Political science and international relations

FRANCESCO VITALI

The course aims to analise the fundamental role played by the Early modern Age in the
historical genesis of the Europe as Civilization as well as political society of States.
The knowledge of ealry modern history of Europe will provide useful instruments in
order to promote thought about the current integration and to explore the
comprehension of the impact exercised by coeval world globalization on european
context.

Expected knowledge outcomes:
1. Knowledge and understanding skills: knowledge of the fundamentals of globalization in the early modern period, ability to understand the main themes of the subject.
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: ability to apply the knowledge gained in the field of historical integration of space in the modern age to analyze and solve problems related to the globalized dimension of today’s world.
3. Autonomy of judgment: ability to critically interpret data and issues related to the subject of study and to reflect from a comparative and non-Eurocentric perspective on the main points, forming independent judgments about them.
4. Communication skills: ability to communicate information and issues related to globalization in the modern age to different audiences, both specialists and non-specialists, using appropriate language.
5. Learning skills: acquisition of the princi the main basic tools and the ability to use them so that you can independently tackle further studies regarding the ongoing globalization processes.

no prerequisite.

The course will start from a methodological premise on the notion of global history, and will then deal with the salient features of the integration of space that took place worldwide between the 15th and 19th centuries. Through a comparative and non-Eurocentric perspective we will analyse how during the modern age States and Empires activated between continents (Asia, America, Africa, Europe), seas and oceans, an exchange unprecedented in size, quality and frequency. This ‘connection’ will be explored especially in relation to the following aspects: the Mongolian Empire, the Muslim Empires (Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal), the Chinese Empire and Japan, the Russian Empire, Pre-Columbian America, the formation of modern states in Europe and the Overseas Empires of Spain and Portugal, the new colonial empires (Netherlands, France, England), international markets and global networks, slavery and world trade, trade diasporas and politico-religious migrations, the spread of religions in modern times and culture, demographic and ecological dynamics, British hegemony, and the Atlantic revolutions. Therefore, the course will show how the first globalisation occurred along peculiar and different lines from the second one, which was produced by the great divergence that had started in the 19th century between Europe and Asia as a result of the industrial revolution. At the same time, it will highlight the profound links and intertwining between those dynamics and the contemporary reality of today's society and world.

Testi adottati e bibliografia di riferimento:
1) Sebastian Conrad, Storia Globale. Un'introduzione, Roma, Carocci, 2015
(obbligatorio per tutti).
Poi a scelta o:
oppure
2) Charles H. Parker, Relazioni globali nell'età moderna 1400-1800, Bologna, il Mulino,
2012.
2) Luigi Mascilli Migliorini, L'età moderna. Una storia globale, Laterza, 2020 (prima ed.),
fino a p. 315, dal capitolo 1 al capitolo 16 incluso.

The teaching makes use of the following methods: - Lectures on broad topics followed by discussions with the students. - Reading of texts and sources, screening of videos, interviews (possibly using slides and images, etc.) with analysis and discussion of their content by the class. - In a dedicated virtual classroom, specific materials on the topics covered in class will be available. Using this platform will also provide the opportunity for a participatory and shared learning path, promoting active interaction between the teacher and students on questions, topics, and themes of the course.

Attendance is optional, but recommended.

The final oral examination consists of questions (at least three) based on the content
found in the prescribed books and the teaching material made available. The test lasts
as long as necessary to check both the degree of understanding of the content and the
ability to express it adequately. The final assessment, expressed in thirtieths, with a
record of the grade, will take place for all students, whether attending or not, by means
of an oral examination. This examination, lasting approximately thirty minutes, aims to
assess comprehension of the questions posed and the ability to elaborate a series of
articulate and coherent answers through the use of appropriate vocabulary. Attending
students will have the opportunity to progressively self-assess their learning through
classroom follow-up questions, guided discussions and the mock oral interview.

The questions will relate to the main aspects of the globalisation of the modern age,
which occurred between the 15th and 19th centuries: political, cultural, religious,
commercial, migratory, demographic and environmental.

• The first part of the 8-hour course will be devoted to a preliminary methodological reflection on the history of globalisation as a subject and discipline, with particular regard to its formalisation and the areas where it intersects with – and differs from – traditional world history.
  • Books: Textbook. Students attending the lessons will be provided with supplementary materials (and slides) on the main themes and perspectives of the methodological debate concerning the history of globalisation.


• The second module of the course, comprising 10 hours, will be devoted to the global dimension of Asian history through an analysis of the history of the Mongol Empire, within the context of China’s millennia-long imperial history, and to the origins of the Islamic empires that emerged following the collapse of the Timurid Empire.
  • Books:  Textbook. Students attending the lessons will be provided with supplementary materials (and slides) on the main topics, sources and perspectives relating to China’s millennia-long imperial history, from the Pax Mongolica through to the dissolution of Tamerlane’s Empire and the origins of the Islamic Empires.


• The third part of the course, totalling 10 hours, will be devoted to the emergence of the modern European state as a driving force behind globalisation, through the discovery of the Americas and the rise of the Spanish and Portuguese overseas empires (followed by the Dutch, French and British empires), with particular focus on financial corporations, the central role of the Atlantic, and slavery and its impact on Africa in the early modern age, until the era of the revolutions.
  • Books: Textbook. Students attending the lessons will be provided with supplementary materials (and slides) on the main themes, sources and perspectives relating to the conquest and imperial dimension of early modern European statecraft. In this context, through the sources read and discussed during the lectures, particular emphasis will be placed on papal globalisation and the impact of the Atlantic slave trade on early modern African history.


• The fourth module of the course, lasting 10 hours, will focus on the central role of cultural factors in political globalisation and on the social and environmental dynamics and transformations brought about by this process throughout the early modern age.
  • Books: Textbook. Students attending the lessons will be provided with supplementary materials (and slides) on the main themes, sources and perspectives relating to the dynamics and transformations brought about by globalisation from a political, cultural and environmental perspective throughout the early modern age.