Ateneo - UPO

Introduction to Cultural History.
The course provides an overview of the main themes and methodologies of cultural history: after a few theoretical lectures, the different fields of study of cultural history will be examined: gender history, the history of food and of the relationship with animals, the study of collective memory and of the mass cultural production. In the final part, the course will be devoted to analyzing the dynamics at work within the Eurovision Song Contest in order to show how mass popular culture is closely intertwined with the processes of national and gender identification.

• Peter Burke, What is Cultural History?, Polity, Cambridge 2019 (third edition).
• Dean Vuletic, Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest, Bloomsbury, London 2018.

At a basic level, the aim of the course is to provide students with an overview of the themes and methodologies of cultural history, problematizing concepts such as culture, nature, memory, gender, sexuality, national belonging. The second aim is to provide, through the seminar part, an opportunity to exercise one's ability to research and analyze documents and interpretations of cultural history, showing how these can also be applied in deciphering contemporary reality.
At an advanced level, the aim of the course is to provide in-depth knowledge of the historiographical debate on the cultural turn, including the specific contributions of specific authors and research. The objective of the second part of the course is to provide the tools through which students can analyze and understand mass culture as a whole, even outside the European context.

Knowledge of the main features of modern history is required.For those who have not attended a basic contemporary history course, we suggest reading Lucio Caraccioloand Adriano Roccucci, Contemporary history. From the European world to the world without a centre, Le Monnier-Mondadori, Milan 2017.

The course will consist of two parts: in the first, consisting of frontal lectures, the teacher will illustrate the themes and methodologies of cultural history, sometimes being supported by experts in some specific topics. After having illustrated the part relating to the cultural history of music and of the Eurovision Song Contests, the course will take the form of a seminar: those attending will be asked to prepare short oral reports on the participation in the ESC of a nation of their choice. The material for the oral reports will be discussed by the lecturer with each studentduring office hours and in class from the very first lessons of the course, in such a way as to give students the necessary time to prepare the presentation.The course will be carried out entirely in English.

None.

The evaluation will take place both during the seminar part and during the final oral exam. As for the seminar part, not only the presentation made by each student will be evaluated but also the involvement during the other presentations and the participation in the discussion to compare the different national cases and find an overall reading. The final grade will be determined as follows:
50% oral exam
25% presentation
25% participation during the seminar.
The evaluation will be determined by the following elements:
- a general knowledge of concepts and events as a set of notions without a conceptual link between them, with the use of inappropriate language in oral discussion, will be considered sufficient. The only presentation of one's case study without interaction in the seminar part will be considered just enough. Corresponding vote: 18-22
- A more in-depth but not detailed knowledge of concepts and events, with the use of a language generally appropriate to the topic being discussed, will be considered discreet. The interaction in the seminar part with the cases presented by the other participants, making comparisons and references with one's own case study, will be considered discreet. Corresponding vote: 22-26.
- An in-depth knowledge, showing a good understanding of the relationships between different phenomena and the ability to use the notions learned autonomously, applying them to different events, will be judged as satisfactory. It will be judged fully satisfactory if the student shows an ability to speak of the texts he has read with independent judgement, enucleating the author's point of view and dialoguing with it in a critical way. The interaction during the seminar part that demonstrates the will to elaborate a general interpretation of the phenomenon including all the case studies will be considered excellent. Corresponding grade: 27-30 cum laude.

The seminar and the final exam will be held in English.

The lessons will take place according to the following outline:
- Lesson 1: Introduction to the course and practical information. What is cultural history?: methodological introduction.
- Lesson 2: The document of cultural history.
- Lesson 3: History of women, gender history and history of sexuality.
- Lesson 4: Orientalism and Indian Subaltern Studies.
- Lesson 5: Mass culture: animals and food as themes of cultural history.
- Lesson 6: Images for cultural history: tattoos (lesson in collaboration with Dr. Alessio Petrizzo).
- Lesson 7: The culture of the tsarist empire: from the birth of the intelligentsia to the sexual revolution.
- Lesson 8: Soviet culture: from communist utopia to Stalinist kulturnost.
- Lesson 9: The public use of history from the Historikerstreit to the Italian “civil war”.
- Lesson 10: Places of memory and the example of memorials in Ukraine.
- Lesson 11: Cultural history of music; introduction to ESC.
- Lesson 12: Seminar presentations.
- Lesson 13: Seminar presentations.
- Lesson 14: Seminar presentations.
- Lesson 15: The participation of Ukraine in the ESC.

At the basic level:
Knowledge and understanding:
Students must demonstrate knowledge and ability to understand the issues related to cultural history. They must demonstrate knowledge of the fundamental stages in the development of cultural history, with particular attention to the authors and works that have contributed to the culturalist turning point since the 1960s. Students must be able to explain the meaning and limits of the conceptual tools of cultural history, such as culture, memory, nation, gender and sexuality.

Applied knowledge and understanding:
Students must demonstrate that they are able to understand and discuss problems concerning the European cultural history of the contemporary age and that they know how to use the instrument of cultural history to analyze a concrete case.

At advanced level:
Knowledge and understanding:
Students must demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the development of the historiography of the cultural turning point, outlining the limits and merits of each historiographical current.
Applied knowledge and understanding:
Student must demonstrate the ability to use the tools used in the seminar to analyze the production of mass culture in general, even outside the European cultural context.

These learning outcomes are consistent with the provisions of the SUA of the Study Programme, framework A4.b2 (particularly for the Historical Area).