Ateneo - UPO

Introduction to Cultural History and Animal 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 mass cultural production, the idea of disability and handicap. In the final part, the course will be dedicated to the so-called “animal history:” through the reading of selected texts, students will explore the origins, themes and possibilities of the study of the relationship between humans and animals.

All students will prepare the topics covered in the course through the complete reading of:

1. Carlotta Sorba e Federico Mazzini, La svolta culturale. Come è cambiata la pratica storiografica, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2021.
2. Simone A. Bellezza, Gli imperi del nazionalismo: politica e appartenenza nell’Europa centro-orientale, in L’età contemporanea. Prospettive di storia europea e globale, a cura di Marco Bresciani e Fulvio Conti, Carocci, Roma 2023, pp. 29-56.
3. Giulia Guazzaloca, Umani e animali. Breve storia di una relazione complicata, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2021.

For the seminar part, the lecturer will assign to each participant the specific readings to prepare the oral presentation.
Those who are unable to attend classes and participate in the seminar will prepare for the exam reading also:
• Giulia Guazzaloca, Primo: non maltrattare. Storia della protezione degli animali in Italia, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 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.

For this course, the teaching corresponds to 0.8 CFU, the interactive teaching to 0.5 CFU and the self-learning activities to 4.7 CFU.

None.

The course combines lectures and seminars throughout its duration: the instructor will explain the themes and methodologies of cultural history and, from time to time, will invite students (individually or in groups) to present a specific reading. Gradually, the seminar component of the course will become more important: in the final sessions, students will be asked to prepare short oral presentations on the methodology and themes of animal history. The reading material to be presented will be discussed by the instructor with individual students during office hours and in class starting from the very first class of the course, so as to give students the necessary time to prepare.

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-disabilitiesStudents 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 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 exam25% presentation25% 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 reading 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 readings 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 all the readings will be considered excellent. Corresponding grade: 27-30 cum laude.

The lessons will take place according to the following outline:- Lecture 1: Introduction to the course and practical information. What is cultural history: a methodological introduction.- Lecture 2: The document of cultural history. New historiography on the nation.- Lecture 3: Women’s history, gender history, and the history of sexuality.- Lecture 4: Orientalism and Indian Subaltern Studies; oral history.- Lecture 5: Cultural history of disability.- Lecture 6: Mass culture: the cultural history of food and vegetarianism.- Lecture 7: Mass culture: the cultural history of music and pop culture.- Lecture 8: Russian culture from the Tsarist Empire to Stalinist “kulturnost’.”- Lecture 9: The culture of the Thaw: examples of analyzing a film and two songs.- Lecture 10: Cultural History of Music: The Example of the Eurovision Song Contest.- Lecture 11: A Practical Example of Cultural History (lecture with a guest lecturer).- Lecture 12: Seminar: What Are Animals and How Can They Be the Subject of History?- Lecture 13: Seminar: Themes and Issues in the History of Animals.- Lecture 14: Seminar: The Question of Animal Agency.- Lecture 15: Seminar: The History of Ethology.
Integration of the gender dimension.
The course dedicates ample space to the study of the gender dimension, in particular in lessons 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

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).