Elements of Historiography
A.Y. 2023/2024
Learning objectives
The course aims to offer a panorama of the principal characteristics of the history of historiography from antiquity to modernity and theoretical principles that have animated the historiographical production of the last two centuries.
The course also aims to provide lexical and conceptual tools suitable for both scientific and popular historical communication
The course also aims to provide lexical and conceptual tools suitable for both scientific and popular historical communication
Expected learning outcomes
The course aims to introduce students to the historical reflection on the historiography of the Western world, guiding them towards the knowledge of how to grasp the continuity and peculiarities of modern historical production compared to those of the past. Through the analysis of concrete examples, students will grasp the problems and methods of contemporary historiographic reflection, developing awareness, theory and their own personal historiographical style. At the end of the course they will be able to critically read primary sources and scientific texts relating to the historical period under consideration and develop independent and critically based reflections. These skills will be acquired through a direct and continuous comparison with the teacher in the classroom, through the analysis of proposed texts for individual study and thanks to the presentation and joint discussion of agreed readings.
Students opting not to attend the lessons will be able to make use of the educational tools eventually provided by the instructor on Ariel, deepen their knowledge of main topics through special readings suggested of the instructor, and contact the instructor either by e-mail and during office hours.
Students opting not to attend the lessons will be able to make use of the educational tools eventually provided by the instructor on Ariel, deepen their knowledge of main topics through special readings suggested of the instructor, and contact the instructor either by e-mail and during office hours.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Course Title: Global Historiography and Local Identities
Part A: Global Historiography from Antiquity to the Present
Part B: Context, Dynamics, Comparison
Part C: Comparing Historiographical Theories: Carr, Elton, Evans
Part A: Global Historiography from Antiquity to the Present
Part B: Context, Dynamics, Comparison
Part C: Comparing Historiographical Theories: Carr, Elton, Evans
Prerequisites for admission
There are no specific requirements different from those requested for admission to the MA degree in historical science.
Teaching methods
Attendance to classes is strongly recommended although not compulsory. Teaching is delivered through frontal lectures aimed primarily at the acquisition of knowledge, competence in and specific language of the subject matter. Discussion with the teacher in the classroom is an integral part of the didactic method and aims at promoting a critical attitude and the capacity to apply the acquired competence and knowledge.
The teaching can also be supplemented by didactic and multimedia material provided on Ariel.
The teaching can also be supplemented by didactic and multimedia material provided on Ariel.
Teaching Resources
Attending students (Parts A e B, for 6 cfu; Parts A, B and C, for 9 cfu):
Part A
Lecture notes. Suggested reading: A. d'Orsi, Manuale di storiografia (Pearson).
Part B
All the following works: B. Croce, Teoria e storia della storiografia, cap. I-IX (available on the course's Ariel website - taken from Bibliopolis, 2007); A. Momigliano, Le regole del giuoco nello studio della storia antica (available on the course's Ariel website - taken from A. Momigliano, Storia e storiografia antica, il Mulino, 1987, pp. 15-24); J. Dunn, Storia delle dottrine politiche, con un saggio di D. Cadeddu (Jaca Book, 2020 - the previous editions are not acceptable); Q. Skinner, Significato e comprensione nella storia delle idee (available on the course's Ariel website - taken from Q. Skinner, Dell'interpretazione, il Mulino, 2001, pp. 11-57).
Part C
All the following essays: E.H. Carr, Sei lezioni sulla storia (Einaudi, 2000); G.R. Elton, Ritorno alla storia (Saggiatore) (available on the course's Ariel website); R.J. Evans, In difesa della storia (Sellerio), pp. 25-125, 153-211 (available on the course's Ariel website).
Non-attending students (Parts A e B, for 6 cfu; Parts A, B and C, for 9 cfu):
Part A
A. d'Orsi, Manuale di storiografia (Pearson).
Part B
All the following works: B. Croce, Teoria e storia della storiografia, cap. I-IX (available on the course's Ariel website - taken from Bibliopolis, 2007); A. Momigliano, Le regole del giuoco nello studio della storia antica (available on the course's Ariel website - taken from A. Momigliano, Storia e storiografia antica, il Mulino, 1987, pp. 15-24); J. Dunn, Storia delle dottrine politiche, con un saggio di D. Cadeddu (Jaca Book, 2020 - the previous editions are not acceptable); Q. Skinner, Significato e comprensione nella storia delle idee (available on the course's Ariel website - taken from Q. Skinner, Dell'interpretazione, il Mulino, 2001, pp. 11-57).
Part C
All the following essays: E.H. Carr, Sei lezioni sulla storia (Einaudi, 2000); G.R. Elton, Ritorno alla storia (Saggiatore) (available on the course's Ariel website); R.J. Evans, In difesa della storia (Sellerio), pp. 25-125, 153-211 (available on the course's Ariel website).
The program is valid starting from the exam period in December 2023 and substitutes the one used in the previous academic year.
Incoming international or Erasmus students are invited to make contact with the appointed professor as soon as possible.
Program for Erasmus students
If requested, incoming Erasmus students may take the exam in English with the following bibliography (Parts A and B, for 6 Ects; Parts A, B and C, for 9 Ects):
A) J.G.A. Pocock, Political Thought and History: Essays on Theory and Method (Cambridge University Press, 2009).
B) E.H. Carr, What Is History?, with a new introduction by R.J. Evans (Palgrave); B. Croce, History. Its Theory and Practice, authorized translation by D. Ainslie (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1921 [1960]), chapters 1-9 (available at the professor's office); J. Dunn, The history of political theory, in J. Dunn, The history of political theory and other essays (Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 11-38 (available at the professor's office); Q. Skinner, Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas, in History and Theory, 8, no. 1 (1969), pp. 3-53 (available at the professor's office).
C) K. Popper, The Poverty of Historicism (Routledge).
Part A
Lecture notes. Suggested reading: A. d'Orsi, Manuale di storiografia (Pearson).
Part B
All the following works: B. Croce, Teoria e storia della storiografia, cap. I-IX (available on the course's Ariel website - taken from Bibliopolis, 2007); A. Momigliano, Le regole del giuoco nello studio della storia antica (available on the course's Ariel website - taken from A. Momigliano, Storia e storiografia antica, il Mulino, 1987, pp. 15-24); J. Dunn, Storia delle dottrine politiche, con un saggio di D. Cadeddu (Jaca Book, 2020 - the previous editions are not acceptable); Q. Skinner, Significato e comprensione nella storia delle idee (available on the course's Ariel website - taken from Q. Skinner, Dell'interpretazione, il Mulino, 2001, pp. 11-57).
Part C
All the following essays: E.H. Carr, Sei lezioni sulla storia (Einaudi, 2000); G.R. Elton, Ritorno alla storia (Saggiatore) (available on the course's Ariel website); R.J. Evans, In difesa della storia (Sellerio), pp. 25-125, 153-211 (available on the course's Ariel website).
Non-attending students (Parts A e B, for 6 cfu; Parts A, B and C, for 9 cfu):
Part A
A. d'Orsi, Manuale di storiografia (Pearson).
Part B
All the following works: B. Croce, Teoria e storia della storiografia, cap. I-IX (available on the course's Ariel website - taken from Bibliopolis, 2007); A. Momigliano, Le regole del giuoco nello studio della storia antica (available on the course's Ariel website - taken from A. Momigliano, Storia e storiografia antica, il Mulino, 1987, pp. 15-24); J. Dunn, Storia delle dottrine politiche, con un saggio di D. Cadeddu (Jaca Book, 2020 - the previous editions are not acceptable); Q. Skinner, Significato e comprensione nella storia delle idee (available on the course's Ariel website - taken from Q. Skinner, Dell'interpretazione, il Mulino, 2001, pp. 11-57).
Part C
All the following essays: E.H. Carr, Sei lezioni sulla storia (Einaudi, 2000); G.R. Elton, Ritorno alla storia (Saggiatore) (available on the course's Ariel website); R.J. Evans, In difesa della storia (Sellerio), pp. 25-125, 153-211 (available on the course's Ariel website).
The program is valid starting from the exam period in December 2023 and substitutes the one used in the previous academic year.
Incoming international or Erasmus students are invited to make contact with the appointed professor as soon as possible.
Program for Erasmus students
If requested, incoming Erasmus students may take the exam in English with the following bibliography (Parts A and B, for 6 Ects; Parts A, B and C, for 9 Ects):
A) J.G.A. Pocock, Political Thought and History: Essays on Theory and Method (Cambridge University Press, 2009).
B) E.H. Carr, What Is History?, with a new introduction by R.J. Evans (Palgrave); B. Croce, History. Its Theory and Practice, authorized translation by D. Ainslie (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1921 [1960]), chapters 1-9 (available at the professor's office); J. Dunn, The history of political theory, in J. Dunn, The history of political theory and other essays (Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 11-38 (available at the professor's office); Q. Skinner, Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas, in History and Theory, 8, no. 1 (1969), pp. 3-53 (available at the professor's office).
C) K. Popper, The Poverty of Historicism (Routledge).
Assessment methods and Criteria
- Method: oral exam or written paper (only for attending students).
- Type of examination: The oral exam consists of a colloquium with questions and observations, through which the understanding of the program's content will be evaluated. There is also the possibility (only for attending students) to write a paper about the program's units A and B. The student will have the possibility to accept or refuse the mark received and to take the exam again in oral modality.
- The length of the exam: The oral exam lasts about 30 minutes. The optional paper has to be a critical synthesis of teaching units A and B with a length between 20.000 and 30.000 characters.
- Evaluation criteria: Knowledge of the principal characteristics of the history of historiography from antiquity to the present day and some of the theoretical principles that animate contemporary historiographical production will be evaluated. In particular, the capacity of the student to understand theoretical continuity and conceptual particularity in the history of historiography, and to develop historiographical awareness, personal theory and style, will be considered. During the oral exam, the professor will ask some questions in order to evaluate the level of the student's understanding of the topics delivered and of his/her capacity for expression.
- Type of evaluation method: mark in 30s.
The modalities of the exams for students with disabilities and/or ADS must be agreed upon by the professor in accordance with the appropriate office (Ufficio disabili e DSA).
- Type of examination: The oral exam consists of a colloquium with questions and observations, through which the understanding of the program's content will be evaluated. There is also the possibility (only for attending students) to write a paper about the program's units A and B. The student will have the possibility to accept or refuse the mark received and to take the exam again in oral modality.
- The length of the exam: The oral exam lasts about 30 minutes. The optional paper has to be a critical synthesis of teaching units A and B with a length between 20.000 and 30.000 characters.
- Evaluation criteria: Knowledge of the principal characteristics of the history of historiography from antiquity to the present day and some of the theoretical principles that animate contemporary historiographical production will be evaluated. In particular, the capacity of the student to understand theoretical continuity and conceptual particularity in the history of historiography, and to develop historiographical awareness, personal theory and style, will be considered. During the oral exam, the professor will ask some questions in order to evaluate the level of the student's understanding of the topics delivered and of his/her capacity for expression.
- Type of evaluation method: mark in 30s.
The modalities of the exams for students with disabilities and/or ADS must be agreed upon by the professor in accordance with the appropriate office (Ufficio disabili e DSA).
SPS/02 - HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professor:
Cadeddu Davide
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)
Reception:
Office hours will take place both via Skype (davidcadeddu) and in person, with appointment: Monday, 4 pm - 7 pm. For an appointment, please send an email.
Skype: davidcadeddu | Office: A20 - Department of Historical Studies