Ateneo - UPO

Contemporary History (20th and 21st centuries).
The aim of this course is to provide a basic knowledge of political, social, economic and cultural dynamics during the 20th and 21st centuries. The goal is to provide the historical context to situate the knowledge provided in other courses of this BA program and future research carried out by students.

All students will prepare the topics covered in the course through the complete reading of
Alberto Mario Banti, L’età contemporanea. Dalla Grande Guerra a oggi, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2009.

They will also have to read a monograph of their choice from this list:
• George Mosse, Sessualità e nazionalismo. Mentalità borghese e rispettabilità, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1996.
• Christopher Browning, Uomini comuni. Polizia tedesca e soluzione finale in Polonia, Einaudi, Torino 1995.
• Alessandro Portelli, L’ordine è già stato eseguito. Roma, le Fosse Ardeatine, la memoria, Donzelli, Roma 1999.
• Stephen Kotkin, A un passo dall’apocalisse. Il collasso sovietico, 1970-2000, Viella, Roma 2010.
• Serhii Plokhy, Chernobyl. Storia di una catastrofe nucleare, Rizzoli, Milano 2019.

The primary purpose of the course is to provide a basic knowledge of the political, social, economic and cultural dynamics in the time span ranging from the First World War to the present day. The aim is to provide the historical context within which to place the other knowledge taught in the degree course and possible future research carried out by male and female students. This course aims to provide students with the knowledge and basic methodological tools necessary to analyze modern and contemporary societies with a historical approach.
The advanced objective of the course is to provide knowledge of the development of the historiographical debate on each of the topics covered. The course aims at teaching how to concretely apply historical knowledge and develop the ability to orient oneself between different historiographic interpretations.

None.

The course will consist mainly of frontal lectures, although they will sometime involve the direct involvement of students in reading and analyzing some primary sources.
The lectures are an integral part of the exam program: the lecturer will provide the slides of the lectures and other useful materials.

Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request
specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse
e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services-
students-physical-or-learning-disabilities
Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted
the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination
modalities, concerning academic aspects.

The exam will consist of two parts: the writing of a short review and an oral exam. The review must be no longer than 3000 characters and will be about the monograph selected from the list. The review must be sent to the instructor at least one week before the oral exam. The oral exam will instead focus on the content of the lessons and the manual. The grade obtained will depend 20% on the review and 80% on the oral exam.
Here a synthetic description of the results requested by the lecturer to achieve different grade ranges:
- an imprecise knowledge of concepts and event structured as a series of notion without solid conceptual links between them, expressed in imprecise form will be evaluated as sufficient. Corresponding grade range: 18-22.
- a deeper but not particularly detailed knowledge of concepts and events, expressed in a correct language, sufficient to aptly describe the topic dealt with, will be considered as moderately good. Corresponding grade range: 22-26.
- A solid knowledge that displays a clear grasp of the connections between different phenomena and the capacity to autonomously handle the conceptual tools acquired with the study, applying them to different events, will be considered satisfying. It will be considered fully satisfying if the student will show a capacity to deal with the chosen texts in a critical way, pinpointing the author’s opinions and treating then as informed points of view with which to critically engage. Corresponding grade range: 27-30 cum laude.

The lectures will be conducted according to the following outline:
- Lecture 1: Introduction to the course: practical issues. What is history: methodological introduction.
- Lecture 2: The general characters of the contemporary age.
- Lecture 3: Nations and nationalism: revolution in politics.
- Lecture 4: The First World War.
- Lecture 5: The Russian revolutions. The USSR of Lenin and Stalin.
- Lesson 6: Italian fascism and the category of totalitarianism.
- Lesson 7: The 1929 crisis and the rise of Nazism in Germany.
- Lesson 8: The Second World War: the Shoah.
- Lesson 9: Cold War.
- Lesson 10: Decolonization.
- Lesson 11: The cultural revolution of the 1960s and the question of gender. Asia after World War II.
- Lesson 12: The Middle Eastern conflicts and the crisis of the 1970s.
- Lesson 13: Italian Republican history.
- Lesson 14: The collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War.
- Lesson 15: Globalization and the new multipolar world.

At the basic level:
Knowledge and understanding:
Students must demonstrate knowledge and ability to understand the issues relating to contemporary European and world history.
Applied knowledge and understanding:
Students must demonstrate that they are able to understand and discuss problems concerning society, economy, politics and culture in the modern and contemporary age in Europe and in the rest of the world.
Making judgments:
Students must be able to autonomously evaluate historical processes and to orient themselves independently and critically within historiographical discussions and interpretations.
Communication skills:
Students must be able to explain to non-experts the main political, economic, social and cultural phenomena that have characterized modern and contemporary societies. They must be able to present a paper during the course or summarize the results achieved in a complete but concise manner using the vocabulary of the discipline correctly.

At advanced level:
Knowledge and understanding:
Students must demonstrate the ability to elaborate even complex discussions regarding Europe and the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. They must demonstrate knowledge of the main features of the historiographical interpretations of each topic.
Learning ability:
Students must be able to update or expand their knowledge by independently drawing on texts, scientific articles, documents and digital materials specific to the discipline.

These learning outcomes are consistent with the provisions of the SUA of the Study Programme, framework A4.b2