Institutional History of Media
A.Y. 2020/2021
Learning objectives
The aim of the course is to promote knowledge of the relationship between institutions, rights and communication tools between the early-modern and modern ages in the Western world and the relationships they have had in time and space; it aims to stimulate understanding of these frameworks and processes by providing appropriate interpretive categories, always presented with a critical approach. The educational path will exemplify the best way to obtain historical knowledge related to the objects of investigation, which includes exposing students to primary sources, literary operations of phenomena through the application of concepts, and disciplinary aspects of the history of political institutions and complex interpretive categories. Some methodological or thematic insights will be examined, focusing on the analysis of press and multimedia sources. The teaching is fully consistent with the objectives of the Course of Studies, which aims to ensure the acquisition of solid knowledge in the fields of multimedia communication by anchoring them to a strengthening the students humanistic training.
Expected learning outcomes
The student will be able to develop an aptitude for making adequately argued assessments about individual political-institutional history of Europe and the West, not necessarily only those covered by the course, applying it to partially new contexts through the knowledge, concepts and methods of analysis. Additionally, the work will review the historical- institutional reasons at the base of the choices made by the current governments and permits an interpretation of communications, even complex ones, produced in the media, and to assess their congruity with sufficient independence. The course will consolidate student's ability to organize their own learning processes, with reference to the content and methods of the lessons, and the texts subject to individual study. By the end of the course the student will also have honed his critical and judgmental skills, thanks to repeated requests to investigate the complexity of the development of the media in the early-modern and modern age through the analysis of documents (in particular audiovisual sources for the issues related to the twentieth century) and the use of different histographic interpretations.
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
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
Lesson period
Second semester
Teaching methods:
The lessons will be mainly in asynchronous mode, with the loading of video lessons synchronized with PowerPoint presentations on the Ariel website of the course, in the days and times of the lessons. The opening lesson and the last lessons of each module will be delivered in synchronous mode (Microsoft Teams), to offer a moment of direct confrontation with students. Registration of these lessons will also be available on the Ariel website.
The calendar of lessons and all the details of the activities will be published by the start of the lessons on the Ariel website of the course, where any other updates will also be published.
Reference materials:
Students will find on the Ariel teaching website all the information to access the lessons, as well as any changes to the program and reference material (bibliography, etc.) in the event of a lockdown.
Attending students, in addition to the bibliography already reported in the program, will obviously have to make the contents of the lessons their own, in addition to the materials and resources published in the online course.
For students who decide not to use the lessons uploaded on the platform, the non-attending program will be valid.
Learning assessment procedures and assessment criteria:
The exam will be oral and, if it is not possible to take it in person, it will take place electronically on the Teams platform, according to the instructions provided by the University and which will be communicated on the Ariel teaching website.
The lessons will be mainly in asynchronous mode, with the loading of video lessons synchronized with PowerPoint presentations on the Ariel website of the course, in the days and times of the lessons. The opening lesson and the last lessons of each module will be delivered in synchronous mode (Microsoft Teams), to offer a moment of direct confrontation with students. Registration of these lessons will also be available on the Ariel website.
The calendar of lessons and all the details of the activities will be published by the start of the lessons on the Ariel website of the course, where any other updates will also be published.
Reference materials:
Students will find on the Ariel teaching website all the information to access the lessons, as well as any changes to the program and reference material (bibliography, etc.) in the event of a lockdown.
Attending students, in addition to the bibliography already reported in the program, will obviously have to make the contents of the lessons their own, in addition to the materials and resources published in the online course.
For students who decide not to use the lessons uploaded on the platform, the non-attending program will be valid.
Learning assessment procedures and assessment criteria:
The exam will be oral and, if it is not possible to take it in person, it will take place electronically on the Teams platform, according to the instructions provided by the University and which will be communicated on the Ariel teaching website.
Course syllabus
Sections A and B of the course aim to foster knowledge of the relationship between institutions, rights and communication tools between the modern and contemporary ages in the Western world and of the relationships they have maintained over time and space; intends to stimulate the understanding of these frameworks and processes by providing adequate interpretative categories, always presented with a critical approach. The educational path will exemplify operations of acquiring historical knowledge relating to the objects of investigation, also through the exposure of students to primary sources, operations of reading phenomena through the application of fundamental concepts belonging to the disciplinary field of the history of political institutions and complex interpretative categories. Section C, monographic, will examine the problem of freedom of expression in a diachronic perspective, from modernity to the contemporary era. The debate on the emergence of the individual and the subject, protagonists of Western institutional life, will be read in the light of the centrality and limitations that freedom of expression as a right came to acquire, with particular emphasis on the constitutional and institutional implications.
Prerequisites for admission
Adequate knowledge of the main topics concerning modern and contemporary history
Teaching methods
The course topics will be addressed through lectures and with the help of slides and teaching materials (concept maps, old documents) that the teacher will make available from time to time on the Ariel platform. Documents, graphic and audiovisual materials will be read and analyzed in the classroom.
Attendance, although not mandatory, is strongly recommended. Students who attend at least two thirds of the lessons are considered attending students. The course will consolidate the students' ability to organize their own learning processes, with reference to the contents and methods of the lectures, to the texts subject to individual study, possibly to further in-depth studies conducted autonomously, making use of bibliographic and sitographic research tools reported in classroom.
Attendance, although not mandatory, is strongly recommended. Students who attend at least two thirds of the lessons are considered attending students. The course will consolidate the students' ability to organize their own learning processes, with reference to the contents and methods of the lectures, to the texts subject to individual study, possibly to further in-depth studies conducted autonomously, making use of bibliographic and sitographic research tools reported in classroom.
Teaching Resources
Section A.
Examination program for attending students.
In addition to the notes of section A, the student will have to prepare:
M. Infelise, I libri proibiti. Da Gutenberg all'Encyclopédie, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2013.
A. Sangiovanni, Le parole e le figure. Storia dei media in Italia dall'età liberale alla Seconda guerra mondiale, Donzelli, Roma 2012.
Section B
Examination program for attending students
In addition to the notes of section B, the student will have to prepare one of the following texts:
E. Tortarolo, L'invenzione della libertà di stampa. Censura e scrittori nel Settecento, Roma, Carocci, 2011.
M. I. Palazzolo, I libri il trono l'altare. La censura nell'Italia della Restaurazione, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2003.
F. Della Peruta, Il giornalismo italiano del Risorgimento. Dal 1847 all'Unità, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2011.
G. Bonsaver, Mussolini censore. Storie di letteratura, dissenso e ipocrisia, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2013
D. Manetti, «Un'arma poderosissima» Industria cinematografica e Stato durante il fascismo 1922-1943, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2012.
R. Perin, La radio del papa. Propaganda e diplomazia nella seconda guerra mondiale, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017.
Section C
Examination program for attending students
In addition to the notes of Section C, the student will have to prepare:
F. J. Ansuategui Roig, La libertà d'espressione. Storia e ragione, Torino, Giappichelli, 2018
Section A
Examination program for non-attending students
The student will have to prepare:
M. Infelise, I libri proibiti. Da Gutenberg all'Encyclopédie, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2013.
Vittorio Frajese, La censura in Italia. Dall'Inquisizione alla polizia, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2014.
Section B
Examination program for non-attending students
The student must prepare:
Andrea Sangiovanni, Le parole e le figure. Storia dei media in Italia dall'età liberale alla Seconda guerra mondiale, Donzelli, Roma 2012.
And one of the following texts:
E. Tortarolo, L'invenzione della libertà di stampa. Censura e scrittori nel Settecento, Roma, Carocci, 2011.
M. I. Palazzolo, I libri il trono l'altare. La censura nell'Italia della Restaurazione, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2003.
F. Della Peruta, Il giornalismo italiano del Risorgimento. Dal 1847 all'Unità, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2011.
G. Bonsaver, Mussolini censore. Storie di letteratura, dissenso e ipocrisia, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2013.
D. Manetti, «Un'arma poderosissima» Industria cinematografica e Stato durante il fascismo 1922-1943, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2012.
R. Perin, La radio del papa. Propaganda e diplomazia nella seconda guerra mondiale, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017.
Section C
Examination program for non-attending students
the student will have to prepare:
F. J. Ansuategui Roig, La libertà d'espressione. Storia e ragione, Torino, Giappichelli, 2018
Examination program for attending students.
In addition to the notes of section A, the student will have to prepare:
M. Infelise, I libri proibiti. Da Gutenberg all'Encyclopédie, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2013.
A. Sangiovanni, Le parole e le figure. Storia dei media in Italia dall'età liberale alla Seconda guerra mondiale, Donzelli, Roma 2012.
Section B
Examination program for attending students
In addition to the notes of section B, the student will have to prepare one of the following texts:
E. Tortarolo, L'invenzione della libertà di stampa. Censura e scrittori nel Settecento, Roma, Carocci, 2011.
M. I. Palazzolo, I libri il trono l'altare. La censura nell'Italia della Restaurazione, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2003.
F. Della Peruta, Il giornalismo italiano del Risorgimento. Dal 1847 all'Unità, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2011.
G. Bonsaver, Mussolini censore. Storie di letteratura, dissenso e ipocrisia, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2013
D. Manetti, «Un'arma poderosissima» Industria cinematografica e Stato durante il fascismo 1922-1943, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2012.
R. Perin, La radio del papa. Propaganda e diplomazia nella seconda guerra mondiale, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017.
Section C
Examination program for attending students
In addition to the notes of Section C, the student will have to prepare:
F. J. Ansuategui Roig, La libertà d'espressione. Storia e ragione, Torino, Giappichelli, 2018
Section A
Examination program for non-attending students
The student will have to prepare:
M. Infelise, I libri proibiti. Da Gutenberg all'Encyclopédie, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2013.
Vittorio Frajese, La censura in Italia. Dall'Inquisizione alla polizia, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2014.
Section B
Examination program for non-attending students
The student must prepare:
Andrea Sangiovanni, Le parole e le figure. Storia dei media in Italia dall'età liberale alla Seconda guerra mondiale, Donzelli, Roma 2012.
And one of the following texts:
E. Tortarolo, L'invenzione della libertà di stampa. Censura e scrittori nel Settecento, Roma, Carocci, 2011.
M. I. Palazzolo, I libri il trono l'altare. La censura nell'Italia della Restaurazione, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2003.
F. Della Peruta, Il giornalismo italiano del Risorgimento. Dal 1847 all'Unità, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2011.
G. Bonsaver, Mussolini censore. Storie di letteratura, dissenso e ipocrisia, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2013.
D. Manetti, «Un'arma poderosissima» Industria cinematografica e Stato durante il fascismo 1922-1943, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2012.
R. Perin, La radio del papa. Propaganda e diplomazia nella seconda guerra mondiale, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017.
Section C
Examination program for non-attending students
the student will have to prepare:
F. J. Ansuategui Roig, La libertà d'espressione. Storia e ragione, Torino, Giappichelli, 2018
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam consists of an oral interview on the topics in the program and, for attending students, also on those addressed and examined in class. The exam intends to verify in particular the critical and logical-argumentative abilities of the student.
The vote will be expressed in thirtieths.
The examination procedures for students with disabilities and / or with DSA must be agreed with the teacher, in agreement with the competent Office.
International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the course teacher in a timely manner.
The vote will be expressed in thirtieths.
The examination procedures for students with disabilities and / or with DSA must be agreed with the teacher, in agreement with the competent Office.
International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the course teacher in a timely manner.
Unita' didattica A
SPS/03 - HISTORY OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
SPS/03 - HISTORY OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
SPS/03 - HISTORY OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours