MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY HISTORY

This is one of the basic courses of the degree program in Philosophy, International and Economic Studies. It aims to provide students with basic tools of knowledge in the historical field. It is a course of Modern and Contemporary History that comprises the period between the second half of the eighteenth century and the present day. It aims to clarify the long-term developments that still determine the contemporary debate and society. It highlights the cultural, political, socioeconomic and geopolitical paths of various geographical areas over the last two and a half centuries. It helps to develop a general vision and historical background of international relations, and a better understanding of international societies and their political choices.

1. Knowledge and understanding: Knowing the most important events in European and world history and understanding their structural consequences and the general changes they have caused between 1750 and the contemporary era.
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: The ability to present a theme/text orally and with power point and offer it for discussion by the course community can be exercised through classroom presentations. Given the number of participants, this activity is limited and voluntary, and therefore not subject to examination.
3. Judgment skills: Knowing how to develop a critical approach to the reading of historical texts, including the ability to correctly interpret the intention of a text and to evaluate it in an argued way.
4. Communication skills: Knowing how to interact in the classroom with peers and the teacher in a critical and respectful way. Participation in the classroom discussion is free and voluntary and therefore is not subject to examination.
5. Learning ability: Knowing how to memorize the most important turning points on the timeline of modern contemporary history, and the ability to study reference texts individually and critically.

Knowledge of the general frameworks of modern and contemporary history acquired through secondary-school teachings.

01 Introduction; the concept of historical contemporaneity in Italian and English
02 At the roots of globalization: European colonialism, 1450-1750
03 The concept of 'Europe'
04 European Timeline, 1776-1914: Major events; Europe and eurocentricsm
05 The concept of 'Industrial Revolution'
06 Industrial Revolution in Europe, 1750-1914
07 The American Revolution of 1776
08 The French Revolution of 1789
09 Liberalism, Socialism, Feminism
10 The concept of 'Nation' and nationalism
11 Social changes in Europe, 1800-1914
12 World Timeline, 1750-1914
13 Global changes: Colonialism and imperialism
14 Global changes: Population and modernization
15 Global changes: Economy
16 Theories of imperialism
17 World Timeline 1914-2000: Major events
18 World War I
19 Economic crisis of 1929, right-wing dictatorships, World War II, Shoah
20 The affirmation of Communism and the USA-USSR confrontation
21 Third World', political Islam, decline of Soviet communism
22 Global changes: demographic, social, and political changes
23 Global changes: political changes
24 Two waves of economic globalization
25 Social changes in Europe 1945-2000
26 From 'solid' to 'liquid modernity'
27 Community
28 Equality and hierarchy in the global society
29 ‘Race’, ‘ethnicity’, ‘culture’ and multi-culturalism
30 Final discussion

Richard E. BALDWIN, Philippe MARTIN, Two waves of Globalization: Superficial Similarities, Fundamental Differences, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge (MA) 1999, Working Paper 6904, 33 pp.;
Zygmunt BAUMAN, Liquid Modernity, Polity Press, Cambridge 2006, pp. 130-199;
Colin HEYWOOD, ‘Society’, in: The Nineteenth Century, ed. by T.C.W. Blanning, Oxford University Press, Oxford-New York 2000, pp. 47-77;
Hartmut KAELBLE, ‘Social history’, in: Europe since 1945, ed. by Mary Fulbrook, Oxford University Press, Oxford-New York 2001, pp. 53-94;
Alana LENTIN, Gavan TITLEY, The Crisis of Multiculturalism. Racism in a Neoliberal Age, Zed Books, London-New York 2010, pp. 11-48, 160-192;
Rolf PETRI, A Short History of Wester Ideology: A Critical Account, Bloomsbury, London 2018, pp. 101-169;
Kevin REILLY, The Human Journey. A Concise Introduction to World History, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham 2012, pp. 275-408.

The final exam is written. It is divided into three parts, two of which consist of open questions and one takes the form of a short essay.
The first part consists of open questions related to the topics dealing with the period up to 1914. Another part of the final exam consists of the delivery of a written paper of not less than 1,300 and not more than 1,500 words (all included), which summarizes, and comments on, one of the referral texts in the reading list (see the instructions for the paper on the Moodle platform). Another part still of the final exam consists of open questions related to the same referral texts and extends the timeframe from the First World War to the early twenty-first century.
Participants of the current academic year are offered the possibility to take part in a mid-term test to be carried out halfway of the course, through the Moodle platform, dealing with the period up to 1914. The results of this test can be credited for the first part of the final exam. This possibility is voluntary. Students enrolled in the exam who have not participated in the mid-term test, students who wish to improve their test result, as well as students of previous academic years, will deliver all parts during the final exam.

written

The final exam uses a grading scale from 0 to 30. The minimum passing grade is 18. The overall grading of the grades indicates sufficient (18-23), good (23-26) or very good/excellent (27-30) knowledge and ability to understand the referral texts. ‘Honours’ can be awarded for excellent knowledge of the topics being assessed and exceptional judgment capacity.
The test is made up of three parts, each weighing up to 10 points (one third of the maximum final grade). The two parts with open questions test the knowledge of the most important events in European and world history and the ability to understand their structural consequences and the general changes they have caused; while the essay also tests the ability to develop a critical approach to reading historiographical texts, including the ability to correctly interpret the intention of a text and to evaluate it in an argumentative manner.

The teaching takes place in the form of a blended course. The face-to-face parts (66.6%) include lectures and teacher-led discussion, as well as the presentation and discussion in the classroom of individual topics by students. The remote parts (33.3%) include presentations in ppt and audio-video with the systematic formulation of final questions around which then to interact in class. Halfway of the course, a test will be carried out through the Moodle platform regarding the ‘long nineteenth century’.
By agreement with the teacher, students will have the opportunity to present in the classroom, on a voluntary basis, some topics attaining to the study program and have them discussed by their peers and the teacher.
Additional materials will be made available by the teacher on the Moodle platform (lesson program, notes, slides, pdf, instructions for the exam, etc.).

English