The course aims at reconstructing the link between geographical theory and political practice, highlighting the changes in the meaning of geographical space, induced by the historical relations between power and knowledge in the western cultural system.
The course aims at reconstructing the link between geographical disciplines and reflections on the phenomenon of power. In particular, we will highlight the methods by which the description of physical and anthropic space relates to the transmission of concepts and images that constitute the Western geopolitical consciousness.
The main objective of the course is to understand the relationship between space representation (both cartographic and textual) and the exercise of power, the primary role of geography in the formation of collective identity, the relationship between geography and the cultural system.At the end of the course the student will have the necessary knowledge to recognize within the theory and the descriptive practice the elements that make the geographic image a social construction.
Teaching takes place through lectures consisting in reading and discussing the sources, in order to: define and contextualize the discipline within the history of geographical thought; deepen the main issues related to the history of geopolitics; analyze the concepts produced by the relationship between power and knowledge in cartographic practice.
Historical relationship between geographical practice and power. Deconstruction of cartographic representation and analysis of the concepts of political geography
I. TALIA- V.AMATO, Scenari e mutamenti geopolitici: competizione e egemonia nei grandi spazi, Bologna, Pátron ed., 2015
M. G. LOSANO, La geopolitica del Novecento. Dai grandi spazi delle dittature alla decolonizzazione, Bruno Mondadori, 2011 (cap. 1; 2; 3)
Limes. Rivista italiana di geopolitica ( 2019)
Ricevimento: Thursday 9 - 11 ( DAFIST- via Balbi 2 ; III floor)
CARLA PAMPALONI (President)
ALESSANDRO CARASSALE
REBEKKA DOSSCHE
GIUSEPPE ROCCA
CHIARA VANGELISTA
February 17th
The exam consists of an oral test; students have to master through disciplinary vocabulary the skill to frame the topics from the point of view of geographical thought history and the theories related to its expression in the geopolitical and cartography fields.
The examination will verify the mastery of the decoding tools of the historical relationship between geography and power. The critical thinking skills on the effects derived from the historical role of geography in the formation of collective identity and cultural system and on its function as a social product will also be assessed.
The assessment of the learning level reached by the student during the oral final exam takes into account the following value scale:
- the exam will be evaluated with marks from very good (28-29) to excellent (30 and 30 with honors) if the student, through conceptual knowledge and clarity, has a full command of the topics covered in the course and can identify the relationships between political practice and geographical knowledge configured by the geopolitical theory;
- the exam will be evaluated with marks from good (25-27) to satisfactory (23-24) if the student with correct but not always appropriate language shows an in-depth understanding of the topics covered;
- the exam will be considered sufficient (18-22) whether the student with inappropriate and not very clear expressive methods shows an approximate overall preparation;
.- the exam will be evaluated negatively whether the student shows important training gaps.
