CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY

Course objectives

The course aims to offer to the students the conceptual and methodological tools for a critical knowledge of the past and its complex and changing relationships with the present time. The general goal of the course is to transfer to the student the ability to problematize and contextualize, in a long-term framework, the analysis of the political-institutional, social and cultural processes of the contemporary age, stimulating a constant and close comparison between the historical method and the disciplines that concur to widen its visual angle and to enrich its analytical-conceptual instrumentation: mainly the sciences of the social and cultural processes, political and juridical-institutional sciences, social psychology, political philosophy, anthropology, sciences of language. A more specific objective of the course is to provide students, within the framework of the more general knowledge and the multidisciplinary vision described above, an adequate basic knowledge of the history of information systems and of the cultural industry in the age of the 'public' and 'global networks', with particular attention to the political, social and cultural dimension of the relationship between communication and power. At the end of the learning process the student will have to demonstrate knowledge and ability to understand history as a study of long-term change, in order to develop adequate and discerning skills in the analysis of social, political and cultural contexts, to raise awareness look at the diversity of the points of view on social reality, to develop a complex and problematic approach to the increasingly global and interconnected society of our time. The student will then have to demonstrate his ability to face complex issues in the field of contemporary history, mainly in its international, political-institutional, socio-cultural dimensions, and, more specifically, in the social history of the media and the relationship between power and communication, with the support of advanced textbooks, seminar meetings, multimedia resources. The student must also demonstrate that he is able to apply the acquired knowledge in a competent and reflective way, both to conceive and support arguments, and to solve problems in his field of study. It will therefore have to show itself capable of gathering and systematizing data, as well as selecting, cross-checking and analyzing information sources, organizing them in a congruent manner, establishing links and logical links to support his own reasoning skills and a more mature individual critical sense. The study of contemporary history is consequently indispensable also in order to acquire, in line with the educational objectives of the degree course in Communication, technologies and digital cultures, both general and specific communication and expressive abilities, in the face of the student's more general need to be endowed with that cultural sensitivity essential to dialectical confrontation, to relational activity in public and private organizations and institutions, in problem solving activities.

Channel 1
ELENA PAPADIA Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
State-builiding, nation-building: the Italian and German cases. Socialism: Marx, Bakunin, the I and II International. The Italian case, from I International to PSI. Empires. World War I. The new hegemonic role of the United States. Building a mass consumer society. New Deal. The Bolshevik revolution and the birth of the USSR. Europe between two wars. The advent of fascism and the construction of the regime. Nazism. Stalinism. World War II. The structure of Europe in the post-war period. The cold war. Decolonization. The Italian case: from the second post-war period to the economic boom. New subjects, new rights: women and Afro-Americans. Italy in the Sixties. The Seventies in Italy and Europe. Perestroika. Reagan, Thatcher and the neoliberal phase. The Craxi years. The end of a world: 1989-1991.
Prerequisites
Not previous exams required
Books
- A.M. Banti, "L'età contemporanea. Dalla grande guerra a oggi" (una qualsiasi edizione disponibile); - P. Ortoleva, "Il secolo dei media. Stili, dinamiche paradossi", Il Saggiatore 2022
Exam mode
The exam will consist of a two-hour written test. Since the test is divided into open questions, the students will be evalueted not only for the knowledge acquired, but also for their linguistic skills.
Channel 2
ANDREA GUISO Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
12. The age of fracture and the "shock of the global" (1970s) 13. Second Cold War and new trends in international relations 14. The neoliberal project of government: the eighties in historical perspective 15. The collapse of communism and its global consequences 16. The illusion of the end of history and the difficult search for a new international order 17. The Europe of Maastricht 18. Beyond the West. The new geopolitics of the XXI century 19. September 11, 2001 20. Subprime. The crisis of global finance and its systemic consequences 21. United States and China: the new (financial) balance of terror. 22. Postpolitics and postdemocracy.
Prerequisites
It doesn't require formal prerequisites
Teaching mode
Blended
Frequency
Attendance is not compulsory
Exam mode
The exam will be an oral interview, aimed at verifying the knowledge acquired by each student, their ability to correctly organize information as well as their skills in individuating patterns and causal links in the study of history.
Lesson mode
The course will consist of lectures during which audio -visual materials will be used
LAURA CIGLIONI Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
The course aims to investigate the political, economic, social and cultural processes that led to the birth and development of the contemporary world. Through the analysis of the most relevant historical events of the 20th century, and their long-term roots into the 19th century, the goal of the course is to provide students with the tools – specific to historical studies – to understand the origins of 21st century complex societies. The course is divided into two parts. The first one explores the events between World War I (examined as a fundamental turning point for understanding longer-term issues and problems) and the crises of the 1930s, up to the explosion of World War II. The second one offers an interpretive reading and focuses on key events of the post-1945 era. Special attention is devoted to the Cold War (both its origins and demise), globalization processes, and (contextualized in this broader perspective) the history of Italy. The main topics taken into exam are: the origins of the Cold War and the bipolar world; the phases of the European integration process; decolonization and the “Third World”; affluent societies and détente; the crises of the 1970s; technology revolutions and post-industrial societies; the end of the Cold War and the evolution of the international system; transformations of the global economy between the 20th and the 21st century; perspectives for the 21st century.
Prerequisites
Class without prerequisites.
Books
Course required readings: 1) R. Romanelli, "Novecento. Lezioni di storia contemporanea", Il Mulino, 2014
Teaching mode
The course will consist of lectures, during which also audio-visual materials will be used.
Frequency
Attendance is not compulsory.
Exam mode
The exam will be an oral interview, aimed at verifying the knowledge acquired by each student, their ability to correctly organize information as well as their skills in individuating patterns and causal links in the study of history.
Lesson mode
The course will consist of lectures, during which also audio-visual materials will be used.
  • Lesson code1052002
  • Academic year2024/2025
  • CourseCommunication, technologies and digital culture
  • CurriculumSingle curriculum
  • Year1st year
  • Semester2nd semester
  • SSDM-STO/04
  • CFU9
  • Subject areaDiscipline sociali e mediologiche