Modern History

A.Y. 2022/2023
6
Max ECTS
40
Overall hours
SSD
M-STO/02
Language
Italian
Learning objectives
The course aims to offer both an introduction to the history of Europe within the context of transatlantic and global interactions from the end of the 15th to the first decades of the 19th Century (Part A) and an in-depth monographic analysis on specific phenomena in a global perspective, with a particular attention to the relations between past and present, facts, interpretations and cultural memory (Part B).
Expected learning outcomes
Thanks to the course, the interaction with the teacher, the individual examination of the documents analysed in class and/or individual learning (see. NF bibliography), the students will be able to:
· Acquire the knowledge of European history from the end of the 15th century to the first decades of the 19th century, with a specific focus on its prominent features.
· Understand the underlying demographic, social, economic, institutional, political, international, religious, and cultural dynamics of European History in the above-mentioned centuries from a transatlantic and global perspective.
· Learn to analyse critically sources and documents relevant to European history with a specific attention to past-present dynamics.
· Learn to explain the knowledge acquired both in an oral and/or written form.
· Learn to connect the knowledge acquired regarding European History phenomena, sources, and interpretations with other subjects of the curriculum.
The course aims at fostering students' ability to connect different epochs and issues of European history and analysing critically diverse sources. In addition, the course is intended to foster awareness of the historical depth both of the relation between Early modern Europe and today's globalized world, and the intrinsically cross-cultural and multicultural character of European societies and cultures in the past and in present time.
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
Course syllabus
Course Title: European Expansion in the Mirror of Literature
Part 1: Global History of Modern Europe (16th-19th centuries)
Part 2: European Expansion between Robinson Crusoe and Heart of Darkness
The course aims to guide students in discovering the historical depth of the contemporary globalized world. The itinerary consists of two parts: the first part will introduce the essential lines of the global history of modern Europe (16th-19th centuries) from a perspective that is attentive to the relationship between past and present. The second part will examine some significant dimensions of European expansion through a selection of literary texts.
The syllabus is valid until February 2024.
Prerequisites for admission
There are no specific requirements different from those requested for the degree admission.
Teaching methods
Attendance is strongly recommended but not compulsory. Lectures aim at fostering the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and the language of the discipline. The discussion in the classroom with the teacher is an integral part of the teaching method. It aims to train critical thinking and the ability to apply the skills and knowledge acquired.
Alongside the lectures, group work and or individual reports may be established.
Course language: Italian
Teaching Resources
6 CFU

Attending students
Knowledge of the topics treated in class

Part 1:
R. Ago - V. Vidotto, Storia moderna, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2021; materials uploaded on Ariel: https://mbenzonism.ariel.ctu.unimi.it/v5/home/Default.aspx
Students are strongly encouraged to consult a historical atlas.

Part 2:
materials uploaded on Ariel, video-interview to Serge Gruzinski, Storia, memoria, immaginari nel mondo globalizzato, by Maria Matilde Benzoni, https://video.unimi.it/media/478/, complete reading in Italian or English of Robinson Crusoe by D. Defoe and Heart of Darkness by J. Conrad.

6CFU

Non-attending students

Knowledge of the here below mentioned volumes and materials:

Part 1:
R. Ago - V. Vidotto, Storia moderna, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2021, video-interview to Serge Gruzinski, Storia, memoria, immaginari nel mondo globalizzato, by Maria Matilde Benzoni, https://video.unimi.it/media/478/
Students are strongly encouraged to consult a historical atlas.

Part 2:
C. H. Parker, Le relazioni globali nell'età moderna, 1400-1800, Il Mulino, Bologna 2012 and one of the following texts or one among the groups of texts relating to one and only one of the following linguistic-cultural or thematic areas:

French
P. Burke, Il Re Sole, Il Saggiatore, Milano 2017
P. R. Campbell, Luigi XIV e la Francia del suo tempo, Il Mulino, Bologna 1997
V. Criscuolo, Napoleone, Bologna, Il Mulino, Bologna 2009

Spanish, Portuguese
M. M. Benzoni, Americhe e modernità. Un itinerario fra storia e storiografia dal 1492 ad oggi, FrancoAngeli, Milano 2012
J. H. Elliott, La Spagna imperiale. 1469-1716, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2006
B. Fausto, Storia del Brasile, Fabula, Cagliari 2010
G. Parker, Un solo re, un solo impero. Filippo II di Spagna, Il Mulino 2005
H. Rawlings, L'Inquisizione spagnola, Il Mulino 2008
T. Todorov, La conquista dell'America. Il problema dell'altro, Einaudi, Torino 2005

English
M. D. Palmer, Enrico VIII, Il Mulino, Bologna 2003 e G. Abbattista, La rivoluzione americana, Laterza, Bari-Roma 20196
M. D. Palmer, Enrico VIII, Il Mulino, Bologna 2003 e T. Bonazzi, La rivoluzione americana, Il Mulino, Bologna 2018
P. Wende, L'impero britannico. Storia di una potenza mondiale, Einaudi, Torino 2009

Polish
J. Lukowski - H. Zawadzki, Polonia. il paese che rinasce, Beit, Trieste 2009
Una selezione di capitoli in R. I. Frost, The Oxford History of Poland. The Making of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, 1385-1569, OUP, Oxford 2018

Russian
P. Buschkovitch, Breve storia della Russia: dalle origini a Putin, Einaudi, Torino 2013
L. Hughes, Pietro il Grande, Einaudi, Torino 2012
W. Marshall, Pietro il Grande e la Russia del suo tempo, il Mulino, Bologna, 1999
M. Raeff, La Russia degli zar, Laterza, Roma 1989

Scandinavian languages
N. Kent, A Concise History of Sweden, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2008
Selected chapters related to the modern age, to be defined with the teacher, in E. I. Kouri - J. E. Olesen (eds.), The Cambridge History of Scandinavia, 2, 1520-1870, Cambridge University Press, 2016

German
R. H. Bainton, La Riforma protestante, Einaudi, Torino 2000, pp. 280
R. H. Bainton, Lutero, Einaudi, Torino 2013
T. Kaufmann, Lutero, Il Mulino, Bologna 2007 e M. Rady, Carlo V e il suo tempo, Il Mulino, Bologna 1997

Other topics
S. Faroqhi, L'impero ottomano, Il Mulino, Bologna 2014 e e K. Kreiser, Storia di Istanbul, Il Mulino, Bologna 2010
M. Füssel, La guerra dei sette anni, Il Mulino, Bologna 2013 e V. Criscuolo, Il congresso di Vienna, Il Mulino, Bologna 2015
A. Michelet, Il bianco e il negro. Indagine storica sull'ordine razzista, Einaudi, Torino 2021
M. Pellegrini, Le guerre d'Italia, il Mulino, Bologna 2017 e Schmidt G., La guerra dei Trent'anni, Il Mulino, Bologna 2015
L. Valensi, Stranieri familiari: Musulmani in Europa (XVI-XVIII secolo), Einaudi, Torino 2013
W. Naphy - A. Spicer, La peste in Europa, Il Mulino, Bologna 2021
C. O' Grada, Storia delle carestie, Il Mulino, Bologna 2011

The course uses teaching materials, including multimedia, available on the Ariel platform: https://mbenzonissal.ariel.ctu.unimi.it/v5/home/Default.aspx

International or Erasmus incoming students should contact the teacher timely to arrange the examination program, if necessary in English.
Assessment methods and Criteria
Mode: oral test.
Type of test: oral question (Italian).
Assessment parameters: ability to organize knowledge discursively; ability to reason critically about the study undertaken; quality of exposition (content, effectiveness, linearity, etc.), competence in using specialist vocabulary.
Type of assessment: grade in thirtieths.
Students with disabilities and/or DSA must agree on examination methods with the teacher in agreement with the relevant office.
M-STO/02 - MODERN HISTORY - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Professor(s)
Reception:
To make an appointment, please contact [email protected]. For information: https://ariel.unimi.it/
Room 5018, Unimi Campus, Piazza Montanelli 1 - 2099 Sesto San Giovanni (Mi)