CONTEMPORARY HISTORY 1

The course belongs to the basic courses for the B.A. in Languages, Civilisation and the Science of Language. Its general aims is to provide the students with the occasion for reflecting in general terms about the history of the 19th-20th centuries.

The aims of the course are:

- to familiarize with the historical thinking;
- to deepen the knoledge of some relevant historical turns of the history of the last two centuries
- to develop a comparative and transnational approach
- to focus on some theoretical and methodological issues
- to provide some actual issues a historical depth

The expected learning results are the following:

- to familiarize with and to be able to understand the main historical events and issues of the European history of the 19th-20th century, in a comparative perspective;
- to be able to apply this knowledge to a critical understanding of the present time in terms of continuities/changes and public use of history
- to reinforce and develop the ability of critically reading the historical academic literature
- to refine your communication skills

A basic knowledge of modern and contemporary history.

The course will introduce the students to the European history of the 19th-20th century, with a particular attention to some historical turns and historiographical issues, like:

- nations, nationalism, and the empires
- comparing 20th century projects of social engineering
- European fascisms and the world wars
- labour, welfare, and social conflict.
In order to accomplish its objectives the course will deepen some social and cultural historical issues, linked to the nation-building projects and the collective identities, and to some categories and historiographical approaches like "social control, gender, social marginality".

J. Leonhard, U. von Hirschhausen, Imperi e Stati Nazionali nell’Ottocento, Il Mulino, 2014, introduction and ch. 1.
Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century, London, Allen Lane, 1998 (or later editions).
Paolo Sorcinelli, Viaggio nella storia sociale, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2009, chapters 1-4, 8-9.

The student must integrated, if necessary, those readings with a handbook of contemporary history.

Furthermore, for those, who do not attend classes:
S. Shulman, Challenging the Civic/Ethnic and West/East Dichotomies in the Study of Nationalism, in “Comparative Political Studies”, 35 (2002), 5, pp. 554–585.
T. Zahra, Imagined Noncommunities: National Indifference as a Category of Analysis, in “Slavic Review”, 69 (2010), 1, pp. 93-119.
Giovanni Schininà, Reinterpretare le ultime decadi dell’Impero asburgico. Stato e società nelle nuove letture storiografiche, in “Memoria e Ricerca”, 2020/1, pp. 109-132.

It is recommended to everyone, and particularly to students who do not attend classes, to consult the materials - ie. historical maps, visual sources, integrative texts, useful links etc. - published on the moodle platform (https://moodle.unive.it/ ).

The examination is written and it will deal with three main thematic fields:
1) to verifying the knowledge of the main historical facts and processes, as well as the most relevant personalities, with relation to the historical period under examination
2) to verify the analytical skills and the ability of the student to formulate critical reflections about the historiographical issues emerged during the lessons
3) to verify the knowledge of some elements of historical comparison .

The examination is written (duration: 1 hour and 1/2) and one further goal is to verify the written communicative skills of the student. Due to the COVID-19 emergency, the test could take place on-line, through the Moodle platform. Please, check the communications about this regard on the Moodle-section dedicated to this course.

The course is structured through lectures and discussions of academic texts. Due to the COVID-19 emergency, lectures could be took place partly or entirely on-line, through the Moodle platform.

Italian

written