OVERVIEW

This course aims to promote basic historical skills and give students a good knowledge of historical phenomena of contemporary age, being able to grasp the complexity and the changes over time of political-institutional, economic-social and cultural factors. The course highlights the knowledge of the main facts and events in European and world history, placing them within the framework of the evolution of the international system and the interactions between the various areas of the world.

AIMS AND CONTENT

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will be expected to be able to critically assess the interrelations of historical processes in different areas of the world; to come into contact with the main historical sources and interpretations; and to develop critical awareness of ongoing political and economic changes, both domestically and internationally, and of the role of international organizations.

PREREQUISITES

Knowledge of Italian.

Basic knowledge of geography.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures.

36 hours of lectures, equal to 6 CFU.

For the first semester of the academic year 2020-2021, due to the Covid 19 emergency (and unless changes which will be communicated promptly), the lectures will take place online through the Microsoft Teams platform. The code for accessing the "Storia contemporanea Fraz. A 2020-2021" Team is n3dvq86

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The program of the course is divided into twenty macro-areas of study, each examining in depth a specific collection of events with the aim of retracing two centuries of Italian, European and global history. From the European Restoration, following the Napoleonic wars, the course will follow up until present day. In addition, the programme offers an overview of the great political, social, economic and cultural transformations that have followed in the main arrears of the world (Europe, Americas, Asia, Africa) during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, taking in consideration also fundamental references to the great revolutions (American Revolution, French Revolution and Industrial Revolution) with their deep influences on the entire contemporary era.

Specifically, the following topics will be covered: 1) The Congress of Vienna and the Restoration; 2) The crisis of the Ancien Régime and the liberal, democratic and national revolutions (1820-1848); 3) The Italian and German unification; 4) The Oriental Question; 5) The extra-European world: the Taiping Revolution in China; the opening of Japan in the fifties; the revolution of Meiji; the Civil War in the United States of America; 6) Imperialism and colonialism; 7) Italy of Giolitti; 8) From the Russian Revolution of 1905 to the First World War; 9) The Russian Revolution; 10) The Treaties of Paris and their consequences; 11) Postwar and Fascism; 12) The Republic of Weimar; Hitler and the Nazism; 13) The Second World War; 14) The post-war period and the Cold War; 15) Italian Republic; 16) Decolonization; 17) Large international post-war crisis; 18) The process of European unification; 19) The fall of communism.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

For the exam, students must be prepared on the topics of this course as indicated in the "Syllabus/content" section. It is difficult to recommend a reference volume because there are too many subjective elements that influence the choice. The books adopted during high school can be used, or the volume by Sandro Sandro Rogari, L’età della globalizzazione, Storia del mondo contemporaneo dalla Restaurazione ai giorni nostri, Utet, 2014, or Alfredo Canavero, Storia contemporanea, Pearson, 2019.

Further information on the following books (optional): Umberto Morelli, Storia dell’integrazione europea, Edizioni Guerini, Milano 2011; Guido Formigoni, Storia della politica internazionale nell’età contemporanea, il Mulino, Bologna, 2006; Giovanni Montroni, Scenari del mondo contemporaneo dal 1815 ad oggi, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2005.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

LARA PICCARDO (President)

ROBERTO MACCARINI

GUIDO LEVI (President Substitute)

ANDREA CATANZARO (Substitute)

FRANCESCO PIERINI (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

5 October 2020.

The lectures will take place online through the Microsoft Teams platform as written in "Teaching methods".

Class schedule

CONTEMPORARY HISTORY A

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

For exams via Teams: oral exam in Italian: two questions on the 19th century, two on the 20th century. To pass the exam, both parts must be sufficient.
For face-to-face exams, as soon as possible: written exam in Italian: two questions on the 19th century, two on the 20th  century. To pass the exam, both parts must be sufficient.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Oral or written exam (as specified above) in Italian with open questions, divided into two parts: 19th century and 20th century. To pass the exam both parts must be sufficient.

Exam schedule