19135 - Economic History (1) (G. A)

Academic Year 2022/2023

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Drama, Art and Music Studies (cod. 5821)

    Also valid for First cycle degree programme (L) in History (cod. 0962)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will have the basic methodological tools to study the main economic issues relating to long-term economic growth, technological innovation, the rise of the capitalist market, the new economy and globalization. They will be able to focus on the connections between economics and ethics, and to recognize the importance of categories, languages and different cultural contexts in the historical debate, analyzing them from a long-term perspective. They will have a critical methodological approach to problem-solving via data analysis and applying the relevant models to interpreting social and institutional processes. In their spoken language they will use the specific terminology.

Course contents

The course aims to give to the students the tools for the comprehension of the evolutionary processes of the European and international economy from the Renaissance to the present day. In this perspective the structural aspects of the pre-industrial economic system and the process of industrialization as it has evolved in the last two and a half centuries (from the industrial revolution to the recent transformations induced by globalization) will be analyzed, paying attention to the social changes and the economic policies, and also widening the analysis to include all the major economic areas of the contemporary world. A portion of the lectures will be devoted to in-depth examination of specific issues.

On completion of the course the students will be able to:  understand the workings of economic systems in a comparative, long run perspective; apply the acquired knowledge and understand the issues of the contemporary economic landscape as the result of an historical evolution; develop a basic understanding of the key concepts and the specific language of economics and the analytic tools of economic history.

The course is divided in two modules:

A) In the first module (30 hours) the main concepts and issues of european economic history will be discussed, including an analysis of the society, economic policies and international economic relations between the late Middle Ages and the First Industrial Revolution in Britain (up to the first half of the XIX century.

B) In the second module (30 hours) the focus will be on the european and global economic evolution from the Second Industrial Revolution to the globalization of the late XX/early XXI century.

Readings/Bibliography

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

ATTENDING STUDENTS (12 CFU)

1. Knowledge of the topics taught in lectures

2. Knowledge of the essays and other documentation made available during the course on VIRTUALE

3. Knowledge of the following two textbooks:

- J. Brasseul, Storia economica dalle origini a oggi. Eventi, dinamiche, analisi, Torino, Utet Università, 2022.

- E. Felice, Ascesa e declino. Storia Economica d’Italia, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2015 (or other edition).

 

ATTENDING STUDENTS (6 CFU)

1. Knowledge of the topics taught in lectures

2. Knowledge of the essays and other documentation made available during the course on VIRTUALE

3. Knowledge of the following textbook:

- J. Brasseul, Storia economica dalle origini a oggi. Eventi, dinamiche, analisi, Torino, Utet Università, 2022.


NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS (12 CFU)

They will have to study the following five texts:

1. Required textbooks:

- J. Brasseul, Storia economica dalle origini a oggi. Eventi, dinamiche, analisi, Torino, Utet Università, 2022.

- E. Felice, Ascesa e declino. Storia Economica d’Italia, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2015 (or other edition).

- M. B. Steger, La globalizzazione, Bologna, il Mulino, 2016.

2. Other one book to be chosen among:

- T. Brook, Il cappello di Vermeer. Il Seicento e la nascita del mondo globalizzato, Torino, 2015.

- S. A. Conca Messina, Profitti del potere. Stato ed economia nell'Europa moderna, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2016.

- M. Fusaro, Reti commerciali e traffici globali in età moderna, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2021 (or other edition).

3. Other one book to be chosen among:

- F. Fauri, L’Unione Europea. Una storia economica, Bologna, il Mulino, 2015.

- G. Messetti, Nella testa del Dragone. Identità e ambizioni della nuova Cina, Milano, Mondadori, 2020.

- D. Strangio, Da colonie a Paesi in via di sviluppo. L’evoluzione dei sistemi economici dalla colonizzazione alla globalizzazione, Milano, Mondadori Università, 2011 (or other edition).

 

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS (6 CFU)

They will have to study the following three texts:

1. Required textbook:

- J. Brasseul, Storia economica dalle origini a oggi. Eventi, dinamiche, analisi, Torino, Utet Università, 2022.

2. Other one book to be chosen among:

- T. Brook, Il cappello di Vermeer. Il Seicento e la nascita del mondo globalizzato, Torino, 2015.

- S. A. Conca Messina, Profitti del potere. Stato ed economia nell'Europa moderna, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2016.

- M. Fusaro, Reti commerciali e traffici globali in età moderna, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2021 (or other edition).

3. Other one book to be chosen among:

- F. Fauri, L’Unione Europea. Una storia economica, Bologna, il Mulino, 2015.

- G. Messetti, Nella testa del Dragone. Identità e ambizioni della nuova Cina, Milano, Mondadori, 2020.

- D. Strangio, Da colonie a Paesi in via di sviluppo. L’evoluzione dei sistemi economici dalla colonizzazione alla globalizzazione, Milano, Mondadori Università, 2011 (or other edition).


Teaching methods

The course will be delivered by lectures aided by slides and photocopies.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

ATTENDING STUDENTS

The course is assessed through two oral exams: one intermediate ones on portions of the syllabus that have already been completed, and a final exam at the end of the course.


NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

The course is assessed through a oral exam based on the text on the reading list.

 

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

The assessment will concentrate particularly on the skill displayed by the student in handling the sources and material in the exam bibliography and his ability to find and use information and examples to illustrate and correlate the various themes and problems addressed in the course.

The assessment will thus examine the student's:

- factual knowledge of the subject;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;
- familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and his ability to use it effectively.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology.
Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.
A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

For attending students the final mark will be the arithmetic mean of the marks achieved on the two oral exams.

 

 


Teaching tools

Slides, photocopies, handouts and additional readings.

Office hours

See the website of Alessandra Cantagalli