Additional learning requirements (OFAs)

Please note: The following information is valid for students enrolled in the 2024-2025 academic year; the dates and information regarding the tests for students enrolled in the 2025-2026 academic year will be published shortly.

OFA (‘Obblighi formativi aggiuntivi’) are defined as further requirements for all students who fail to meet the 50% threshold in either (or both) of the two sections (general knowledge and reading comprehension) of the access test. Students falling short of the threshold may be admitted at discretion but must undergo specific training designed to address their formative gaps.

Students can access the relevant OFA training on a dedicated learning platform (MyAriel), which will be accessible starting from 11/11/2024 (username and password required).

After the training, students can take a test, available on four different sessions (January, May, September, and December 2025). The dates of the recovery test will be made available on this site by December 2024.

A pass in the test fulfils the requirements and grants access to second-year exams.

OFA Training in General Knowledge

The main areas of study are:

• Archaeology
• Ancient Greek & Roman History
• Ancient Eastern History

Besides revisiting the admission syllabus, students must read the following (available on this website):

Archaeology:
C. Renfrew and P. Bahn, Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice, London: Thames & Hudson, 7th ed., 2018, in particular:

• Introduction. “The Nature and Aims of Archaeology”, pp. 12-18
• Ch. 13 “Archaeology in Action. Five Case Studies”, pp. 495-534

Ancient Greek History:
S. B. Pomeroy, S. M. Burstein, W. Donlan, J. Tolbert Roberts, A Brief History of Greece. Politics, Society and Culture, 1st edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, in particular:

• Ch. 5: “The Growth of Athens and the Persian Wars”, pp. 110-137
• To be studied in parallel with a video-lecture on the Persian War by Professor Donald Kagan (Yale)

Ancient Roman History:
M.T. Boatwright, D. J. Gargola, R. J. Talbert, The Romans from Village to Empire. A History of Ancient Rome from Earliest times to Constantine, 1st ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, in particular:

• Ch. 2 “Rome’s First Centuries”, pp. 32-57
• To be studied in parallel with a video-lecture from the history channel “Thersites the Historian”

Ancient Eastern History:
C. Holcombe, A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century, 2nd ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017, in particular:

• Ch. 2 “The Formative Era”, pp. 31-59
• Ch. 3 “The Age of Cosmopolitanism”, pp. 60-94

Students are also strongly advised to consult the following works as optional, preparatory reading. These materials are not part of the OFA test but can aid in improving study skills:

• Walter Pauk, Ross J.Q. Owens, How to Study in College, 10th ed., Wadsworth Pub., Boston, 2010, in particular:
  • Part III “Retaining”, pp. 205-299
• Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel, Make It Stick. The Science of Successful Learning, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Mass.), 2014, in particular:
  • Ch. 8 “Make it Stick”, pp. 200-225 (with notes, p. 283)

Contact information:

Matteo Cosci (matteo.cosci@unimi.it)

Lilia Palmieri (lilia.palmieri@unimi.it)

Remedial Course for OFA in Reading Comprehension

Here are the four main areas of study, which will be published on the platform in the following order:

• Vocabulary and topic sentences (11/11/2024)
• Paraphrasing skills (25/11/2024)
• Selection and summarizing (09/12/2024)
• The multiple-choice test (23/12/2024)

Each topic will remain accessible for two weeks. During this time, students must read the materials, complete the exercises, and submit them. Access to the OFA test is conditional on the submission of all exercises within the relevant deadlines.

The first OFA recovery test for Reading Comprehension will take place in January 2025 (exact date to be confirmed). Subsequent tests will be held in May, September, and December 2025.

Contact information:

Michele Comelli (michele.comelli@unimi.it)

Lilia Palmieri (lilia.palmieri@unimi.it)