assistance, MA module, 2016. Università di Pavia (IT).
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Responsibilities included lecture and seminar teaching, guiding and mentoring students, and evaluation. Course convenor: Chiara Crisciani.
HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
2015 | Teaching Assistance, BA module, Winter Semester 2015. Università di Pavia (IT).
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Responsibilities included lecture and seminar teaching, guiding and mentoring students, and evaluation. Course convenor: Chiara Crisciani.
NEOPLATONISM AND ARISTOTELIANISM IN THE MIDDLE AGES
2014 | Seminar, BA level, 2014. Università di Pavia (IT).
HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
2014 | Teaching Assistance, BA module, Winter Semester 2014. Università di Pavia (IT).
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Responsibilities included lecture and seminar teaching, guiding and mentoring students, and evaluation. Course convenor: Chiara Crisciani.
HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
2013 | Teaching Assistance, BA module, Winter Semester 2013. Università di Pavia (IT).
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Responsibilities included lecture and seminar teaching, guiding and mentoring students, and evaluation. Course convenor: Chiara Crisciani.
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