Historical Communication and Public Uses of the Past

The course aims to offer elements of understanding of the main historiographic, thematic and methodological issues related to the study of historical communication and public uses of the past The course also aims to provide lexical and conceptual tools suitable for both scientific and popular historical communication.

The course aims to introduce participants to the reflection on the tools and languages through which societies have related to the past and placed it in public space. With reference to the practices of historical communication, the course will introduce students to the use of written, oral, and visual sources, as well as printed and online bibliographic tools. Through the analysis of concrete examples, students will be introduced to different methodologies of historical investigation and the study of documentation. At the end of the course, students will be able to collect and read into data useful to determine autonomous judgements in the field of historical communication, memory policies and public uses of the past, including transversal reflections on cultural and intercultural, scientific or ethical issues related to it. Furthermore, thanks to the specific focus on communication skills, students will be able to communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to specialist and non-specialist interlocutors. These skills will be acquired through direct and continuous confrontation with the lecturer in the classroom and with specially invited scholars who are experts in the topics indicated.
Students opting not to attend the lessons may use the educational tools provided by the lecturers on Ariel, study the main topics in greater depth by means of specific readings agreed with the lecturer and, of course, discuss matters with the lecturer either by e-mail or during office hours.