Cultural History of the Modern Period

The course aims to provide an overview of the geo-political and cultural construction of Europe from the late Middle Ages to the early Modern Age considering the cultural and intellectual processes that lead to the formation of modern states. The course will follow both a chronological and a thematic path.
In each of the three units, the following macro-themes will be considered: cultural contacts between different political systems; Euro-Asian and African intellectual networks; and the elaboration of the idea of "just war" from the ideological opposition between Christianity and Islam in the context of the construction of the Mediterranean empires.
The perspective adopted, partly based on a reflection on European history, favours a comparative methodology, built on the constant and in-depth reference to the non-European world.

At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Achieve familiarity with the construction of the philosophical and political idea of Europe, starting with some cornerstones of classical culture and historiographical literature;
- Analyse European conflicts between the 14th and 18th centuries by taking into account the ideal and ideological assumptions that determined them in the long run or at specific historical moments;
- Describe the historical development of the concept of Europe and trace the milestones of the consolidation of nation states between the 16th and 18th centuries;
- Understand the global projection of Europe in the modern age in economic, political, military, intellectual and cultural terms.