30112 - History of Women in the Contemporary Age (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module the student will be aware of the fact that the identities of men and women are complex social, cultural and political constructs, and that such constructs differ according to the historical and geographical contexts. He or she will be aware of the fact that, even in the individual contexts, male and female identities are not monolithic and opposite entities, and that it is therefore more apt to speak of men and women in the plural rather than of man and woman in the singular. He or she will be able to grasp the long-term continuities and the discontinuities with reference to the specific themes. He or she will be fully aware of the variety of sources available for the study of the different aspects of the history of women and of gender identity. By the end of the course the student will have learned about the different thematic articulations proper to his/her own social history, including the orientations undertaken by women’s and gender studies in the study of the modern age. He or she will be familiar with the historical sources proper to his/her own discipline and will be able to navigate in the historiography of reference.

Course contents

The course title is "Feminisms" and will deal with the major issues and moment of the political culture and the women’s movement starting from the late-eighteenth century until the first decade of the twenty-first century. The movements and the ideas arising in the various European countries, in the American continent and also in non-Western realities will be analyzed.

For the students who will take both modules of the course in Social and Gender History, the following seminar, to be held by Dr. Eloisa Betti, will be organized at different times from those of the lectures.

Rethinking the social question: a gendered approach

The seminar, reserved to the students who will follow the whole integrated course in Social and Gender History, will deal with the emergence of the social question from different angles and its evolution until the most recent developments, proposing a reflection that dovetails with the analysis of contemporary sources and writings that will range from the nineteenth century to the new millennium. The first part of the seminar will focus its attention on female and feminist thinking on work, proposing a selection of writings that thematize, in particular, the relationship between productive and reproductive work in the different periods considered. The second part will examine the social conditions of the subordinate classes through the analysis of the great social inquiries of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and by adopting a gender perspective. The method of assessment consists in a discussion of a paper about ten pages in length (20,000 characters). A seminar attender is considered to be someone who has come to at least seven meetings. The schedule of the meetings with relevant bibliography will be provided at the start of the course.

Readings/Bibliography

All students will study the following book:

M.P. Casalena, Le italiane e la storia: un percorso di genere nella cultura contemporanea, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2016

Attending students who will attend also the Seminar will study for the oral examen only this book.

Attending students who DON'T ATTEND THE SEMINAR and non-attendind students will study further two books from the list below:

C. Frattini, Il primo Congresso delle donne italiane, Roma 1908: opinione pubblica e femminismo, Roma, Biblink, 2008

E. Saurer, Melancolia e Risveglio. Donne e religione nell’Europa romantica, Roma, Viella, 2013

R. Pepicelli, Il femminismo islamico: Corano diritti riforme, Roma, Carocci, 2010

E. Schiavon, Interventiste nella Grande Guerra, Firenze, Le Monnier, 2015

A. Rossi-Doria, La libertà delle donne: voci dalla tradizione politica suffragista, Torino, Rosenberg&Sellier, 1990
G. Bonacchi-C. Dau Novelli (a cura di), Culture politiche e dimensioni del femminile nell'Italia del Novecento, Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino, 2010

E. Guerra, Il dilemma della pace. Femministe e pacifiste sulla scena internazionale 1914-1939, Roma, Viella, 2014
M. Miniati, Le "emancipate". Le donne ebree in Italia tra XIX e XX secolo, Roma, Viella, 2008

"Genesis", numero 1-2013: Femminismi nel Mediterraneo (parte monografica)

“Genesis”, numero 2-2011: Attraversare i confini: Pratiche culturali e politiche del femminismo italiano (parte monografica)

"Genesis" numero 2-2009: Femminismi senza frontiere (parte monografica)

"Genesis" numero 2-2005: Femminismi e culture: oltre l'Europa (parte monografica)

S. Benussi, Le donne afroamericane negli Stati Uniti: la lunga lotta per i diritti civili, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2007

P. Stelliferi, Il femminismo a Roma negli anni Settanta, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2015

A. Frisone, Quando le lavoratrici si ripresero la cultura: femminismo sindacale e corsi 150 ore delle donne a Reggio Emilia, Bologna, Socialmente, 2014

Teaching methods

The lessons will be partly teacher-centered but there will be a space for the discussion of the sources presented at the classes.

Assessment methods

For the students who attend the lectures alone and for all the non-attenders:

Oral exam. A thorough knowledge of the issues laid out in the texts chosen corresponds to excellent marks. A more superficial knowledge and an inadequate exposition corresponds to marks between fair and satisfactory. A gap-filled knowledge corresponds to unsatisfactory.

The students who choose the module History of Women and Gender Identity as a 6-credit course will do a oral test on three texts chosen from the bibliography of reference.

The students who follow the Seminar will have to do a final short paper, which they will discuss within the scope of the Seminar with Dr. Eloisa Betti and the course lecturer. For the oral test they must only study the set text for all students.

Teaching tools

Power point and possible screening of videos

Office hours

See the website of Maria Pia Casalena