HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT

The target of the course are the students of the third year of the BA programme in Philosophy, International and Economic Studies (PISE). Thanks to its historico-methodological approach, the course contributes to the achievement of the multidisciplinary objectives of the BA programme.

By the end of the course, students will have achieved a thorough knowledge of the history, methodology and current debates of the historical discipline called ‘Intellectual History’. In particular, students will be able: 1) to think over the definition of Intellectual History and its closest ‘relatives’ (History of Ideas, History of Concepts); 2) to grasp the historical development of the debate over Intellectual History and its theoretical turning points; 3) to critically reflect on the relationship between Intellectual History and other academic disciplines (from the History of Philosophy to the IR).
More generally, the course aims at: 1) strengthening the learning abilities of the students; 2) enhancing their capacity to tackle with complex theoretical issues; 3) strengthening their writing skills.

No prior familiarity with the topic of the course is required.

The course is entitled "Introduction to Intellectual History". The themes that will be covered during the lectures are:
- History of Ideas, Conceptual History, Intellectual History? An ideological debate
- Intellectual History and the History of Political Thought
- The Linguistic Turn
- The Cambridge School
- Koselleck and the Begriffsgeschichte
- Intellectual History and other disciplines (IR, Cultural History, History of the Book, etc.)
- Global Intellectual History
- Gender and Sexuality in Intellectual History
- New Trends in Intellectual History: The History of Emotions

The students will be also provided with an overview on the online resources available, as well as on the research centres and scientific societies existing worldwide.

Attending students will be provided with a reading list (available on Moodle before the start of the course). At the beginning of the course, attending students will also be provided with a second list of texts from which to choose the one on which to prepare the written text (see below for the details).

Students unable to complete their preparation in the classroom should contact the teacher as soon as possible to agree upon a special programme.

Attending students are asked to write a short essay (ca. 750-1000 words) on a piece from the second list of texts. Each piece deals with a specific theme and represents an application of the methodology illustrated in class. The aim of the essay is 1) to offer a critical summary of the content of the article/book chapter and 2) to discuss its methodological approach on the basis of what said during the course. The essays have to be submitted to the teacher after the end of the course. They will represent the 30% of the final mark.
For the rest (70%), the mark will be determined thanks to an individual oral exam. The approximate duration of the oral exam is 15-20 minutes. Each student will be asked to answer two questions, aiming at verifying the achievement of the expected learning outcomes.

For students who could not complete their preparation in the classroom: there will be exclusively an oral exam (25-30 minutes, three or four questions), on the programme agreed with the teacher.

Academic lectures; Essays.

English

oral