- Docente: Stefano Cavazza
- Credits: 6
- SSD: M-STO/04
- Language: Italian
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
- Campus: Bologna
- Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Information, Cultures and Media Organisation (cod. 5698)
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from Nov 12, 2024 to Dec 19, 2024
Learning outcomes
The course aims to provide students with the methodological tools to analyse international events from a historical perspective and thus enable them to understand the evolution of international social, cultural and political dynamics in their relationship with national public opinions. At the end of the course, students will: - master the methodologies of analysis of international history; - have a thorough knowledge of the historical evolution of the international context to date; - know how to analyse the specificities and differences of the various international contexts; - know how to apply the knowledge acquired to the analysis of information and communication processes; - be able to broaden the scope of their disciplinary skills by means of the methodology of analysis of the specialised literature acquired during the course.
Course contents
NOTA
The course will analyse the interaction between geopolitical arrangements, foreign policy and public opinion. To this end, after some lessons on international treaties and their evolution, relations between foreign policy and public opinion, some cases in which public opinions have interacted with foreign policy choices will be examined. The aim is to show in a historical perspective the role of communication in international dynamics.
Timetable of the lessons (small variations are possible)
1 Introduction to the course
2 Relations between states and domestic policy. Historical evolution of international treaties
3 Supranational bodies and domestic politics.
4 Public opinion and foreign policy
5 The Ems Dispatch as a Cause of War
6 The outbreak of the First World War and information
7 Wars and information censorship
8 Reconstruction and information in the cold war era
9 Public opinion and the Vietnam War
10 The fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the communist countries
11 Public Lecture by an expert
12 11 September 2001 as a media event
13 Weapons of mass destruction and the second Iraq war
14 Ukraine Crisis and Communication
15 Social media and international politics. Final discussion
Exchange students are welcome, but attendance is recommended for those with a fair to good knowledge of Italian
Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is suggested that they get in touch as soon as possible with the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and with the lecturer in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination.
Readings/Bibliography
For students that will attend the class
The list of articles to be read and discussed will be published in October
Students that will not attend the class
Non-attending students will have to study for the exam 1 Text from group A+ 1 work chosen from group.
A. General international History
Guido Formigoni, La politica internazionale dal XX al XXI secolo, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2018
B. group of choice
J. Albes, Wort wie Waffen. Die deutsche Propaganda in Spanien während des ersten Weltkrieges, Essen Klartext, 1996
Elena Bacchin, Italofilia. Opinione pubblica britannica e Risorgimento italiano 1847-1864, Roma Carocci, 2014
Volker R. Berghahn, America and the intellectual cold wars in Europe: Shepard Stone between philanthropy, academy, and diplomacy, Princeton, Princeton Univ. Press, 2001
Giovanni Bernardini, Nuova Germania, antichi timori. Stati Uniti, Ostpolitik e sicurezza europea, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013
Riccardo Brizzi (a cura di), Osservata speciale. La neutralità italiana nella Prima guerra mondiale e l'opinione pubblica internazionale (1914-15), Le Monnier, 2015
Stefano Cavazza, Nazione, Nazionalismo e Folklore. Italia e Germania dall'Ottocento a oggi, Bologna, Il Mulino 2024
David Colon, La guerra dell'informazione. Gli stati alla conquista delle nostre menti, Torino, Einaudi, 2024
Ben Clements, British Public Opinion on Foreign and Defence Policy: 1945-2017, London, Routledge, 2018
Luigi Goglia, Renato Moro e Leopoldo Nuti (a cura di), Guerra e pace nell'Italia del Novecento: politica estera, cultura politica e correnti dell'opinione pubblica, Bologna, Il mulino, 2006
Luigi Guarna, Richard Nixon e i partiti politici italiani (1969-72), Milano Mondadori, 2015.
Ole Rudolf Holsti, Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy, Michigan press, 2006
Helen Laville Hugh Wilford (a cura di), The US Government, Citizen Groups and the Cold War, The State-Private Network, 2012
W. Lippmann, L’opinione pubblica, Roma, Donzelli 2018
Nicholas Mulder The economic weapon. The rise of sanctions as a tool od modern war, yale, Yale U.P, 2022
Angela Santese, La pace atomica. Ronald Reagan e il movimento antinucleare (1979-1987), Milano, Le Monnier, 2016
F. David Schmitz, The Tet Offensive: politics, war, and public opinion, Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield, 2005
Glenda Sluga, Internationalism in the Age of Nationalism, Philadelphia, Univ. of Pennsilvania Press, 2013
Marica Tolomelli, Terrorismo e società: il pubblico dibattito in Italia e in Germania negli anni Settanta, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2006
Vladimir Zubok, Collapse. The Fall of the Soviet Union, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2021
Teaching methods
The course will have part lectures and part seminar discussions. The case studies will first be explained by the lecturer and then discussed on the basis of the assigned readings.
Assessment methods
Students that will attend the class
Students that will attend the class must
1. write a thesis of at least 30,000 characters (=4500 words) on a topic assigned by the lecturer
2. Take an Oral exam: Discussion on the paper and on the texts discussed during the course during dedicated exam sessions.
Students that will not attend the class
Studenst that will not attend the class must pass
1. an open-ended test on the compulsory text (A) consisting of 15 questions. Each question will be graded from 0 to 2 points. There are no penalties for wrong answers.
2. In case of passing the test with a score of at least 18/30, students will take the oral test on the the chosen book in the list B.
General assessment criteria
The achievement of an organic vision of the themes addressed, the possession of a mastery of expression and specific language, the mastery of concepts, the structural and historical-causal understanding of events, as well as familiarity with the tools of analysis of International History and communication applied to international politics will be assessed with marks of excellence. A largely mechanical or mnemonic knowledge of the subject, an inadequate ability to synthesise and analyse, or language that is correct but not always appropriate, as well as a scholastic command of International History and communication applied to international politics will lead to fair marks. Gaps in training or inappropriate language, as well as a lack of knowledge and understanding of international history and communication applied to international politics, will lead to grades that are close to adequate. Gaps in training, inappropriate language and lack of orientation within the space-time dimension will result in negative marks.
Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted at least 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.
Teaching tools
beamer
Links to further information
https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/stefano.cavazza/
Office hours
See the website of Stefano Cavazza
SDGs

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.