CONTEMPORARY HISTORY I

The course will focus on the theme of human nature in contemporary history

The aim is to become familiar with the themes and problems of contemporary history on the one hand, and with historiographic interpretations and research methods on the other.

Knowledge of the general outlines of modern and contemporary history acquired during high school.

The history of the 19th and 20th centuries brought with it radical changes in the conception of human nature, together with ancient questions. Is the human being good or bad? Collaborative or selfish? What drives humanity to war? Is there a universal and timeless human nature? Or does human nature change over time and space? From Enlightenment to the birth of artificial intelligence, the course will trace changes and questions regarding the value and nature of the human being, weaving two threads. The first will concern the great collective events (the French Revolution, industrialisation, colonialism, the two World Wars, the Holocaust, technological transformations, consumerism) and their impact on the idea of ‘human’. The second thread, intertwined with the first, will consider the different images of human nature developed by literature, philosophy and the social and natural sciences during the 19th and the 20th centuries.

1) Per the general section:

Salvatore Lupo/Angelo Ventrone, L’età contemporanea, Mondadori Education, Milano, 2018.

2) 1 text of your choice for the 6 cfu and 2 of your choice for the 12 cfu (any edition):

• Lynn Hunt, La forza dell'empatia: una storia dei diritti dell'uomo, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2018
• Aurélia Michel, Il bianco e il negro. Indagine storica sull’ordine razzista, Einaudi, Torino, 2021
• Eric J. Hobsbawm, Nazioni e nazionalismi. Programma, mito, realtà, Einaudi, Torino, 2002
• Antonio Gibelli, L’officina della guerra. La Grande Guerra e le trasformazioni del mondo mentale, Bollati Boringhieri, Milano, 2007
• Andrea Graziosi, L’Unione Sovietica 1914-1991, il Mulino, Bologna, 2011
• Hannah Arendt, La banalità del male. Eichmann a Gerusalemme, Feltrinelli, Milano, 2023
• Hannah Arendt, Le origini del totalitarismo, Einaudi, Torino, 2009
• Cristopher R. Browning, Uomini comuni. Polizia tedesca e "soluzione finale" in Polonia, Einaudi, Torino 2004.
• Paolo Nello, Storia dell’Italia fascista 1922-1943, il Mulino, Bologna, 2020
• Claudio Pavone, Una guerra civile. Saggio sulla moralità nella Resistenza, Bollati Boringhieri, Milano, 2006
• Filippo Focardi, Il cattivo tedesco e il bravo italiano. La rimozione delle colpe della seconda guerra mondiale, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2013
• István Deák, L’Europa a processo. Collaborazionismo, resistenza e giustizia fra guerra e dopoguerra, il Mulino, Bologna, 2015
• Frank Trentmann, L'impero delle cose. Come siamo diventati consumatori. Dal XV al XXI secolo, Einaudi, Torino, 2023.

The final exam is a written evaluation (same for attending and non-attending students) with 4 open questions on the two chosen textbooks. Attendance is recommended to better cope with the final exam.

Lectures and discussion