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Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro"
Lectures and attendance
Do I need to register for classes, and is attendance compulsory?
What it is
How lectures work at an Italian university: no course registration, and attendance that is usually optional.
Why you need it
Knowing this before your first week stops you looking for a registration step that does not exist, and tells you what actually happens if you skip a lecture.
When
Lectures run across two semesters, autumn and spring. Each department publishes its own exact dates about a month before the semester starts, and many professors also post their own calendar; confirm your own university's calendar rather than assuming fixed months.
In Bari
Each department sets its own dates. For 2026/27, the first semester runs from mid-September or October to December 2026: Political Sciences from 14 September to 11 December, Humanities from 17 September to 16 December. The second semester runs from late February to May or June 2027: Political Sciences from 22 February to 21 May, Humanities from 22 February to 22 May.
What you need first
- Your course timetable, from your department
- Your course's textbook list, from the department's website, since it is not the same for every course
Ask a student
Ask a student already on your course whether their programme actually enforces attendance, since the general rule is optional but specific programmes and professors vary.