13717 - Communication Geography (R-Z)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will have acquired a historico-critical knowledge of the spatial concepts and models through which modern geography has built and organized the production and communication of the knowledge of the earth.

Course contents

The first aim consists of explaining what is meant by communication geography in this course: communication geography is human geography and thus, as such, cannot be dissociated from signification, i.e. from languages and their evolution. The very term of geography implies language, rather several languages.

Indeed, as is well known, geography, i.e. the -graphia of the earth, means the representation or description of the earth, or rather the many ways in which the earth has been described and represented. Concerning this, the second aim of the course is to analyse the main concepts and tools through which geography has described and/or represented the world: the globe and the map, the chora and the landscape – each of these concepts and tools being bearer of a different logic and interpretation of the world.

By -graphia of the earth one might also intend the set of signs by means of which human beings mark the earth’s surface with their presence, telling about their identity through their relationship to the world. With regard to this, some concepts concerning human identity, both individual and collective – such as feminine-masculine (and beyond), subjectivity and the nature of image, the very concept of culture – will be interpreted, in this course, according to the way in which they have been outlined through the language inscribed on the earth or through the different perspectives on the earth of which the main geographical concepts are bearers.

In the light of the three aims described above, the course intends to propose an idea of geography as grounded (down-to-earth) thought, inasmuch as geography is a thought starting from the concrete. Its concrete language is, above all, the -graphia of the earth, conceived as that set of signs marked on the earth’s surface by means of which human beings tell about themselves.

Furthermore, particular attention will be paid, during this year’s course, to the geographical-political concepts which are at the core of today’s public debate: the state, nation, territory in the age of globalisation. In particular, the birth of the modern state will be connected with the role and nature of image (not only the cartographic one) in Western culture.

Readings/Bibliography

1. Bonfiglioli S., La geografia di Egnazio Danti. Il sapere corografico a Bologna nell’età della Controriforma, Bologna, Pàtron, 2012.

2. Farinelli F., L’invenzione della Terra, Palermo, Sellerio, 2007 or 2016.

3. Minca C., Bialasiewicz L., Spazio e politica. Riflessioni di geografia critica, Padova, Cedam, 2004 (only “Introduzione”, “parte I”, and “parte II”, i.e., pp. 1-134).

Teaching methods

Formal lectures integrated with several hours devoted to the discussion of the topics linked to the lectures and the texts.

Assessment methods

Written examination consisting of four open-ended questions about the contents of the course and the texts listed above (entry “Readings/Bibliography”), to be answered within two hours.

Only attending students may divide the written examination into two parts, if they want:

- a mid-term written test (in itinere test) consisting of two open-ended questions, to be answered in an hour, about the part of the programme tackled during the course till the date of this test;

- a final written test consisting of two open-ended questions about the remaining part of the programme. This final exam (final written text) has to be taken during one of the three exam sessions following the end of the course (from May to September 2019).

Attending students who have not passed the in itinere test or have not accepted the grade of the in itinere test, must take, together with non-attending students, the comprehensive written examination consisting of four open-ended questions.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation will take into account:

a) the level of knowledge of the contents: how well they have been deepened and critically understood;

b) how rich and correct the discursive articulation of the contents is;

c) the use of appropriate terminology.

The evaluation of each of the three criteria will contribute to determine the final grade, which will be assigned according to the following evaluation scale:

. 18-21, if the performance is, on the whole, sufficient;

. 22-24, if the performance is, on the whole, satisfactory;

. 25-27, if the performance is, on the whole, good;

. 28-30, if the performance is, on the whole, very good;

. 30 cum laude, if the performance is, on the whole, excellent.

Teaching tools

Slides, tales, images, videos, websites.

Office hours

See the website of Stefania Bonfiglioli