OVERVIEW

The classes intend to offer students a few basic clues to acquire and to develop skills concerning the origins, the transformations, the contents, the sources, and the research methods of social history, paying also attention to the dynamics of the academic debate, with special reference to the contemporary era.  They will rely on the experience of mass migrations from Italy as a preferential case study to exemplify and to address such issues.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Classes aim at enabling students to acquire and to develop skills concerning the origins, the transformations, the contents, the sources, and the research methods of social history, paying also attention to the dynamics of the academic debate, with special reference to the contemporary era. Mass migrations from Italy, one of the most relevant social phenomena in this country’s history after the national unification, and their possible interpretations will offer the preferential case study to address such issues by means of the analysis of specific experiences.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The classes have two main purposes. On the one hand, they intend to offer students a few basic clues to acquire and to develop knowledge concerning the origins, the transformations, the contents, the sources, and the research methods of social history, paying also attention to the dynamics of the academic debate, with special reference to the contemporary era. On the other hand, the lessons will highlight a case study for social history. In other words, they will offer a brief overview of the most relevant events and historiographical issues concerning mass migrations from Italy, one of the most remarkable phenomena in the history of this country after the national unification, suggesting a few possible periodizations and interpretations. By the end of the classes the students will have the knowledge and the main methodological and theoretical tools to master the most important events, analytical categories, and historiographical issues related the social history of the contemporary era, with special reference to the case study of Italian mass migrations. They will also acquire skills about the availability, use and interpretation of sources and will be able to discuss the most significant historiographical paradigms.

PREREQUISITES

None. A basic knowledge of contemporary history is desirable but not compulsory.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures (36 hours in total)

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Mass migrations from Italy as a case study for social history. After discussing the origins, transformations, contents, sources, and research methods of social history, the classes will highlight mass migrations from Italy as a case study for one of the most relevant social phenomena of this country after the national unification, on the grounds that such exodus had roughly twenty-six million people as main characters – let alone the individuals who were indirectly involved, starting with relatives who remained at home – between 1876 and 1976. In particular, the classes will address the possible periodizations of Italian migrations, as for both the destinations and the volume of the fluxes; the concept of “migrant” and the sources to draw quantitative data about the several phases of the exodus; the documentation to reconstruct the migrants’ experiences; the main interpretative paradigms, with special references to the notions of “diaspora” and “transnationalism”; the global context for Italian migrations; the relationship between expatriation and the economic cycles; xenophobia and anti-Italian prejudice in the host societies; the new mobility in the wake of the 2008 economic recession; the public use of the history of Italian migrations. Attention will be also paid to the fact that people’s mobility, albeit not at a mass level, was a constant feature of pre-industrial Italy and to the circularity of migration-related phenomena, shaped by conspicuous return fluxes and the temporary presence in Italy by migrants willing to move somewhere else.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

ONLY FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS:

- Claudia Pancino, Storia sociale. Metodi, esempi, strumenti, Marsilio, Venezia, 2003, ISBN 978-88-317-8274-6; 

- Paolo Sorcinelli, Viaggio nella storia sociale, Bruno Mondadori, Milano, 2011, ISBN 9788861595521;

- All the materials uploaded to Aulaweb.

Complementary texts

Other readings may be indicated during the course

FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS:

- Claudia Pancino, Storia sociale. Metodi, esempi, strumenti, Marsilio, Venezia, 2003, ISBN 978-88-317-8274-6; 

- Paolo Sorcinelli, Viaggio nella storia sociale, Bruno Mondadori, Milano, 2011, ISBN 9788861595521;

And a book to choose from​:

- Patrizia Audenino e Maddalena Tirabassi, Migrazioni italiane. Storia e storie dall’Ancien régime a oggi, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2008, ISBN 978-88-6159-208-7;

- Michele Colucci e Matteo Sanfilippo, Guida allo studio dell’emigrazione italiana, Viterbo, Sette Città, 2010, ISBN 978-88-7853-202-1;

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

NICOLETTA VARANI (President)

KRISTINA MAMAYUSUPOVA

CARLO STIACCINI (President Substitute)

FEDERICO DE BONI (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

October 4, 2021.

Class schedule

SOCIAL HISTORY

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam both rigorously individual and without any aid (except for students who are entitled to such support as, for instance, conceptual diagrams on the basis of specific prescription). The oral exam will be on the whole contents of the readings listed in the “recommended reading/bibliography” section.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Questions will also assess the understanding of the interpretative categories used to reconstruct the historical phenomena related to the social history  and the ability to resort to the specific lexicon of the discipline. Clarity in expressing one’s ideas and arguments will be a further element of evaluation. The final grade will result from the combination of the assessment of all these factors.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students attending at least 65 percent of frontal-teaching classes will be regarded as “studenti frequentanti”. Attendance will be noted at the beginning of each class.