66782 - History of Medieval Europe (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student has an in-depth knowledge of themes, phenomena, moments and problems relating to the history of Europe in the Middle Ages and, with the help of evidence of various kinds, acquires knowledge, methodological skills and the ability to carry out research independently.

Course contents

Italy before Italy. European Historiography and Representations.

The course aims not only at acquiring knowledge about the History of Italy, mainly during the medieval period, but also about historiography (the major currents of thought in Italian and European historiography from the 19th century onwards) and the perception of the medieval period, or even the construction of an ideal past, in politics, literature and art. The course will therefore be divided into three parts (history, historiography, perceptions) that will allow students to approach the historical method, and to critically deconstruct certain discourses in which the “Middle Ages” is used as a negative or positive point of reference.

Readings/Bibliography

Giuseppe Sergi L’idea di Medioevo. Fra storia e senso comune (Donzelli 2005)

More references will be added later by the teacher

Teaching methods

Frontal lesson in Italian language with the aid of Power Point materials. The powerpoint files used during the lecture will be made available on Virtuale. In addition, images and transcripts of the sources studied during the course will be uploaded on Virtuale.

Educational trips are planned (in Bologna)

Assessment methods

The examination consists of an oral interview in which the student's critical and methodological skills are assessed and he/she is invited to engage with the course material. In the assessment of the examination, particular account will be taken of the student's ability to orientate himself/herself within the examination material in order to draw out useful information that will enable him/her to illustrate themes and problems and to be able to link them together.

In addition to the course and the compulsory book, each student will be asked to choose a topic related to the “Italian Middle Ages”, to be illustrated by means of an oral presentation in front of the class and/or the lecturer. The presentation may also be given in English or French.

Teaching tools

The course will make use for almost all the lectures of texts and images presented on Power Point.

The presentations used during the lectures and the proposed readings will be downloaded on Virtuale, the University's repository for sharing teaching support tools.

Office hours

See the website of Sylvie Marie Laure Duval