81860 - Historians and Historiographic Practices (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student demonstrates full understanding of the relationship between historiography and sources. Second, the student must be able to reconstruct the evolution of the historical method through the centuries. Thirdly, one must be able to distinguish the quality of the various sources available, both in positive (reliability) and in negative (possible falsifications).

Course contents

The course focuses on the historiography on 1970s, providing both a global and a national approach (centred on Italy). No other decade evokes such contradictory images as the 1970s: reform and emancipation on the one hand, crisis and malaise on the other. The study of the incredibly complex and diverse nature of historical transformations in this decade provides an excellent perspective on historiography’s recent developments (cultural history, global history, gender history, media studies, history of consumption). After a general course introduction, students (guided by the teacher) will be asked to read, and comment in depth on, articles and chapters focused on some of the most significant shifts in Italian politics, culture, and society, in close connection with the global context.

Readings/Bibliography

N. Ferguson, C. Maier, E. Manela, D. Sargent (a cura di), The Shock of the Global. The 1970s in Perspective, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, London 2010 (introduction, chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 13, 14, 16, 17, 21)

- F. Balestracci, C. Papa (a cura di), L’Italia degli anni Settanta. Narrazioni e interpretazioni a confronto, Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli 2019

- The 1970s and 1980s as a Turning Point in European History?, forum with contributions from G. Therborn, G. Eley, H. Kaelble, P. Chassaigne and A. Wirsching, edited by A. Wirsching, in «Journal of Modern European History», vol. 9, 2011, n. 1, pp. 8-26 (Download using J STOR in SBA UNIBO with proxy)

- B. Keys, J. Davies, E. Banna, The Post-Traumatic Decade New Histories of 1970s, in «Australasian Journal of American Studies», vol. 33, 2014, n. 1, pp. 1-17 (Download using J STOR in SBA UNIBO with proxy)

- L. Raphael, The 1970s—a Period of Structural Rupture in Germany and Italy?, in M. Baumeister, B. Bonomo, D. Schott (eds.), Cities Contested. Urban Politics, Heritage, and Social Movements in Italy and West Germany in the 1970s, Campus Verlag, Frankfurt-New York 2017, pp. 31-50

- C. Spagnolo, Il postmoderno come categoria storiografica. Osservazioni sul passaggio all’età del debito, in T. Grossbölting, M. Livi, C. Spagnolo (a cura di), L’avvio della società liquida? Il passaggio degli anni Settanta come tema per la storiografia tedesca e italiana, Il Mulino, Bologna 2014, pp. 19-54

- P. Pombeni, Moderno/postmoderno. Riflessioni su un dibattito alla luce della problematica della storia politica dell’età contemporanea, T. Grossbölting, M. Livi, C. Spagnolo (a cura di), L’avvio della società liquida? Il passaggio degli anni Settanta come tema per la storiografia tedesca e italiana, Il Mulino, Bologna 2014, pp. 55-82

* Teaching materials not present in the department library will be available online on Virtuale

Teaching methods

Blended teaching activities, held in classrooms but also accessible remotely

After a few introductive lessons, the course will be articulated through lectures and seminars discussions. Students are expected to participate actively by attending all lessons, reading the assignated texts and take an active part in class discussions.

Those unable to do so can always opt for an oral exam at a later stage, as foreseen by the programme

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 12 lessons are considered to be attending.

Students attending the seminar will read and discuss the assignements every lesson. At the end they will write a paper (10.000 signs).

For students not attending at least 12 classes of the seminar, the exam will be oral.

Thorough in-depth knowledge of the topics covered in the course, together with analytical and critical skills and command of the specific language, will qualify for top marks (30-30L).

A good grasp of the topics covered in the course, together with good critical analysis and command of the specific language, will qualify for high marks (27-29).

A more mechanical and less articulate grasp, and/or correct use of language though not always appropriate, will qualify for a medium-range mark (23-26).

Weak analytical capacity and frequently inappropriate language – together with some knowledge of exam material – will receive a pass mark or little more (18-22).

Mistakes of spelling and syntax (by native Italian students) will be heavily penalized, as befits a university examination, especially in a humanistic subject.

This is an integrated course (STORICI E STORIOGRAFIA). Therefore, the final mark will result from the average of the marks in both courses (STORICI E PRATICA STORIOGRAFICA and STORIA DELLA STORIOGRAFIA).

Teaching tools

Readings, analysis and discussion of articles and book chapters

Office hours

See the website of Alessio Gagliardi