72176 - History of the Italian Landscape

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the students will be able to analyze the morphology and structure of Italian landscapes and reconstruct their evolution, using appropriate terminology (environment, territory, space, landscapes, borders etc.), specific bibliographies (repertoires, publications, documentations etc., in print and online), cartographic sources (maps, atlases, drawings, sketches, cabrei, aerial and satellite photographs etc.). In particular, they will be able to: deal with the study of urban and rural historical topography, recognizing techniques, purposes, limits, and ideologies; interpret the toponymy of settlements, reliefs, bodies of water, etc.; investigate the evolution of the territory through comparative exegeses of documentary and material sources involving multiple disciplinary fields (geography, history, archeology, ecology, agro-forestry-pastoral sciences, etc.)

Course contents

Aim of this course is to outline the main historical transformations of the landscape of medieval Italy, in close dialogue with social, political, religious and constitutional history. This course explores both rural and urban landscapes in the Middle Ages. A special attention is paid to a specific case study, namely the medieval landscape of the Po Valley, where forests and waters were largely dominant. Medieval people increasingly modified this environment through their hard work and rationality; at the same time, they were fascinated by such a wild, dangerous and hard-to-tame landscape, as it was associated with the sphere of supernatural and spirituality.    

 

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students will be assessed on the following books:

1) the contents of the lessons;

2) R. Rao, I paesaggi dell’Italia medievale, Roma: Carocci, 2015 (or later editions);

3) V. Fumagalli, Storie di Val Padana. Campagne, foreste e città da Alboino a Cangrande della Scala, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2007, from Chapter 1 to Chapter 5.

Non-attending students will be assessed on the following books:

1) E. Sereni, Storia del paesaggio agrario italiano, Roma-Bari: Laterza 1982 (or later editions);

2) R. Rao, I paesaggi dell’Italia medievale, Roma: Carocci, 2015 (or later editions);

3) V. Fumagalli, Storie di Val Padana. Campagne, foreste e città da Alboino a Cangrande della Scala, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2007 (not single chapters but the whole book). 

Attending as well as non-attending students are not required to have prior knowledge of Landscape History and/or Medieval History.

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons.

The traditional lecture format is integrated by slides with maps, images, and texts, including some excerpts from medieval sources in Latin with an Italian translation.

These materials are uploaded on the online platform Virtuale throughout the course.

Assessment methods

The final exam, to be held at the end of the course, is oral. It consists of an assessment of the knowledge and skills acquired during the course. This final oral exam is the main assessment method.

A written test, to be held approximately halfway through the course, will be scheduled, covering the topics of the lessons already delivered at that date. In the event of a positive assessment (>18), the latter defines the departure point at the final oral exam, which is expteced to confirm or improve the preliminary grade of the written test. In the event of a negative assessment (<18), or in case of absence, the final oral exam becomes the only assessment method.

The assessment concerns how well students know and understand the topics discussed during the course and in the recommended readings. A special relevance is given to the ability of the students to correctly analyse, critically re-elaborate and properly explain these topics, adopting a logical-argumentative type of speech, an appropriate methodology and the specialised language of the discipline.

Class attendance is highly recommended.

A clear and intensive engagement with the course topics and materials - including simple questions, critical observations, requests of clarification or further explanations - is deeply appreciated and can change the final assessment and mark.

Teaching tools

- Projection (with comments) of maps, displaying the changing patterns of natural landscape and spatial configuration of power both in urban and rural settings in medieval Italy;

- Projection (with comments) of specific medieval sources, both in original (Latin) and in translation (Italian). 

Please note that initiatives suggested or organised by the professor (educational visits, seminars, book presentations, etc.) must be considered as a supplementary part of the course and are thus recognised at the exam.

***

A message for students with disabilities (whether permanent or temporary), SLD, ADHD or other special educational needs related to learning disorders.

Those who need special strategies to compensate their disorders are kindly requested to contact the professor, in order to be referred to the colleagues in charge and get proper advice and instructions.

Please see also: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Office hours

See the website of Stefano Manganaro