Programme

The course examines the fundamental moments and aspects in contemporary 19th and 20th century history, starting with the revolutionary risings of 1948 and the formation of the European nation states, up to recent events. Special attention will be given to World History and to framing events in a global perspective. The topics of minorities and international migrations in our age, particularly to and from Italy, will be the focus of specific in-depth analysis.

Core Documentation

Attending students
- Lucio Caracciolo, Adriano Roccucci, Storia contemporanea, Le Monnier-Mondadori, 2017
e uno a scelta fra:
- Mario Giro, Global Africa, Guerini associati 2019
- Valerio De Cesaris, Il grande sbarco, Guerini associati 2018

Non-attending students

- Lucio Caracciolo, Adriano Roccucci, Storia contemporanea, Le Monnier-Mondadori, Firenze-Milano
- Corrado Bonifazi, L' immigrazione straniera in Italia, Il Mulino 2007
e uno a scelta fra:
- Mario Giro, Global Africa, Guerini associati 2019
- Valerio De Cesaris, Il grande sbarco, Guerini associati 2018

Type of delivery of the course

Lectures and seminars

Type of evaluation

The assessment will be carried out in one session, through a written examination, and it will focus on the reference texts of the syllabus and the material offered during the lectures, as well as on the student’s understanding of the topics examined in greater detail during the lessons. The examination aims at assessing the student’s understanding of the social, economic and cultural dynamics of contemporary history, as well as the student’s use of historical knowledge so as to offer an articulate analysis of the phenomena of our contemporary era. Special attention will be devoted to the student’s capability to connect Italian events to the overall historical context. No in-term tests will be held. The assessment will include the student’s level of participation during classes, as well as the ability to employ historical knowledge and the information acquired through other subjects for an inclusive analysis of contemporary history.

Programme

The course includes a manual section, which aims to offer an exhaustive picture of the political-institutional, socio-economic and communicative-media transformations in the historical processes that have marked the last two centuries, between 1848 and the present time, with attention to the roots of modernity in the nineteenth century and to the challenges of the twenty-first century. Priority is given to the processes of global interaction and interdependence, placing European history in a global geo-political context and Italian history itself in a transnational perspective.
The course also develops thematic paths that allow to enhance the role of the sources (archival, written, oral, audio-visual, online) in "making history".
A first path concerns the history of childhood through the conflicts of the twentieth century, up to the wars of our time, the "child soldiers" and migrant children.
A second thematic path concerns the transformations of information and communication (between telegraph and press, cinema and radio, television and social networks), with the advent of mass society and the influence of populisms in public life.

Core Documentation

The course focuses on the manual volume of Lucio Caracciolo and Adriano Roccucci, Storia contemporanea. Dal mondo europeo al mondo senza centro, Milan, Mondadori Education, 2017 [Isbn: 978-88-00-74473-7].
The thematic in-depth text is the following: Bruno Maida, L’infanzia nelle guerre del Novecento, Turin, Einaudi, 2017.

Reference Bibliography

For attending students we recommend reading the book by Claudio Pavone,Prima lezione di storia contemporanea, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2009, pages 244 [ISBN: 978-88-420-7991-0].

Type of delivery of the course

Methods of performance The course combines frontal lessons with workshop activities, focused on the use and enhancement of historical work through sources: written texts and oral testimonies, photographs and images, audio-visual documents.

Type of evaluation

With the return to full accessibility and the restoration of the normal activity situation, the evaluation method is that of the written test: five open-ended questions, one of which relating to the monographic study volume (Childhood in the wars of the twentieth century).