OVERVIEW

The teaching aims to provide tools and critical skills for a knowledge of history of the United States and Canada, bringing the student closer to the use of documentary sources and the complexity of historiographic interpretations.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course covers the history of North America from its early stages till September 11th. It offers highlights of sub-continent’s history that allowed led to Canada and United States of today. The target of the course is to provide students with a general knowledge of the first three centuries of Northern American history.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Aims:

The teaching aims to provide students with an introduction to the political, economic and social issues of North America (Canada and the United States) history. The teaching  also offers a basic knowledge of the history of this sub-continent with particular reference to the specific cultures that have made it so peculiar. The aim of it will therefore be to provide the skills to make thematic and cultural links between the historical dynamics dealt with, also considering the mutual influence in the developing process.

Learning outcomes:

Therefore at the end of the course the students will be able to deal with thematic and cultural connections between the historical dynamics treated, even in the reciprocal function of the development processes of the two countries.

Finally, they will also be able to clearly and explain the topics covered by the exam using appropriate language of the discipline.

PREREQUISITES

A good knowledge of written and spoken Italian is necessary to pass the exam

For foreign students a basic knowledge of the Italian language is sufficient, cf. the paragraph “C.II.10. Avvertenze per gli studenti stranieri”, of the “Guida ai Corsi di Studio in Lingue del Dipartimento di Lingue e Culture Moderne”, a.y. 2024-2025.

TEACHING METHODS

36-hour teaching equivalent to 6 CFU and 54 hours equivalent to 9 CFU.

Attendance is not compulsory but warmly recommended.

The course, for the academic year 2024/2025, will take place through classroom lectures.

Distance learning will be used, through the TEAMS platforms, only in the case of a Red weather alarm when all the University offices are closed.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The teaching assigns from 6 to 9 credits according to the program of each student. It is also the same program for non-attending students.

For  6 CFU teaching

The teaching (36 hours of lessons) illustrates the history of North America from the colonial age until the beginning of the 21st century up to the attacks of September the 11th 2001. It is about the historical evolution of the region that gave rise to today Canada and United States . The aim of the teaching is to provide students with a general knowledge of the first three centuries (18th,19th and 20th sec.) of North American history. Attendance at lessons is required. To pass the exam it is necessary to study the books listed in the bibliography.

For 9 CFU teaching

In addition to what is indicated for the 6 CFU teaching, the second part of the teaching (18 hours of lessons) will deepen the history of New Deal from 1929 Big Crash to the Thirties reforms. 

Syllabus

1. Overview; the colonial era: varous colonization of North America (sec. XV-XVIII);
2. The Age of Independence (1756-1775);
3. The Declaration of Independence and the War against Motherland (1776-1783);
4. From Confederation to Constitution (1777-1788) and the shaping of the New Republic (1789-1800);
5. Expantion, developement and political changing (1800-1850);
6. The ordeal of Union (1850-1865);
7. Reconstruction and the Gilded Age (1865-1896);
8. Foreign policy and the Imperial Developement (1865-1917);
9. The Progressive Era(1896-1917);
10. World War One (1917-1919) and the Twenties
11. The Big Crash and the New Deal;
12. World War Two and the Roots of Cold War
13. The Fifties between Better Living and the Fight for Civil Rights
14. The long lasting Sixties
15. The Seventies: crisis and the reborn of Conservatorism
16. The Eighties: Ronald Reagan and the end of Cold War
17. From the Nineties to September 11th, 2001
18. Canada: geographical and morphological features; end of 6 CFU.
19. Canada:  historical stages 
20. Canada: how the country has evolved;
21. The origin of 1929 crisis;
22. 1929 crisis: development and highlights;
23. Franklin Delano Roosevelt: the man and the politician;
24. The First New Deal;
25. The Second New Deal
26. The New Deal: a global history
27. Final consideration; End of  9 CFU

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography for the 6 cfu program

Point 1. a volume chosen from the following :

- Stefano Luconi, La "nazione indispensabile". Storia degli Stati Uniti dalle origini a Trump, Le Monnier, Firenze, 2020;
- Arnaldo Testi, La formazione degli Stati Uniti, Bologna, il Mulino, 2013;
- Arnaldo Testi, Il secolo degli Stati Uniti, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014;

Point 2: in addition to the study of one of the volumes listed in point 1, the student must also deepen a volume chosen from the following:

  - Tiziano Bonazzi, La rivoluzione americana, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2018;

   - Enrico Dal Lago, Lincoln, Roma, Salerno Ed., 2022;

  - Ferdinando Fasce, I presidenti USA. Due secoli di storia, Roma, Carocci, 2008;

- Tania Groppi, Il Canada, Bologna, il Mulino, 2006;

  - Raimondo Luraghi, La guerra civile americana. Le ragioni e i protagonisti del primo conflitto industriale, Milano, Rizzoli, 2013;

- Roberto Maccarini, Dalla neutralità alle trincee. Gli USA e la Prima guerra mondiale, Roma, Carocci, 2024;

- Aram Mattioli, Mondi perduti. Una storia dei nativi nordamericani, 1700-1910, Torino, Einaudi, 2019;

- Kiran Klaus Patel, Il New Deal. Una storia globale, Torino, Einaudi, 2018;

- Arnaldo Testi, I fastidi della storia. Quale America raccontano i monumenti, Bologna, il Mulino, 2023;

- Bruno Walter Renato Toscano, Pantere nere America bianca. Storia e politica del Black Panther Party, Verona, Ombre Corte, 2023;

- Elisabetta Vezzosi, Mosaico americano. Società e cultura negli USA contemporanei, Roma, Carocci, 2005.

Bibliografy for the 9 cfu program

Point 1: to read the two volumes indicated below

- Arnaldo Testi, La formazione degli Stati Uniti, Bologna, il Mulino, 2013;

-  Arnaldo Testi, Il secolo degli Stati Uniti, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014;

Point 2: in addition to the study of one of the volumes listed in point 1, the student must deepen a volume chosen from the following:

- Tiziano Bonazzi, La rivoluzione americana, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2018;

   - Enrico Dal Lago, Lincoln, Roma, Salerno Ed., 2022;

 - Ferdinando Fasce, I presidenti USA. Due secoli di storia, Roma, Carocci, 2008;

- Tania Groppi, Il Canada, Bologna, il Mulino, 2006;

 - Raimondo Luraghi, La guerra civile americana. Le ragioni e i protagonisti del primo conflitto industriale, Milano, Rizzoli, 2013;

- Roberto Maccarini, Dalla neutralità alle trincee. Gli USA e la Prima guerra mondiale, Roma, Carocci, 2024;

- Aram Mattioli, Mondi perduti. Una storia dei nativi nordamericani, 1700-1910, Torino, Einaudi, 2019;

- Kiran Klaus Patel, Il New Deal. Una storia globale, Torino, Einaudi, 2018;

- Arnaldo Testi, I fastidi della storia. Quale America raccontano i monumenti, Bologna, il Mulino, 2023;

- Bruno Walter Renato Toscano, Pantere nere America bianca. Storia e politica del Black Panther Party, Verona, Ombre Corte, 2023;

- Elisabetta Vezzosi, Mosaico americano. Società e cultura negli USA contemporanei, Roma, Carocci, 2005.

The texts are usually available from the Biblioteca di Scienze Umanistiche #Lingue, Piazza Santa Sabina, 2 – Scala A, piano terra, Tel. 010 209-9561.

Foreign students can also study the general aspects  in a foreign language (English, French, etc.), only if agrreed with the teacher. However, a reading in Italian choosen among the above list is mandatory.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ROBERTO MACCARINI (President)

FULVIA ZEGA

FERDINANDO FASCE (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Second Semester

Class schedule

HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA (CANADA, UNITED STATES)

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam either at the end of the course  and at all the scheduled dates. 

Registration procedures for exams through University website are unchanged .

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The assessment test consists of a discussion of variable duration depending on the student's presentation skills which demonstrates the achievement of the aims.

The evaluation parameters are:

- ability to present and organize speech

- correct use of historiographical vocabulary

- critical reasoning skills.

According to the number of students, thematic insights and individual presentations in oral form are required.
 

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Prof. Sara Dickinson (sara.dickinson@unige.it), the Department’s disability liaison.