96813 - International History of the Contemporary Era (A-L)

Learning outcomes

The course aims at providing an adequate knowledge of contemporary political-institutional history and at analyzing major historical changes of contemporaneity that took place at European and extra-European level, starting from the French Revolution up to the fall of Berlin wall (1989).

The acquired analytical tools will allow to improve the understanding of the relations existing between domestic and foreign policies of the concerned countries as well as to consolidate the knowledge of major international processes and their interconnection with national histories. The study of the main events of XIX and XX centuries in a diachronic perspective will allow acquiring key elements for interpreting current events.

Course contents

Lectures retrace chronologically the main junctures of the contemporary political history (from 1848 revolutions to 1980s), using a compared analysis of the major historical events affecting the European context and the main extra-European realities. After the introduction of major political, economic and social processes characterizing the beginning of contemporary era and leading to World War I, the analysis will focus on European and extra-European political history in the inter-war period and will deal with the global context of bipolarity and Cold War.

Readings/Bibliography

All students (both attending and non-attending the classes) must study the compulsory textbook and one monograph among those suggested.

Compulsory:

Giovanni Sabbatucci, Vittorio Vidotto, Il mondo contemporaneo, Laterza, Bari-Roma, 2019.

One of your choice:

Bell P.M.H. e Gilbert M., The World Since 1945. An International History, Bloomsbury Academic, 2017.

Deplano V. e Pes A., Storia del colonialismo italiano, Carocci, 2024.

Di Sanzo, Falcucci, Mancosu, L'Italia e il mondo post-coloniale, Le Monnier, 2023.

Ertola, Emanuele, "Il colonialismo degli italiani. Storia di un'ideologia" Carocci, 2022.

Judt T., La nostra storia (Dopoguerra. Come è cambiata l’Europa dal 1945 a oggi), Laterza 2017, disponibile anche in e-book (anche edizione Mondadori 2007).

Keylor W., Un mondo di nazioni. L'ordine internazionale dopo il 1945, Guerini scientifica (vecchia ed. o ristampa).

Lupo S., La mafia. Centosessant’anni di storia tra Sicilia e America, Roma, Donzelli.

Perazzoli J., “Per la pace del diritto". Woodrow Wilson e la sua eredità, dalla Grande Guerra allo shock della globalizzazione, Carocci, 2022.

Testi A., Il secolo degli Stati Uniti, Il Mulino, Bologna.

Teaching methods

30 two hours classes
Official language: Italian

The course is at the beginning of university studies and generally it is attended by many students. The professor uses frontal lessons during which students are invited to further deepen the topics discussed and to express their opinion. The professor also uses power point to highlight the main elements of the historical analysis as well as photos and movies helping students to contextualize course contents.

Assessment methods

Attending students:

- Three written, evaluative tests will be carried out during the course as a check on learning with respect to individual work and work done in the classroom. These tests - which are reserved for students who have actually attended the lectures (the lecturer reserves the right to collect students' signatures to verify their participation) - will consist of three tests with semi-open-ended questions. The time available is 45 minutes.

The dates of the three tests will be announced on the first day of class and will be published on the teacher's website.

- Grading criteria for the written tests: the tests will be graded in thirtieths. Each test will be considered passed if the student scores at least 18 out of a total of 30 points.

- In the event of a positive result in the three written tests, the student will have access to the oral interview, in which the historical reasoning ability acquired will be verified as well as the ability to critically read the chosen monograph.

The marks obtained in the partial examinations of the course remain valid until the first appeal in June 2025.

- In the case of failure in two or three written examinations, the student must take the final written examination, a test of 10 semi-open-ended questions on the entire institutional part, before proceeding to the oral examination. The time available is 45 minutes.

- It is not possible to take the oral examination without prior online registration.

-For the final oral examination, the student is required to bring the textbook and the monograph studied.

Non-attending students:

-The examination for non-attending students consists of an open-ended questionnaire of 10 questions on the textbook/institutional part and an oral test aimed at verifying the learning of the textbook/institutional part.

-The time available for the written test is 45 minutes.

-The oral test takes place on the same day as the written test or on the following day if there are a large number of entrants.

-A passing grade in both tests is required (access to the oral test is conditional on passing the written test).

Teaching tools

Powerpoint, Movies

Office hours

See the website of Giuliana Laschi