OVERVIEW

The course aims to provide students with an understanding of key themes and methods of cultural history.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide students with the tools to orientate themselves with respect to themes and methods of cultural history, in its various and diverse articulations. The goal is to become familiar with the specific lexicon of this type of scholarship; to acquire a basic understanding of the major currents of international historiography; to develop - through appropriate exercises (seminars and written reports) - techniques of analysis and critical interpretation of primary sources using this method of investigation. In particular, the applications of that method for the analysis of the key turning points and transformations characterizing the contemporary age will be object of scrutiny.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course the student will be able to: 1. engage in a critical reading of the sources (knowledge and skills of applied comprehension) 2. effectively articulate an argument with the use of a specific vocabulary and an appropriate use of the bibliography (written and oral communication skills). 3. demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the scientific debate on the specific topic to which the course is dedicated (knowledge, understanding, autonomy of judgment).

PREREQUISITES

An understanding of the essential features of historical method is required. The ability to orientate with respect to the main conceptual issues and chronological phases of the contemporary age is also required.

TEACHING METHODS

The teaching will consist of lectures, for a total of 54 hours. Powerpoint presentations and audio / video materials will be used. Eexternal experts may be invited to exemplify interpretative paths and research experiences on specific issues. Continuity of attendance is recommended.

Students attending the lectures will be asked to actively participate in the discussions.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The program is divided into three sections, consistent with the ways in which the teaching will be structured.

The first part of the program (section A) aims to introduce students to the themes and methods of cultural history. Students are asked to prepare a text of their choice from those listed under section A.

The second part of the program (section B) aims to familiarize students with a classic text, that is, with the reflections of Maurice Halbwachs, one of the fathers of modern studies on memory. In the lessons dedicated to this part, the figure of Halbwachs will be historically framed and the impact that his studies had on subsequent scholarship will be analyzed. Students are required to study one text chosen from those listed under section B.

The third and last part of the program (section C) is instead dedicated to the analysis of the specific dynamics related to the memory of the Holocaust, to the relationship between the historian and the witness, to the tensions existing between history and memory, and to the public uses of that past. Students are required to prepare two texts of their choice from those listed under section C.


 A. - Introduction to cultural history (choose one book from the following list)
 

1. P. Burke, La storia culturale,Il Mulino, Bologna, 2009.

2. L. Hunt, La storia cuturale nell'età globale, ETS, Pisa, 2009.

B. - Halbwachs' contribution to memory studies (choose one book from the following list)
 

1. M. Halbwachs, I quadri sociali della memoria, Ipermedium, Napoli, 1997 [ed. or. 1925].

2. Id., La memoria collettiva, Unicopli, Milano, 2007 [ed. or. 1949].

C. - Holocaust Memory (choose two books from the following list)

1. S. D. Kassow, Chi scriverà la nostra storia? L'archivio ritrovato del ghetto di Varsavia, Mondadori, Milano, 2009.

2. A. Wieviorka, L'era del testimone, Cortina, Milano, 1999.

3. Ch. Browning, Lo storico e il testimone. Il campo di lavoro nazista di Starachowice, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2011

4. R. Gordon, Scolpitelo nei cuori. L'Olocausto nella cultura italiana (1944-2010), Bollati-Boringhieri, Torino, 2013.

5. A. Minuz, La Shoah e la cultura visuale. Cinema, memoria, spazio pubblico, Bulzoni, Roma, 2010.

6. G. Didi-Huberman, Immagini malgrado tutto, Cortina, Milano, 2005.

7. Frédéric Rousseau, Il bambino di Varsavia. Storia di una fotografia, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2011.

8. G. Vitiello, Il testimone immaginario. Auschwitz, il cinema e la cultura pop, Ipermedium, Napoli, 2011.

9. M. Rothberg, Multidirectional Memory. Remembering the Holocaust in the Age of Decolonization, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2009.

10. F. Bertolini,Gli inganni della memoria. Testimonianza, falsificazioni, negazioni, Mimesi, Milano, 2016.

11. T. Kushner, The Holocaust and the Liberal Imagination. A Social and Cultural Histoy, Blackwell, Oxford, 1994. 

12. M. Hirsh, The Generation of Postmemory. Writing and Visual Culture after the Holocaust, Columbia University Press, NY, 2012.

13. J. E. Young, The Texture of Memory. Holocaust Memorials and Meaning,Yale University Press, New Haven, 1994.

14. F. Azouvi, Le mythe du grand silence: Auschwitz, les Français, la mémoire, Paris, Fayard, 2012.

15. J. Shandler, Holocaust Memory and the DIgital Age: Survivor's Stories and New Media Practices, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2017.

16. P. Novick, The Holocaust in American Life, Houghton Mifflin, NY, 1999.

17. D. Sanyal, Memory and Complicity. Migrations of Holocaust Remembrance, Fordham University Press, NY, 2015.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The program is divided into three sections, consistent with the ways in which the teaching will be structured. 

The first part of the program (section A) aims to introduce students to the themes and methods of cultural history. Students are asked to prepare a text of their choice from those listed under section A.

The second part of the program (section B) aims to familiarize students with a classic text, that is, with the reflections of Maurice Halbwachs, one of the fathers of modern studies on memory. In the lessons dedicated to this part, the figure of Halbwachs will be historically framed and the impact that his studies had on subsequent scholarship will be analyzed. Students are required to study one text chosen from those listed under section B.

The third and last part of the program (section C) is instead dedicated to the analysis of the specific dynamics related to the memory of the Holocaust, to the relationship between the historian and the witness, to the tensions existing between history and memory, and to the public uses of that past. Students are required to prepare two texts of their choice from those listed under section C.


 A. - Introduction to cultural history (choose one book from the following list)
 

1. P. Burke, La storia culturale,Il Mulino, Bologna, 2009.

2. L. Hunt, La storia cuturale nell'età globale, ETS, Pisa, 2009.

B. - Halbwachs' contribution to memory studies (choose one book from the following list)
 

1. M. Halbwachs, I quadri sociali della memoria, Ipermedium, Napoli, 1997 [ed. or. 1925].

2. Id., La memoria collettiva, Unicopli, Milano, 2007 [ed. or. 1949].

C. - Holocaust Memory (choose two books from the following list)

1. S. D. Kassow, Chi scriverà la nostra storia? L'archivio ritrovato del ghetto di Varsavia, Mondadori, Milano, 2009.

2. A. Wieviorka, L'era del testimone, Cortina, Milano, 1999.

3. Ch. Browning, Lo storico e il testimone. Il campo di lavoro nazista di Starachowice, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2011

4. R. Gordon, Scolpitelo nei cuori. L'Olocausto nella cultura italiana (1944-2010), Bollati-Boringhieri, Torino, 2013.

5. A. Minuz, La Shoah e la cultura visuale. Cinema, memoria, spazio pubblico, Bulzoni, Roma, 2010.

6. G. Didi-Huberman, Immagini malgrado tutto, Cortina, Milano, 2005.

7. Frédéric Rousseau, Il bambino di Varsavia. Storia di una fotografia, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2011.

8. G. Vitiello, Il testimone immaginario. Auschwitz, il cinema e la cultura pop, Ipermedium, Napoli, 2011.

9. M. Rothberg, Multidirectional Memory. Remembering the Holocaust in the Age of Decolonization, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2009.

10. F. Bertolini,Gli inganni della memoria. Testimonianza, falsificazioni, negazioni, Mimesi, Milano, 2016.

11. T. Kushner, The Holocaust and the Liberal Imagination. A Social and Cultural Histoy, Blackwell, Oxford, 1994. 

12. M. Hirsh, The Generation of Postmemory. Writing and Visual Culture after the Holocaust, Columbia University Press, NY, 2012.

13. J. E. Young, The Texture of Memory. Holocaust Memorials and Meaning,Yale University Press, New Haven, 1994.

14. F. Azouvi, Le mythe du grand silence: Auschwitz, les Français, la mémoire, Paris, Fayard, 2012.

15. J. Shandler, Holocaust Memory and the DIgital Age: Survivor's Stories and New Media Practices, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2017.

16. P. Novick, The Holocaust in American Life, Houghton Mifflin, NY, 1999.

17. D. Sanyal, Memory and Complicity. Migrations of Holocaust Remembrance, Fordham University Press, NY, 2015.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

GURI SCHWARZ (President)

NICOLA BASSONI

FRANCESCO CASSATA

MARCO NATALIZI

CHIARA VANGELISTA

LESSONS

LESSONS START

11 March 2019

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Students regularly attending the lectures  are encouraged to substitute the oral exam with the presentation of a written report (between 14,000 and 20,000 marks, spaces and footnotes included), on a topic agreed upon with the instructor.

Students not attending the lectures will have to take an oral exam, based on the assigned program indicated above.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The written report (for attending students) or the oral examination (for non-attending students) allow the exam committe to evaluate the skills acquired. In particular, the skills matured both with respect to the horizon of cultural history in general, and with respect to the specific monographic theme of the course in particular, will be considered.

The examination committee verifies the achievement of the training objectives, taking into account the following factors: a) level of mastery of the fundamental notions; b) ability to apply knowledge (source analysis); c) ability of critical reasoning on the study carried out; d) ability to organize knowledge discursively, using the specific lexicon of the discipline.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Regular attendance of the lectures is strongly reccomended.