00932 - Contemporary History

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide a critical knowledge of the historical evolution of Europe and the main non-European countries in the period from the Congress of Vienna (1815) to the fall of the Berlin wall (1989). At the end of the course the student is able to know and understand the main historical events and the development of the economic, social, cultural and political phenomena that have characterized the last two centuries, in order to have a reference grid for his studies. , in particular in the field of conservation, protection and enhancement of cultural heritage.

Course contents

The course offers an overview of the main issues in contemporary history, divided into thematic itineraries that take into account the profound changes in historiographical paradigms in the 20th century: from the revolutions of the nineteenth century and the Italian Risorgimento to the birth of nation states, from the new civilisation of progress and the Belle Époque, celebrated in the great universal exhibitions, to colonialism and imperialism, to the great fractures of the twentieth century, marked by world wars, fascism and totalitarianism. Each theme will be introduced by lectures given by the lecturer and explored in depth through the analysis of a variety of sources – written, oral, visual and material – in order to stimulate a dynamic and participatory understanding of historical processes.

In line with the European Jean Monnet Erasmus Plus project “Arts” and Politics. European Cultural Heritage Policies between Old and New Values (HEURITAGE 2025–2027), coordinated by the lecturer and launched last year, the course will include lectures and thematic workshops dedicated to the “construction” of a European cultural heritage. These activities will allow for reflection on cultural policies, museum practices and the tensions between tradition and new values in the definition of a European cultural heritage, also from a Public History perspective. The link to the project website Heuritage

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

 

For attending students :

1) It requires the preparation of a manual to choose from those indicated in Part A (Manuals), to be integrated with the study of materials distributed by the teacher during the lessons.

2) Critical reading of a text to be chosen from those listed in Part C Monographs.

3) A report on the specific part of the course.

For non-attending students

you are required to study:

1) One history textbook of your choice from those recommended under A);

2) One book of your choice from group B (methodological texts);

3) A monograph on a great theme of contemporary history to choose from those listed in the C (monographs).

4) Two books of your choice from group D (texts specific to the part of the course).

 

A) Manuals :

1) S. Lupo, A. Ventrone, L'età contemporanea, Milano, Mondadori education, 2018.

2) A.M. Banti, L'età contemporanea. Dalle rivoluzioni settecentesche all'imperialismo, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2009; A.M. Banti, L'età contemporanea. Dalla grande guerra a oggi, Roma, Laterza, 2010.

B) Methodological texts

M. Bloch, Apologia della storia o mestiere di storico, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2024.

P. Burke, Una rivoluzione storiografica. La scuola delle Annales 1929-1989, Bari, Laterza, 1990.

C. Sorba, F. Mazzini, La svolta culturale. Com'é cambiata la pratica storiografia, Roma Laterza, 2021.

 

C) Monographs:

E.J. Hobsbawn, Le rivoluzioni borghesi 1789-1848, Res Gestae, 2016.

S. Lupo, Il passato del nostro presente. Il lungo Ottocento 1776-1913, Bari, Laterza, 2010.

H. Hobsbawn, Il secolo breve. 1914-1991: l’era dei grandi cataclisimi, Milano, Rizzoli, 1994.

G. L. Mosse, La nazionalizzazione delle masse, Simbolismo politico e movimenti di massa in Germania (1815-1933), Bologna, Il Mulino.

A.M. Banti, Il Risorgimento italiano, Bari, Laterza, 2009.

A.M. Banti, Sublime madre nostra. La nazione italiana dal Risorgimento al fascismo, Bari, laterza, 2011.

M. Baioni, Vedere per credere. Il racconto museale dell'Italia unita, Roma, Viella, 2020.

C. Pinto, La guerra per il Mezzogiorno: italiani borbonici e briganti 1860-1870, Bari-Roma, Laterza 2019.

E.J. Hobsbawn, Nazioni e nazionalismi dal 1870. Programma, mito, realtà, Torino, Einaudi, 1990.

F. Fabbri, L'alba del Novecento. Alle radici della nostra cultura, Laterza, 2022.

A. Pellegrino, G. Fontana, Esposizioni Universali in Europa. Attori, pubblici, memorie tra metropoli e colonie, 1851-1939, Ricerche Storiche, 1-2, 2015.

V. Deplano, A. Pes, Storia del colonialismo italiano, Politica, cultura e memoria dall'età liberale ai nostri giorni, Carocci, 2024.

R. Baritono, V. Fiorino, Il voto alle donne. Una storia globale, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2025.

M. Isnenghi, G. Rochat, La grande guerra 1914-1918, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014.

A. Gibelli, L'officina della guerra: la grande guerra e le trasformazioni del mondo mentale, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1991.

E. Leed, Terra di nessuno. Esperienza bellica e identità personale nella prima guerra mondiale, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1985.

E. Collotti, Fascismo, fascismi, Firenze, Sansoni, 1989.

E. Gentile, Il culto del littorio. La sacralizzazione della politica nell’Italia fascista, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2009 (ed. or. 1993).

J. Bourke, La seconda guerra mondiale, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2005.

G. L. Mosse, Le guerre mondiali. Dalla tragedia al mito dei caduti, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2014 (5a ed.)

C. Pavone, Una guerra civile. Saggio storico sulla moralità nella Resistenza, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 2006.

S. Peli, Storia della resistenza in Italia, Torino, Einaudi, 2014.

P. Ginsborg, Storia d'Italia dal dopoguerra ad oggi. Società e politica, Torino, Einaudi, 1989.

Federico Romero, Storia della guerra Fredda. L'ultimo conflitto per l'Europa, Torino, Einaudi, 2009.

 

D) Specific texts for the monographic part of the course:

  G. Albanese, L. Ceci, I luoghi del fascismo. Memoria, politica, rimozione, Roma, Viella, 2022.

O. Calligaro, Negotiating Europe: EU Promotion of Europeanness since the 1950s, Palgrave, 2018.

V. Deplano (a cura di), Passati Presenti: Luoghi di memoria, cultural heritage e costruzione delle identità in Europa, Resoconti/11, 2024 (scaricabile open acces a questo link https://unicapress.unica.it/index.php/unicapress/catalog/book/978-88-3312-034-8 )

F. Focardi, B. Groppo, L’Europa e le sue memorie. Politiche e culture del ricordo dopo il 1989, Roma, Viella, 2013.

F. Hartog, Il patrimonio, una nozione per i tempi di crisi, Il Mulino, Rivista trimestrale di cultura e politica, 4/2020, pp. 571-185

Giuliana Laschi, Storia dell’integrazione europea, Firenze, Le Monnier, Università, 2021.

S. Macdonald, MeMorylands. Heritage and identity in Europe today, London, Routledge, 2013.

J. E. Tunbridge, G.J. Ashworth, Dissonant Heritage. The Management of the Past as a Resource in Conflict, Wiley, New York, 1996.

M. Sassatelli, Identità, cultura, Europa. Le «Città europee della cultura», Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2007.

Cris Shore, Building Europe. The Cultural Politics of European Integration, London, Routledge, 2013.

 

 

Teaching methods

From a methodological point of view, we will proceed with the reading of historiographic, literary texts and the analysis of first-hand documents, the projection of documentary materials, films, images. 

Assessment methods

For attending students

in addition to forms of participation throughout the course, there will be an oral exercise in seminar form (to be held during the second part of the course) on a volume (to be agreed with the teacher) on the specific part of the course.

The final assessment, to be held on the day of the examination, will cover the knowledge acquired during the course, which should be prepared using the materials and slides distributed in class by the lecturer together with one of the two recommended textbooks. The assessment will consist of an oral examination comprising at least three questions on certain episodes, events and phenomena in contemporary history, a critical reading of one of the sources examined in class, and a possible discussion of the individual or group exercise.

The exam score is calculated as the average of the scores obtained for active participation during the course, the individual or group exercise, and the final assessment.

 

For non-attending students

 the knowledge of contemporary history for the manual part provides the ability to correctly frame in their historical context the events, remember the protagonists and the most important moments, know how to place them in a correct diachronic scale. For the part relating to monographic works it is necessary to highlight the essential issues addressed in the volumes and the main historiographical issues that emerge from reading.

 

 

 

Teaching tools

Basic equipment will be used for the presentation of slides, illustrations and short films to support teaching.

Office hours

See the website of Anna Pellegrino