Economic History
A.Y. 2022/2023
Learning objectives
The Economic History course (MED):
- provides the basics for analyzing and interpreting the development of the world economy from the first industrial revolution to the present day;
- offers the reference points for understanding the globalization processes unraveling between the 19th and 21st centuries, with greater emphasis on the post-1945 period and particularly the span of decades between the 1990s and the '00s;
- relates the transformations over time in the global economy to environmental and climate transformations, exploring the areas of industry and agriculture, labor, energy, planetary demography, urban sprawl, food, epidemics, equality and inequality.
- provides the basics for analyzing and interpreting the development of the world economy from the first industrial revolution to the present day;
- offers the reference points for understanding the globalization processes unraveling between the 19th and 21st centuries, with greater emphasis on the post-1945 period and particularly the span of decades between the 1990s and the '00s;
- relates the transformations over time in the global economy to environmental and climate transformations, exploring the areas of industry and agriculture, labor, energy, planetary demography, urban sprawl, food, epidemics, equality and inequality.
Expected learning outcomes
Upon completion of the Economic History course (MED), students will acquire the following knowledge, skills/abilities:
A) KNOWLEDGE
- basic knowledge needed to understand the main evolutionary lines and processes that have connoted the world economy over the past two centuries;
- tools to identify continuities and/or discontinuities of these processes and to understand the roots of some current geo-economic scenarios.
B) SKILLS
- ability to argue along the space-time axis the importance of institutions, technological and social innovations, markets, the State and entrepreneurship for economic growth;
- ability to apply acquired knowledge in order to identify, examine, and discuss some global economic issues while becoming aware of their complexity;
- ability to apply acquired knowledge to different contexts;
- ability to further develop the acquired knowledge in writing papers and engaging in open discussions.
C) AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT
- ability to critically evaluate information and reliable sources of knowledge;
- ability to gather multiple sources of information to formulate personal arguments;
- ability to develop novel arguments, and to avoid the pitfalls of oversimplification;
- ability to evaluate the soundness of an idea in terms of relevance and coherence;
- ability to evaluate inferences and implications of the processes studied.
D) COMMUNICATION SKILLS
· Students will gain the discipline-specific vocabulary and concepts to communicate clearly and unambiguously with specialist and non-specialist interlocutors;
· They will be further stimulated to expand their communication skills both through open discussion in the classroom and in the online forum, and through study and work, individually and in groups.
E) LEARNING SKILLS
· autonomy in learning and ability to use the tools of analysis of historical processes in time and space (local and global);
· tools for bibliographic and sitographic research in order to attain new knowledge that will be useful in the world of work or for undertaking further studies;
· team work experience in order to attain new knowledge cooperating with the colleagues.
A) KNOWLEDGE
- basic knowledge needed to understand the main evolutionary lines and processes that have connoted the world economy over the past two centuries;
- tools to identify continuities and/or discontinuities of these processes and to understand the roots of some current geo-economic scenarios.
B) SKILLS
- ability to argue along the space-time axis the importance of institutions, technological and social innovations, markets, the State and entrepreneurship for economic growth;
- ability to apply acquired knowledge in order to identify, examine, and discuss some global economic issues while becoming aware of their complexity;
- ability to apply acquired knowledge to different contexts;
- ability to further develop the acquired knowledge in writing papers and engaging in open discussions.
C) AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT
- ability to critically evaluate information and reliable sources of knowledge;
- ability to gather multiple sources of information to formulate personal arguments;
- ability to develop novel arguments, and to avoid the pitfalls of oversimplification;
- ability to evaluate the soundness of an idea in terms of relevance and coherence;
- ability to evaluate inferences and implications of the processes studied.
D) COMMUNICATION SKILLS
· Students will gain the discipline-specific vocabulary and concepts to communicate clearly and unambiguously with specialist and non-specialist interlocutors;
· They will be further stimulated to expand their communication skills both through open discussion in the classroom and in the online forum, and through study and work, individually and in groups.
E) LEARNING SKILLS
· autonomy in learning and ability to use the tools of analysis of historical processes in time and space (local and global);
· tools for bibliographic and sitographic research in order to attain new knowledge that will be useful in the world of work or for undertaking further studies;
· team work experience in order to attain new knowledge cooperating with the colleagues.
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
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
While climate and environmental change are before our very eyes, the history of economic transformations related to the systems of production and exchange that are linked to those changes remains little known, yet it is a crucial topic for understanding the contemporary world and its risks. Under the title "Anthropocene: Between Economic History and Environmental History" The course (2022-2023) links the economic history of the 1800s and 1900s with the history of climate and environmental transformations over this same time span. It draws on the concept of the Anthropocene and explain the main stages of the industrial revolutions in their impact on climate change in relation to those of the global economy. Special attention will be given to the history of energy.
The teaching will therefore be organized in three parts:
Part One (20 hours): ANTHROPOCENE: affirmation, history, meaning, and manifestations of this concept; climate and environmental risk in the evolution of public, scientific, political, and economic discourse.
Second Part (20 hours): ANTHROPOCENE: indicators and measures between 1900 and 2000; scientific research and economic history perspective over the industrial revolutions.
Part Three (20 hours): ANTHROPOCENE: its manifestations on energy consumption and production, urbanization and cementification, health and epidemics, pollution, waste, inequality and environmental migration.
The 2021-2022 syllabus is valid up to January-February 2024.
The economic history exam is a 9 cfu exam.
The teaching will therefore be organized in three parts:
Part One (20 hours): ANTHROPOCENE: affirmation, history, meaning, and manifestations of this concept; climate and environmental risk in the evolution of public, scientific, political, and economic discourse.
Second Part (20 hours): ANTHROPOCENE: indicators and measures between 1900 and 2000; scientific research and economic history perspective over the industrial revolutions.
Part Three (20 hours): ANTHROPOCENE: its manifestations on energy consumption and production, urbanization and cementification, health and epidemics, pollution, waste, inequality and environmental migration.
The 2021-2022 syllabus is valid up to January-February 2024.
The economic history exam is a 9 cfu exam.
Prerequisites for admission
No prerequisite curriculum is needed. However, basic knowledge of modern and contemporary history (XIX-XX centuries) is essential. Functional knowledge of Italian is advisable for international students.
Teaching methods
30 in-person frontal lectures (2hours each lecture). During the course, online discussion will be encouraged (ARIEL Economic History MED website). Group work will be rewarded with a extra mark. Students are strongly invited to attend the lectures.
Teaching Resources
ATTENDING STUDENTS will follow the contents of the lectures and teaching materials uploaded to the MED Economic History ARIEL website (.ppt or .pdf files, links to other online resources). Preparation for the tests also requires reading:
· Franco Amatori, Andrea Colli (a cura di), Il mondo globale. Una storia economica, Torino, Giappichelli, 2017 (ch. 4-23);
· Maria Grazia Pagnotta. Prometeo a Fukushima. Storia dell'energia dall'antichità a oggi, Torino, Einaudi, 2019 (from part II).
NON ATTENDING STUDENTS must compensate for not attending class by adding an extra reading:
· Franco Amatori, Andrea Colli (a cura di), Il mondo globale. Una storia economica, Torino, Giappichelli, 2017 (capitoli dal 4 al 23 compreso); Franco Amatori, Andrea Colli (a cura di), Il mondo globale. Una storia economica, Torino, Giappichelli, 2017 (ch. 4- 23);
· Maria Grazia Pagnotta. Prometeo a Fukushima. Storia dell'energia dall'antichità a oggi, Torino, Einaudi, 2019 (from part II);
· John Mc Neill, Peter Engelke, La grande accelerazione. Una storia ambientale dell'Antropocene dopo il 1945, Torino, Einaudi, 2018
· Franco Amatori, Andrea Colli (a cura di), Il mondo globale. Una storia economica, Torino, Giappichelli, 2017 (ch. 4-23);
· Maria Grazia Pagnotta. Prometeo a Fukushima. Storia dell'energia dall'antichità a oggi, Torino, Einaudi, 2019 (from part II).
NON ATTENDING STUDENTS must compensate for not attending class by adding an extra reading:
· Franco Amatori, Andrea Colli (a cura di), Il mondo globale. Una storia economica, Torino, Giappichelli, 2017 (capitoli dal 4 al 23 compreso); Franco Amatori, Andrea Colli (a cura di), Il mondo globale. Una storia economica, Torino, Giappichelli, 2017 (ch. 4- 23);
· Maria Grazia Pagnotta. Prometeo a Fukushima. Storia dell'energia dall'antichità a oggi, Torino, Einaudi, 2019 (from part II);
· John Mc Neill, Peter Engelke, La grande accelerazione. Una storia ambientale dell'Antropocene dopo il 1945, Torino, Einaudi, 2018
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam is in written form, on Moodle SEB, in a computer classrom. There will be a different test for each of the 3 credits to be acquired. The final result of the exam will be expressed N/30, calculated on the average of the results obtained in each test.
The first test takes place on the Moodle + SEB platform. It will consists of a multiple choice questionnaire; it aims to evaluate the core knowledge acquired through the study of the textbook: F. Amatori, A. Colli (ed.), The global world. An economic history, Giappichelli, 2017 (chapters 4-23);
The second test also takes place on the Moodle + SEB platform and consists of an open-ended questionnaire; it aims to evaluate the knowledge acquired: A) by studying: Maria Grazia Pagnotta. Prometeo a Fukushima. Storia dell'energia dall'antichità a oggi, Torino, Einaudi, 2019 ( from part II); B) (for NON ATTENDING STUDENTS ALSO) J.R. McNeill, P. Engelke, La grande accelerazione. Una storia ambientale dell'Antropocene dopo il 1945, Einaudi 2018 ; C) (FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS) lecture's content and the teaching material made available on the Ariel web site of the course. The second test will also evaluate the ability of the students to understand, synthesize, and organize a written discourse in max 150 words.
The third test is a home assignment and consists of a paper (1,500 words), that students will have to upload to the PORTFOLIO section in the ARIEL website of the course (one week before the date fixed for the exam); this home assignment will assess the knowledge acquired and the ability to apply it in a brief essay. Group work doing the home assignment will be rewarded with a extra mark.
The first test takes place on the Moodle + SEB platform. It will consists of a multiple choice questionnaire; it aims to evaluate the core knowledge acquired through the study of the textbook: F. Amatori, A. Colli (ed.), The global world. An economic history, Giappichelli, 2017 (chapters 4-23);
The second test also takes place on the Moodle + SEB platform and consists of an open-ended questionnaire; it aims to evaluate the knowledge acquired: A) by studying: Maria Grazia Pagnotta. Prometeo a Fukushima. Storia dell'energia dall'antichità a oggi, Torino, Einaudi, 2019 ( from part II); B) (for NON ATTENDING STUDENTS ALSO) J.R. McNeill, P. Engelke, La grande accelerazione. Una storia ambientale dell'Antropocene dopo il 1945, Einaudi 2018 ; C) (FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS) lecture's content and the teaching material made available on the Ariel web site of the course. The second test will also evaluate the ability of the students to understand, synthesize, and organize a written discourse in max 150 words.
The third test is a home assignment and consists of a paper (1,500 words), that students will have to upload to the PORTFOLIO section in the ARIEL website of the course (one week before the date fixed for the exam); this home assignment will assess the knowledge acquired and the ability to apply it in a brief essay. Group work doing the home assignment will be rewarded with a extra mark.
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)