Unit CONTEMPORARY HISTORY
- Course
- Cultural heritage
- Study-unit Code
- GP005277
- Curriculum
- Antropologia
- Teacher
- Paolo Raspadori
- Teachers
-
- Paolo Raspadori
- Hours
- 54 ore - Paolo Raspadori
- CFU
- 6
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2023
- Offered
- 2025/26
- Learning activities
- Affine/integrativa
- Area
- Attività formative affini o integrative
- Sector
- M-STO/04
- Type of study-unit
- Obbligatorio (Required)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- General section: the major political and institutional events and the most important economic, social and cultural processes that occurred in the Western world from the revolutions of 1848 to the first decade of the 21st century will be concisely examinated. Monographic section: Through the analysis of collective sensitivities in some Western European countries and using the press, film, radio, television, figurative arts and visual sources as keys, we will focus on some of the spectres, real or imagined, that marked the so-called Golden Age (1945-1975), going in search of the origins of many of the fears and insecurities of the third millennium.
- Reference texts
- General section: student choice of Francesco Barbagallo, Storia contemporanea. Dal 1815 ad oggi, Rome, Carocci, 2016 or Lucio Caracciolo, Adriano Roccucci, Storia contemporanea. Dal mondo europeo al mondo senza centro, Florence, Le Monnier, 2017 (only from pag. 48 on). If students prefer, they can choose any other good undergraduate contemporary history textbook. Monographic section: Gianni Silei, I fantasmi della golden age. Paura e incertezza nell'immaginario collettivo dell'Europa occidentale (1945-1975), Milan, Franco Angeli, 2019. Foreign students, if they wish, may request substitute English-language textbooks, arranging them with the teacher. Students with disabilities and/or with SLD who, having completed regular accreditation through SOL, have obtained access to University services, can apply for the compensatory tools ensured by law (e.g. textbooks in digital format; teaching materials in accessible formats: presentations, handouts, workbooks, provided if necessary in advance of the lessons), for which consult https://www.unipg.it/disabilita-e-dsa. For the request, students are invited to ask the teacher, who will put them in contact with the Disability and/or DSA Department Coordinator (prof. Alessandra Di Pilla: alessandra.dipilla@unipg.it).
- Educational objectives
- It is expected that students, on one hand, learn to critically interpret the main events occurred during two last centuries in the West and are able to detect the historical roots of political and socio-economic contemporary processes. On the other hand, it is expected that students understand what the origins of contemporary fears are. Specifically, that students are able to acquire an awareness that the golden age was, viewed from the perspective of emotional history, a season that was anything but carefree, invaded by numerous specters that are largely at the root of many of the collective insecurities of the third millennium.
- Prerequisites
- To be able to sufficiently understand the contents of the course, students must know the time partition among medieval, modern and contemporary history. Furthermore, students must have learnt, during the years of high school, the basic knowledge of the major historical events and processes occurred in the West in the nineteenth and the twentieth century.
- Teaching methods
- The course consists of lectures regarding issues of general and monographic sections described above. They will be enriched by audiovisual and film screenings and by the illustration of graphs, photos, charts and maps presented in Power Point format. All educational material presented during the lessons will be made available to students on the Unistudium pages relevant to the course in question.
- Other information
- To prepare the general and the monographic sections the attendance of lessons is strongly recommended. Students who attend the course only up to 6 credits, will have to take, on the exam, only the general section. Students with disabilities and/or SLD: for any information on University services, consult the page https://lettere.unipg.it/home/disabilita-e-dsa and contact the Disability and/or DSA Department Coordinator (prof. Alessandra Di Pilla: alessandra.dipilla@unipg.it).
- Learning verification modality
- The course consists of a general section and a monographic section. No differentiated modes of examination between attending and non-attending students apply. Students must pass a written test relating to the general section. The test consists of four open-ended questions. The test must be filled in within 90 minutes. The written test is necessary to, on the one hand, ascertain the level of knowledge acquired by students about the issues discussed during the lessons; on the other hand, to verify their ability to articulate, and exposing in a clear and understandable manner, their thoughts in writing. To pass the monographic section, students must undergo an oral examination, of variable duration depending on the course of the examination itself. The interview aims to verify the levels of knowledge and understanding reached by students with regard to the themes of the monographic section and, at the same time, their capability to communicate with an appropriate language what they have learnt by the lessons and the reading of the recommended text. Students will not be allowed to take the oral test unless they first pass the written test. In case they fail to pass the written test in a round or do not accept the assessment achieved, they can take the written test again at the next round. Students with disabilities and/or with SLD who, having completed regular accreditation through SOL, have obtained access to University services, can apply for compensatory tools, dispensatory measures and inclusive technologies ensured by law, to be requested and agreed with the teacher well in advance of tests and exams. For general information, consult the page https://www.unipg.it/disabilita-e-dsa and contact the Disability and/or SLD Department Coordinator (prof. Alessandra Di Pilla: alessandra.dipilla@unipg.it).
- Extended program
- General section: the major political and institutional events and the most important economic, social and cultural processes that occurred in Western world from the revolutions of 1848 to the first decade of the 21st century will be concisely examinated. In particular, the course will focus on the expansion and consolidation of nation States, the European imperialism, the second industrial revolution, the Belle Èpoque, the two World Wars, the crisis of the Thirties, the Cold War, the economic growth in the period 1950-1973, the advent of the post-industrial era, the collapse of communism, the post-1945 globalization. Monographic section: today's 'risk society', invaded by emotions that fuel a widespread sense of bewilderment, often yearns for a lost golden age. Therefore, the examination of the 30-year period of extraordinary growth and transformation that saw Europe reborn like the mythical phoenix from its own ashes assumes an important, if not decisive value for understanding the post-modern dimension. Through the analysis of collective sensitivities in some Western European countries (United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany) and using the press, film, radio, television, figurative arts and visual sources as keys, we will focus on some of the spectres, real or imagined, that marked the so-called Golden Age (1945-1975), going in search of the origins of many of the fears and insecurities of the third millennium.
- Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile
- 4. Quality Education.