STORIES OF THE 20TH CENTURY
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Bibliography
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
There are no preconditions
The final learning test consists of two tests, a partial written test and an oral final test, both aimed at confirming the knowledge and skills expected above.
a) Partial written test (without the aid of notes or books) lasting a total of two hours:
- 20 multiple-choice questions relating to the volume indicated in the "Reference texts" section as the "general part";
- 2 open questions always related to the volume indicated in the appropriate section "Reference texts" as "general part";
The entire written partial test, aimed at verifying the knowledge of the topics proposed in the "gene-rale part", will be evaluated in thirtieths according to the following criteria:
- Multiple choice test: exact answer 1 point
- Open questions: each answer maximum 5 points
To access the final oral test, the student must have reached the total score of 18/30.
b) final oral test, aimed at ascertaining the acquisition and correct understanding of the contents of the course, in particular the contents of the reference texts indicated in the appropriate section "Texts" as "Monographic part" and the teaching material available on the e-learning platform. To this end, two questions will be formulated with respect to which knowledge of the subject, exhibition capacity and critical analysis capacity will be assessed.
The oral test grade (assessed in thirtieths) will take into account the accuracy and quality of the answers (60%), as well as the communicative ability and the ability to adequately motivate statements, analysis and judgments shown during the interview (40%).
The final grade will be the average of the grade obtained in the written partial test and the grade obtained in the oral interview.
In order to pass the learning test, the student must have reached the total score of at least 18/30.
It should be noted that both the written and oral exams must be taken in the context of the same appeal.
Through the vast bibliography on the subject and without excluding the new instruments of investigation and narration of the past (press, radio, television, network), the course intends to analyze and compare the facts and the various interpretations of the decisive moments of the second half of the twentieth century, also placing the emphasis on the public use (and abuse) of History.
For that purpose, the teaching is divided into two integrated parts: the first will provide the elements and references necessary for a solid understanding of events ranging from the Second World War to the new post-Cold War order.
The course will be complemented by a series of lessons of a purely historiographic nature provided at regular intervals on the decisive moments and issues of the contemporary age (see "Course Contents, Part Two").
The expected learning outcomes include:
- knowledge of the proposed themes and, in particular, of the methodologies and uses of the multiple tools of analysis, critical evaluation and narration of the decisive moments of History;
- ability to interpret the information acquired in the light of the most recent historiographic production;
- ability to critically interpret the public debate on the media and on the so-called "public use of history".
A) First part (approximately 40 hours)
- Introduction to Contemporary History: the idea of "contemporary"
- The Second World War
- The New Order: the Cold War
- The birth of Communist China
- Truman and Stalin
- The Israeli-Palestinian question
- The Korean War
- Eisenhower and Kruscev
- The destalinization
- The revolution in Cuba: Fidel Castro and Ernesto Guevara
- Decolonization and the "Third World"
- The United States from Kennedy to Johnson and Nixon
- The Vietnam War
- The USSR from Kruscev to Brezhnev and the "Prague Spring".
- The Sino-Soviet conflict and the "Cultural Revolution" in China
- The United States from Nixon to Carter and Reagan
- The USSR from Brezhnev's "Royal Socialism" to Gorbachev
- Eastern Europe and the collapse of communist regimes
- The end of the "Cold War"
- Scenarios and developments in world politics in the post-bipolar age
B) Second part, historiographical lessons (approximately 24 hours)
- The Great War
- The Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union
- Nazism
- Totalitarianism
- The Shoah
- Interpretations of the Cold War
- Globalisation
- Interpretations of the twentieth century
- Revisionism, denial and public use of History
Texts and teaching materials:
1. Various materials (documentation in pdf format that will be available on the e-learning site at the end of the course).
2. General part
The complete study of the volume is required:
G. Sabbatucci, G. Vidotto, Il mondo contemporaneo. From 1848 to the present, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2017.
3. Monographic part
The complete study of two volumes is required:
a) One volume (to be studied in its entirety) to be chosen from among:
- G. Gozzini, Il Novecento, Bruno Mondadori editore
- Lepre, Guerra e pace nel XX secolo, Bologna, il Mulino
- E. J. Hobsbawn, Il secolo breve, Milano, Rizzoli
- M Flores, Il Secolo mondo, vol. I e vol. II, Bologna, Il Mulino
- G. Procacci, Storia del XX secolo, Milano, Bruno Mondadori
(b) A volume (to be studied in its entirety) of your choice:
- C. Clark, I sonnambuli. Come l’Europa arrivò alla Grande Guerra, Roma-Bari, Laterza
- M. Isnenghi-G. Rochat, La Grande Guerra, Bologna, il Mulino
- A. Wood, La rivoluzione russa, Bologna, il Mulino
- D. Williamson, Il Terzo Reich, Bologna, il Mulino
- S. Forti, Il totalitarismo, Roma-Bari, Laterza
- R. Overy, Crisi tra le due guerre mondiali, Bologna, il Mulino
- H. Thomas, Storia della guerra civile spagnola, Torino, Einaudi
- R. Overy, Le origini della Seconda Guerra Mondiale, Bologna, il Mulino
- J. Keegan, Storia della Seconda Guerra mondiale, Milano, Rizzoli
- G. Schereiber, La seconda guerra mondiale, Bologna, il Mulino
- D. Engel, L’Olocausto, Bologna, il Mulino
- J. Smith, La guerra fredda, Bologna, il Mulino
- J. L. Gaddis, La Guerra Fredda. Milano, Mondadori
- S. H. Lee, La guerra di Corea, Bologna, il Mulino
- R. F. Betts, La decolonizzazione, Bologna, il Mulino
- B. Droz, Storia della decolonizzazione nel XX secolo, Milano, Bruno Mondadori
- J. Gelvin, Il conflitto israelo-palestinese. Cent’anni di guerra, Torino, Einaudi
- M. Hall, La guerra del Vietnam, Bologna, il Mulino
Frontal lessons (for a total of 64 hours). The lessons will also analyse the course contents in an interactive way with the students, through discussions and debates in the classroom related to the analysis of historiography and the tools for narrating history in the public debate (press, television, new media).
The teacher receives the students every Friday from 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. at the Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences (Via Mazzini 5, Varese - 4th floor).
It is recommended to contact the teacher directly via e-mail.