Nome del corso di laurea |
Relazioni internazionali |
Codice insegnamento |
A005403 |
Curriculum |
Cooperazione internazionale e governance globale |
Docente responsabile |
Claudia Bernardi |
Docenti |
|
Ore |
- 54 Ore - Claudia Bernardi
|
CFU |
8 |
Regolamento |
Coorte 2025 |
Erogato |
Erogato nel 2025/26 |
Erogato altro regolamento |
|
Attività |
Caratterizzante |
Ambito |
Formazione storico-internazionale |
Settore |
SPS/05 |
Anno |
1 |
Periodo |
Primo Semestre |
Tipo insegnamento |
Obbligatorio (Required) |
Tipo attività |
Attività formativa monodisciplinare |
Lingua insegnamento |
INGLESE |
Contenuti |
The course surveys the main historical processes that affected US foreign policy from the early 19th till the 21st centuries. At the beginning of the course, the main methodological tools for the study of the Americas will be provided. This course explores the common denominators and histprical trajectories between the U.S. and Latin America. The lessons will analyze the historiographical debate and the main historical transformations that affected the United States and its role in the Americas, including imperialism, Good Neighbor Policy, the Second World War, the Alliance for progress, the Dirty wars and CIA operations, the Global Cold War, soft power and cultural diplomacy, the Low Intensity Conflict Doctrine and the militarization of the US-Mexican border. Particular emphasis will be placed on the most recent historiographical positions, providing insights into the approach of global history for the study of the United States. In-class presentations will shed light on specific historical and contemporary process in the Americas. |
Testi di riferimento |
Petras, J. F. & Veltmeyer, H. (2016) Power and Resistance: US Imperialism in Latin America. 1st ed. Leiden, Netherlands; Brill (chapter 5, pp. 81-100). McPherson, A. (2016) A short history of U.S interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean. 1st ed. Chichester, England: Wiley-Blackwell (chapters 2-9, pp. 34-193). Smith, J. (2005) The United States and Latin America: a history of American diplomacy, 1776-2000. London: Routledge (chapter 7, pp. 168-200). Non-attending students are required to get in contact with the instructor; they will study selected chapters of the final list of readings above, and will study the texts of two options among the in-class presentations' list. For any update, please check the syllabus on Unistudium platform. |
Obiettivi formativi |
COURSE OBJECTIVES: • Enable students to develop a working knowledge of the key social, political, and economic transformations linked to US Foreign policy during the 19th, 20th, 21st century. • Acquire fundamental knowledge of the historiographical debate and of the main historical transformations that affected the United States and its role in the Americas • Develop students’ critical thinking skills through evaluating historians’ arguments, through connecting analytic frameworks and concepts with scholarly studies of historical processes. • Improve written and oral expressive skills by presenting, discussing, and (substantial) writing. |
Prerequisiti |
Knowledge of English and the main processes of contemporary history |
Metodi didattici |
Class will meet regularly, three times a week (54 hours course). Lectures will be given with the support of slides and power point presentations to facilitate the first approach to issues and historiographical knots. The course favors a multi-disciplinary method, and therefore the class will use a different array of materials that are relevant as much as readings, including films, photographs, pictures, documentaries, and primary sources. During lectures, students should feel free, in fact are encouraged, to raise hands and ask questions. Students are also expected to come prepared for discussion with questions, comments, and critiques to foster class debates and collective understanding. Detailed and continuous guidance will be given during the whole course so to help students in navigating primary and secondary sources, and in preparing oral presentation. |
Altre informazioni |
Students are invited to read all material assigned, to take notes of lectures and discussions held in class. Written exam and paper should be clear in terms of spelling and syntax. Please do not hesitate to get in contact with the instructor if you have any questions about any of the assignments and/or requirements for the class. Before writing to the instructor, students are required to READ CAREFULLY the syllabus in all its parts. Attendance is mandatory, students are allowed up to five unjustified absences. If you are not able to attend the course, you are strongly encouraged to get in contact with the instructor to discuss assignments, and then to register as non-attending students on oral exams dates available. Updates: All course directions, assignments, and updates will be posted on Unistudium. Please check there regularly. If you have problems accessing Unistudium please contact the instructor. Special needs: Office hours are here for you! Students with special needs (i.e. DSA) are strongly encouraged to meet with the instructor to discuss any modifications that could make it more useful for you, for which you are strongly invited to get in contact with the instructor at the beginning of the course, and not only towards the deadlines. Final grade registration: the instructor will send an email to each student with the final grade that will be recorded online after students have registered on SOL platform for the first date available on January. |
Modalità di verifica dell'apprendimento |
• Attendance and participation (20%): students have to attend class sessions and are allowed to a maximum of 5 absences. Students are expected to have completed the readings and actively contribute to class discussions. Class discussions are the driving force behind this course as learning is a collective process that is enriched with everyone’s contribution: students are warmly invited to discuss, ask questions and comment. Required readings will be listed for each class session in the agenda of the course, and should be completed prior to the relevant session. • In-class presentation (30%): the students will choose one option among the ones proposed, and prepare a 20-minute oral presentation to the class. The presentation is not a mere summary, but it is required to critically analyze the texts and present them clearly. They will be held throughout the month of November. • In class short paper (25%): students will write a short scientific article of maximum 600 words/two pages commenting critically a text assigned by the instructor (one chapter selected by the instructor of the monograph by Odd Arne Westad, The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times. Cambridge University Press, 2005). This short essay is not a summary, but a critical work in which doubts are raised, a historiographical problem is analyzed, critics to the paper's author are addressed. The article must be clear in terms of spelling and syntax. Students are allowed two hours to write it, during class hours, on October 21, 2025. • Final test (25%): the final test consists of three multiple choice questions and four open-ended questions, and verifies the learning of the main historical processes studied during the lessons and through the study of the mandatory texts. The written exam must be clear in terms of spelling and syntax. It will be held during the last week of course on December 16, 2025. |
Programma esteso |
The lessons will analyze the historiographical debate and the main historical transformations that affected the United States and its role in the Americas, including imperialism, Good Neighbor Policy, the Second World War, the Alliance for progress, the Dirty wars and CIA operations, the Global Cold War, soft power and cultural diplomacy, the Low Intensity Conflict Doctrine and the militarization of the US-Mexican border. Particular emphasis will be placed on the most recent historiographical positions, providing insights into the approach of global history for the study of the United States. In-class presentations will shed light on specific historical and contemporary process in the Americas. |