00932 - Contemporary History (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will be able to identify the main features of the political-institutional and socio-economic history of the XIXth and XXth century and will have critically examined the methodologies and fundamental issues of contemporary historical evolution. Students will be able to recognize the evolution of key-processes and events, from which long-term structures derive, how and why they developed and in what way they reappear during the contemporary age.

Course contents

The overall structure of the course is based on the essential elements of the cultural transmission of historical knowledge: periodization and overview, ideas and passions, along the period from the birth of the idea of nation to the scenarios of globalization, between the XXth and the XXIst century. Starting from the American Revolution of the late XVIIIth century, the earlier of the great democratic-marked events, from which today’s Western world emerged, lessons will analyze the crucial political-institutional and socio-cultural transformations of modernity and contemporaneity. We will focus on the elements of change and the long-term consequences, identifying key concepts, establishing connections between local and global scale and, finally, connecting biographies and places. The significant interest on the issues of constitutional history and the evolution of the rights and duties of citizenship will bring to the fundamental link between the study of history and the growth of a solid civic culture. Focusing the attention to the sources will allow us to outline didactic paths “from the documentation to the historical narration”, which gradually bring students closer to the research methodology in archives and libraries.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Students must study 3 books: the textbook, plus 2 books at their choice, according to the following guidelines:

Textbook (obligatory): 

Federico Romero, Storia internazionale dell’età contemporanea, Carocci, Roma 2021 (2012)

Methodology and historiography (1 book at choice of the student):

Laura Di Fiore, Marco Meriggi, World History. Le nuove rotte della storia, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2021 (2011)

Agostino Giovagnoli, Storia e globalizzazione, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2022 (2003)

Eloisa Betti, Carlo De Maria (a cura di), Biografie, percorsi e networks nell'Età contemporanea. Un approccio transnazionale tra ricerca, didattica e Public History, Bradypus, Roma 2018 - PDF open access

Carlo De Maria, Una famiglia anarchica. La vita dei Berneri tra affetti, impegno ed esilio nell'Europa del Novecento, Viella, Roma 2019

Topics of Italian history / International horizons (1 book at choice of the student)

 

Topics of Italian history:

Corrado Bonifazi, L’Italia delle migrazioni, Il Mulino, Bologna 2013

Gabriella Corona, Breve storia dell'ambiente in Italia, Il Mulino, Bologna 2015

Emanuele Felice, Perché il Sud è rimasto indietro, Il Mulino, Bologna 2016

Marie-Anne Matard-Bonucci, L’Italia fascista e la persecuzione degli ebrei, Il Mulino, Bologna 2016 (2008)

Emanuela Scarpellini, L’Italia dei consumi. Dalle Belle Epoque al nuovo millennio, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2021 (2008)

Francesca Socrate, Il Sessantotto. Due generazioni, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2018

International horizons:  

Massimo Campanini, Storia del Medio Oriente contemporaneo, Il Mulino, Bologna 2020 (2006)

Giovanni Carbone, L'Africa. Gli stati, la politica, i conflitti, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2021

Giovanna Cigliano, La Russia contemporanea. Un profilo storico, terza edizione, Roma, Carocci, 2023

Antonio Fiori, L’Asia orientale. Dal 1945 ai giorni nostri, Il Mulino, Bologna 2011 

Aram Mattioli, Mondi perduti. Una storia dei nativi nordamericani, 1700-1910, Einaudi, Torino 2019

Mariuccia Salvati (a cura di), Europa. Luoghi di memoria, Treccani, Roma 2020

Arnaldo Testi, Il secolo degli Stati Uniti, Il Mulino, Bologna 2022 (2008)

Loris Zanatta, Storia dell'America Latina contemporanea, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2021 (2010)

 

Teaching methods

Frontal and multimedia lessons.

 

Assessment methods

Written test, plus oral interview.

The written test is on the textbook and consists of five open questions with a value of six points each. The written test is considered passed with a total score of at least 18/30. Only in this case students are admitted to the oral interview.

The oral interview focuses on the books chosen by the students among the 3 sections: “Methodology and historiography”, “Topics of Italian history” and “International horizons”.

For both tests, the evaluation criteria are as follows: relevance of the answers; ability to argue; adequacy of the disciplinary language used; ability to apply the acquired knowledges to a critical interpretation of contemporaneity.

In particular, answers that will be given with a proper language and with exactitude are going to be evaluated with the top marks (29-30L).

Answers that will be given without precision or property are going to be evaluated with intermediate marks (25-28).

Vagueness in the content of the answer, one or two questions left unanswered will result in marks not higher than sufficient (18-24). Substantial errors and unanswered questions will result in a grade of Insufficient.

Drafting a well-written short paper (book critical review) on one of the selected books during the lessons, according to the instructions given by the professor, allows to skip the written exam and access to the oral exam directly.

 

Teaching tools

Exploration of online resources related to the methodologies of teaching history, historical communication and public history.

 

Office hours

See the website of Carlo De Maria