89984 - Comparative History in the Contemporary Age (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to offer the methodological tools to develop historical comparison between different national cases and thus enable students to understand the evolution of social, cultural and political dynamics within the public sphere. At the end of the course students: - master the methodologies of historical comparison and understand the different methodological implications; - know in depth the evolution of social dynamics within one or more case studies; - know how to apply the knowledge acquired in the analysis of case studies to other similar phenomena; - know how to analyze the historical evolution of the public sphere from a comparative point of view; - are able to broaden the field their own disciplinary competence by means of the methodology of analysis of specialized literature acquired during the course.

Course contents

Nation and Nationalism in Comparative Perspective

The course aims to introduce students to the methodology of comparison and its application to historical analysis. The theme of the 2025/26 course will be the comparative analysis of the evolution of the nation and nationalism in its historical evolution between the 19th and 21st centuries. n this context, special attention will be paid to the differences between ethnic nationalism and nationalism, nationalism and regionalism, the role of Europe and the re-emergence of nationalism. The course will have the following outline structure (minor changes are possible)The course will be structured as follows

Course Outline (minor changes are possibile):

Lesson 1 Introduction to the course
Lesson 2 Methodology of historical comparison
Lesson 3 Theories of the nation
Lesson 4 Stereotypes and identity
Lesson 5 Unification nationalism
Lesson 6 Civic nationalism and ethnic nationalism
Lesson 7 The English case
Lesson 9 War nation and fascism
Lesson 10 The nation after the Second World War
Lesson 11 The re-emergence of regionalism
Lesson 12 The crisis of the Soviet Union and East European nationalism
Lesson 13 Constitutional patriotism and Europe
Lesson 14 The emergence of Neo-nationalism and populism
Lesson 15 The themes of the papers will be discussed and the design of the paper in closing final discussion on the course themes

Readings/Bibliography

Advice

Readings are different between students that are attending the course and Students that are not attending the course

Attending students should study readings in section 1

Not attending students should study all readings in section 2 .1 + choosing 1 book in section 2.2

1. Compulsory readings for ATTENDING students

Syllabus for attending students

The readings list will be published before the semester’s beginning. Readings will be upload to Virtuale unibo with few exceptions. In such a case the student should contact the teacher.
Students are expected to read each reading before the lesson and to debate it in the second part of the lesson.

2. Compulsory readings for students that WON'T attend the class

Students should study all readings of the section 2.1 and should select and study one book of the section 2.2.

2.1 General and Methodological Readings

S. Cavazza Nazione, nazionalismo e folklore. Italia e Germania dall'Ottocento a oggi, Bologna, Il Mulino 2024.
-Marc Bloch, Per una storia comparata delle società europee, in M. Bloch, Lavoro e tecnica nel medioevo, Roma-Bari. Laterza, 1990 ( ma va bene qualunque edizione), pp. 29-71,
-Theda Skocpol, Margaret Sommers. The Uses of Comparative history in Macrosocial Inquiry , in «Comparative Studies in Society and History» vol. 22, n.2 (aprile 1980), pp. 174-197
-M. Werner e B. Zimmermann, Beyond Comparison: Histoire croisée And The Challenge Of Reflexivity, «History and Theory» 45 (February 2006), pp. 30-50.
- H. Kaelble, Comparative and Transnational History, in «Ricerche di storia politica » special issue/2017, pp. 15-24

2.2 One book should be chosen in the following list

- M.Billig, Nazionalismo banale, Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino, 2018
-J. Breuilly, Il nazionalismo e lo stato, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1995
-S. Cavazza, Filippo Triola (a cura di), Parole sovrane. Comunicazione politica e storia contemporanea in Italia e Germania, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017
-M. Ferrari Zumbini, Le immagini della nazione : nazionalismo e arti visive in Germania, 1813-1913, Roma, Istituto italiano di studi germanici, 2016
-G. Lucaroni, Architetture di Storia. Fascismo, storicità, cultura architettonica italiana, Roma, Viella, 2022
-G. Mancosu, Vedere l’impero. L’Istituto Luce e il colonialismo fascista, Milano, Mimesis 2022
-W. Müller, Constitutional Patriotism, Princeton, Princeton University Press , 2009
-S. Pizzirani, Il consumo è una cosa seria. Una storia politica e culturale degli anni Settanta, Milano, Angeli 2025
- D. Welch, Persuading the people: British propaganda in World War II, London, The British Library, 2016

 

NOTE: students enrolled in the course in previous years will retain the syllabus of their year, but may request to change to the current year's syllabus.

Teaching methods

lectures alternated with seminar discussions

Assessment methods

Assessment for attending students

-50% paper on a subject proposed by the teacher, at least 30.000 characters = 4500 words (the calculation must include footnotes, but exclude the bibliography)

-20% assessment of the participation and of the paper's discussion

-30% Oral examination on the readings (Section 1+2)

-Deadline of the delivery of the paper will be define during the course ( 1 copy printed and signed by the student+ 1 copy send in word format)

-Regarding structure, footnotes and bibliography, students should follow the teacher's guidelines that are published on virtuale unibo.

Erasmus and overseas students attending the class
Erasmus and overseas students can write the paper and take the oral examination using English, German or French .

Assessment for students that will not attend the class :
50% Written examination on readings (section 2.1).

 50% Oral examination on readings (section 2.2) .

The questions in the written part will have a different value, which will be indicated on the task and will normally range between 1 and 3 points.

Erasmus and overseas students not attending the class
Erasmus and overseas students can use English, German or French for the essay and for the oral examination.

General criteria of assessment

The achievement of an organic vision of the themes tackled, 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 comparative history will be assessed with marks of excellence. A largely mechanical or mnemonic knowledge of the subject, an inadequate ability to summarise and analyse, or language which is correct but not always appropriate, as well as a scholastic command of comparative history will lead to fair marks. Inadequate training or inappropriate language, as well as a lack of knowledge and understanding of comparative history will lead to grades that are on the threshold of sufficiency. Formative deficiencies, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the spatiotemporal dimension will lead to negative marks.

Nota: 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