The course deals with issues relating to the history and politics of the US with special reference to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. These two documents are central in the American political and social experience. Nowadays, with the radicalization of politics and presidential elections they become all the more relevant. Students will learn how the American system of government works and what are the prerogatives and duties of the president and of Congress. At the end of the semester, students will achieve a deep understanding of the most relevant aspects of American history and society with a special attention on foreign policy and the role of the US at the world level.
teacher profile teaching materials
Introduction and description of the course. The Revolutionary era and the independence. Focus on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights with discussions in class and readings from the original texts. The US political system and its evolution over time.
Week III
The US at mid XIX century. Territorial expansion and “manifest destiny”. “Jacksonianism” and reforms. North-South divisions and the road to the War
Week IV
The American Civil War and its effect on American society and culture. Focus on 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. The Reconstruction and the southern question.
Week V:
The end of the XIX century, industrialization, populism and “Gilded Age”. American imperialism and the progressive era. The first World War and the US international role.
Week VI
The post war period and the roaring twenties. The Great Depression, Roosevelt’s presidency and the New Deal.
Week VII:
The US and the international order in the 1930s. The second world war and Roosevelt’s “grand design” for a new international order. The war at home and abroad.
Week VIII:
The origins of the Cold War and the new dimension in foreign politics. The Marshall Plan and the new international challenges. War in Korea and US military interventions in the “third world”. McCarthyism, nuclear fear and arms race. The US culture in the Cold War era.
Week IX:
The booming economy and the affluent society. The rise of the American middle-class. Social and cultural revolutions in the 1950s and 1960s. Civil Rights movement and the New Frontier, the Great Society and the war in Vietnam. Counterculture and feminisms.
Week X:
The 1970s, Nixon and the US crisis of confidence. Kissinger and the “realpolitik”. The shifting of power towards the Sunbelt and the Carter presidency. Reagan and the conservative turn in American politics. The rise of a New Right. The end of the Cold War.
Week XI:
The US from the end of the Cold War to 9/11. Clinton and Bush Jr., 9/11 and its effect on politics and culture.
Elisabetta Vezzosi, Mosaico americano, Roma, Carocci, 2005
Fabrizio Tonello, La Costituzione degli Stati Uniti, Milano, Mondadori, 2010
Programme
Weeks I e IIIntroduction and description of the course. The Revolutionary era and the independence. Focus on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights with discussions in class and readings from the original texts. The US political system and its evolution over time.
Week III
The US at mid XIX century. Territorial expansion and “manifest destiny”. “Jacksonianism” and reforms. North-South divisions and the road to the War
Week IV
The American Civil War and its effect on American society and culture. Focus on 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. The Reconstruction and the southern question.
Week V:
The end of the XIX century, industrialization, populism and “Gilded Age”. American imperialism and the progressive era. The first World War and the US international role.
Week VI
The post war period and the roaring twenties. The Great Depression, Roosevelt’s presidency and the New Deal.
Week VII:
The US and the international order in the 1930s. The second world war and Roosevelt’s “grand design” for a new international order. The war at home and abroad.
Week VIII:
The origins of the Cold War and the new dimension in foreign politics. The Marshall Plan and the new international challenges. War in Korea and US military interventions in the “third world”. McCarthyism, nuclear fear and arms race. The US culture in the Cold War era.
Week IX:
The booming economy and the affluent society. The rise of the American middle-class. Social and cultural revolutions in the 1950s and 1960s. Civil Rights movement and the New Frontier, the Great Society and the war in Vietnam. Counterculture and feminisms.
Week X:
The 1970s, Nixon and the US crisis of confidence. Kissinger and the “realpolitik”. The shifting of power towards the Sunbelt and the Carter presidency. Reagan and the conservative turn in American politics. The rise of a New Right. The end of the Cold War.
Week XI:
The US from the end of the Cold War to 9/11. Clinton and Bush Jr., 9/11 and its effect on politics and culture.
Core Documentation
Oliviero Bergamini, Storia degli Stati Uniti, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2010Elisabetta Vezzosi, Mosaico americano, Roma, Carocci, 2005
Fabrizio Tonello, La Costituzione degli Stati Uniti, Milano, Mondadori, 2010
Type of delivery of the course
The course includes frontal lessons, with the aid of power points and audiovisual material. Some documents will be read and discussed in class.Type of evaluation
The final exam will consist of an oral test on the topics covered in class and on the texts assigned to the students. The test will be in Italian. There will also be a mid-semester test, focusing exclusively on the part of the course related to the Constitution, the U.S. institutions, their functions and their evolution over time. Participation in this mid-term test is absolutely optional. Students who pass the exemption will then be examined in the final test only on the historical part of the course. N.B: In the COVID-19 emergency period the examinations will be carried out in accordance with the provisions of art.1 of Rectoral Decree no. 703 of 5 May 2020.