The course

The Master's Degree Course in "Economic Development and International Relations" (SERI) is aimed at students interested in obtaining a multidisciplinary education in economics, law, political science and history, all essential for the analysis and interpretation of global phenomena. This multidisciplinary approach, together with the combination of traditional courses in international studies that have characterised the University of Pavia for some time, gives students a broad and in-depth vision of the complex dynamics of the international situation.

The main disciplines that contribute to the formation of SERI graduates (economics, law, political and social sciences, history, languages) are essential for understanding the different dynamics that interact in the international system, and they provide a preparation based on different methodological approaches, through which globalisation and the transformation of international arrangements are studied and interpreted.

The topics in SERI upon which particular attention is focused are international cooperation and the economics of development, the processes and mechanisms of integration in the various regions of the globe, the relations between industrialised and emerging countries, the role of international organisations, and the international politics of the different national and multilateral actors.

As part of the course, students are taught data analysis methodologies and fundamental statistical techniques so that they might understand the international situation through the use of quantitative and qualitative information. In many courses, workshops are held in which students learn how to use statistical packages such as STATA and R for the analysis of economic and political data.

There are also numerous opportunities to attend seminars on international topics organised by the Department, by university colleges and by the IUSS, or to participate in intensive courses in Italy or abroad. The study plan also involves brief single-themed courses held by visiting professors from the best foreign universities.

There are numerous opportunities for SERI students to carry out part of their studies abroad through the Erasmus + programmes, the Cooperation and Knowledge Fund, the Giovanni Manera study awards and other initiatives promoted by the University of Pavia. More information can be found at this link.

The SERI course materialised in 2018 as the result of a process of renewal of the Master's Degree Course in Economics, Politics and International Institutions; it inherited but then innovated the strengths of the latter course. In 2005, the Honorary Degree in Economics, Politics and International Institutions was awarded  to Prof. Amartya Sen, Nobel Prize in Economics, and in 2015 it was awarded to President Emeritus Giorgio Napolitano.