Cultural History of the Mediterranean

A.Y. 2020/2021
9
Max ECTS
60
Overall hours
SSD
L-OR/10
Language
Italian
Learning objectives
The aim of the course is to enable participants to understand the notion of the Mediterranean and to compare and assess different approaches to this cultural and intellectual area through the ages. The course aims to provide students with a general comprehension of the Arabo-Islamic culture in the Mediterranean and its links to the European intellectual and cultural history. The course educational activities include lectures and seminars.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
- knowledge of the fundamental aspects of the history of the Mediterranean and the Arabo-Islamic civilization from middle ages to early modern period.
- understanding of the relationships connecting the European intellectual and cultural history to the Mediterranean.
- knowledge of the basic methodological tools.
- understanding of the concepts and lines of argument used in the sources.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
- ability to apply the knowledge acquired in framing authors and texts historically.
- ability to apply the understanding of concepts and argumentative forms to the analysis of complex texts and problems.
- ability to situate their own research into a wide and multi-disciplinary framework.
Single course

This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.

Course syllabus and organization

Single session

Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Teaching methods
The lessons will be held on the Microsoft Teams platform and can be followed both synchronously based on the timetable of the first quarter and asynchronously as they will be recorded and uploaded on the online platform. Relevant information about how to join the classes on Microsoft Teams and other instructions will be available on the ARIEL website of the course. Please browse it regularly.
The course will alternate and combine lectures, seminar teaching and text analysis. Classes may include pre-recorded components.

Course syllabus and teaching resources
The course program is unchanged. However, the specific contents of classes will adapt to the teaching methods outlined above.
Teaching materials are unchanged. Attending students must refer to all the lessons, materials and resources published in the online course, in addition to the bibliography already reported in the program

Assessment methods and criteria
Assessments methods and criteria are unchanged: the oral exam will be taken either in class or through Microsoft Teams, depending on the rules in force at that time.
Course syllabus
Course topic: The Mediterranean and Islam

Teaching module A: Mediterranean in history: themes and problems
Teaching module B: Islamic Mediterranean (Middle Ages: 7th-15th centuries)
Teaching module C: "Arab" Sicily (9th-15th centuries)

6 ECTS: Teaching modules A + B

9 ECTS: Teaching modules A + B + C

Course presentation
The course aims to address the issues and problems of the historiographical debate about the idea of the Mediterranean (module A), with a focus on the Islamic presence in the medieval Mediterranean (module B) and particularly on the issues raised by the persistence of the "Arab" culture in Sicily between the 9th and the 15th centuries (module C). Exercises and additional educational activities are planned.
Prerequisites for admission
The ideal prerequisite to effectively attend this course is a good high school level preparation in the areas of history and historical geography, with a basic knowledge of the main personalities and events of the Middle Ages, and a mastery of the basic tools for text analysis and for the understanding of methodological and critical texts.
Teaching methods
Lectures
Debate and discussion
Group work
Online discussion
e-tivites
Teaching Resources
Program of the exam for both attending and no-attending students (6 ECTS: Teaching modules A + B; 9 ECTS: Teaching modules A + B + C):

Teaching module A
Amedeo Feniello, Alessandro Vanoli, Storia del Mediterraneo in 20 oggetti, Bari, Roma, Laterza, 2018.
Predrag Matvejevic, Mediterraneo. Un nuovo breviario, trad. it. Milano, Garzanti, 1993 (e successive ristampe).

Teaching module B
Leonardo Capezzone, Medioevo arabo. Una storia dell'islam medievale (VII-XV secolo), Milano, Mondadori, 2016.
Ch. Picard, Il mare dei califfi. Storia del Mediterraneo musulmano (secoli VII-XII), trad. it. Roma, Carocci, 2017.

Teaching module C
S. Tramontana, L'isola di Allāh. Luoghi, uomini e cose di Sicilia nei secoli IX-XI, Torino, Einaudi, 2014.


NB: Non-attending students must add to the program two books (one book for 6 ECTS) of their choice from those indicated below, agreeing them in advance with the teacher:

GENERAL MATTERS
Fernand Braudel (ed.), Il Mediterraneo. Lo spazio e la storia, gli uomini e la tradizione, trad. it Milano, Bompiani, 1987.
David Abulafia, Il Grande Mare. Storia del Mediterraneo, trad. it. Milano, Mondadori, 2013.

ANCIENT HISTORY
Valerio Massimo Manfredi, Lorenzo Braccesi, Mare greco. Eroi ed esploratori nel Mediterraneo antico, Mondadori, Milano, 2007.
Cyprian Broodbank, Il Mediterraneo. Dalla preistoria alla nascita del mondo classico, trad. it. Torino, Einaudi, 2015.
Michel Gras, Il Mediterraneo nell'età arcaica, trad. it. Paestum, Fondazione Paestum, 1997.

MEDIEVAL HISTORY
Duccio Balestracci, Terre ignote, strana gente. Storie di viaggiatori medievali, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2008.
Norman Daniel, Gli arabi e l'Europa nel Medio Evo, trad. it. Bologna, Il Mulino, 2007.
Shelomo Dov Goitein, Una società mediterranea. Storia di una comunità ebraica del Medioevo in uno stato musulmano. Il contesto sociale, politico, culturale e religioso attraverso i documenti di uno straordinario ritrovamento, trad. it. Milano, Bompiani, 2002.
Charles H. Haskins, Il Rinascimento del XII secolo, trad. it. Roma, Castelvecchi, 2015.
Konrad Hirschler, Leggere e scrivere nell'Islam medievale, trad. it. Roma, Carocci, 2017.
Bernard Lewis, I musulmani alla scoperta dell'Europa, trad. it. Milano, Rizzoli, 2005.
Maria Serena Mazzi, Il viaggio nel Medioevo, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2016.
Houari Touati, Biblioteche di saggezza. Libro e collezionismo nell'Islam, trad. it. Milano, Sylvestre Bonnard, 2006.

MODERN HISTORY
Bartholomé e Lucile Benassar, I Cristiani di Allāh. La straordinaria epopea dei convertiti all'islamismo nei secoli XVI e XVII, Milano, Rizzoli, 1991.
Salvatore Bono, Schiavi. Una storia mediterranea (XVI-XIX secolo), Bologna, Il Mulino, 2016.
Fernand Braudel, Civiltà e imperi del Mediterraneo nell'età di Filippo II, 2 voll., trad. it. Torino, Einaudi, 19825.
Giovanna Fiume, Schiavitù mediterranee. Corsari, rinnegati e santi in età moderna, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2009.
Bruno Pomara Saverino, Rifugiati. I moriscos e l'Italia, Firenze, Firenze University Press, 2017.
Lucette Valensi, Stranieri familiari. Musulmani in Europa (XVI-XVIII secolo), Torino, Einaudi, 2013.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The oral exam is an interview about the texts in the program, aimed at verifying that the examinee has the ability to navigate the major historical trends in the history of the Mediterranean and has acquired a solid knowledge of the information acquired through the texts and the course. Non-attending students must agree on the program with the teacher.

Warning
National and international or Erasmus incoming students are invited to promptly contact the teacher in charge of the course.
The examination procedures for students with disabilities and/or with SpLD must be agreed with the teacher, in coordination with the competent Office.
Unita' didattica A
L-OR/10 - HISTORY OF ISLAMIC COUNTRIES - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-OR/10 - HISTORY OF ISLAMIC COUNTRIES - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
L-OR/10 - HISTORY OF ISLAMIC COUNTRIES - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)