I am officially a student...again!

I took my Italian language test on the 4th, and passed with flying colors, went through orientation (even though I went through it 3 years ago when I studied abroad, I figured it would be good to freshen up my memory), and today I enrolled in the Sociology dept. as a grad student at the Universita’ degli studi di Trento. I found out some interesting facts about Trento, which I knew when I had done my own research on the university before studying abroad, but had since then forgotten. The dept.’s at the University are all ranked in the top 3 spots in a national ranking they do of universities in Italy. The school originally started out as a Sociological research institute, and later became the 1st sociology dept. to be formed in Italy and most of Europe. It is ranked 1st out of all soc dept.s in Italy and is 1st in Europe. Apparently it’s pretty famous throughout Europe for being pioneers in the sociological field in the European playing field. The University also has the only Cognitive Sciences dept. in all of Italy; it’s the newest dept., which was formed in 2004. The Soc. Dept has a ton of cool opportunities for students, which I am very excited about! Classes start on the 17th, and I’m kind of nervous and kind of excited!
My masters is in the area of societa;, territorio, ambiente (society, territories and [social] environment) …. Basically it deals with questions such as: How to promote economic growth in advanced and mature societies? How to allow the market to grow while safeguarding the environment and societies (such as how to prevent then from being exploited)? And the area that really interests me : How to protect the rights of minorities and promote cultural integration in a multiethnic and multiracial society? This area is extremely relevant in Europe right now especially with the formation of the E.U. and all the immigration from disadvantaged countries. It mainly deals with social populations and their mobility and migration, the social presences amongst these communities and their territorial attachments, economic growth and development in these area and the new transnational dimensions of the economy, culture and social relations. It might not make much sense the way I am describing it, but it is really interesting. It requires a bit of Econ. coursework, but that’s ok, I’ll learn to deal with it! Basically I get a sociological education in social environment, development, urban and rural realities, territorial mobility and interethnic relations.
It looks like I should have some fun classes to look forward to… Urban and Rural Soc., Soc. of Ethnic Relations, Soc. of International relations, Soc. of Immigration, etc. However it also looks like there are going to be some not so fun classes…. Economic Soc. Economic Geography… and the worst one is Social Statistics, I hate stats! I am going to have some credits to make-up from their triennale, because some of these classes have pre-req’s which I never did, but that’s ok… I knew coming into this that I was going to have the Grad work plus some undergrad credits to make up, oh well!
So I am really excited about this. It’s a completely different academic world out here, but that’s another post!