HISTORY OF POWER IN THE CONTEMPORARY AGE

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

L00936

Academic Year of enrolment:

2023

Year of supply:

2023/2024

Type of Course:

Characterising

Degree:

Course of 2nd Cycle Degree in MODERN LANGUAGES FOR MANAGEMENT AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Disciplinary Sector:

CONTEMPORARY HISTORY

Location:

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

FIMIANI Enzo

Cycle:

First semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

120

Prerequisites:

Although a good basic knowledge of the fundamental historical issues of the contemporary era is desirable, the course is aimed, among other things, at filling any gaps for attending students.

Objectives

The general educational objectives aim at equipping the attending students with some mental tools to:
a) understand the importance of historical knowledge
b) form a perspective that helps them think in a historical and critical way, over the long term
c) know at least some rudiments of the historian’s methods and profession
d) approach the most relevant issues of contemporary history, from the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 21st century, delving into, among other things, the links between the historical acceleration of the last two centuries or so and the current events that students find themselves living in these years.

Contents

Attending students will be equipped with the tools:
1) to understand the importance of History and historical knowledge
2) to form a mental perspective that helps them think more historically and critically, over the long term
3) to know the main methods, meanings, objectives of the historian's profession
4) to approach the most relevant issues of contemporary history, from the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 21st century, delving into, among other things, the links between the historical acceleration of the last two centuries or so and the current events that students find themselves living in these early years of the 21st century.
5) to know and understand the major historical issues concerning the evolution of democracy from the end of the 18th century to the present day, with all its relations to forms of anti-democracy, the problem of the people as a legal subject, the divisions between executive and legislative power, the current troubles of democracies and the various manifestations of populism.

Extended Syllabus

The first part of the course will be devoted to helping students understand the importance of history as a vehicle not only for knowledge but also as a critical and civic tool for living the present in an informed way.

In the second part, an effort will be made to acquaint students with the tools and methods of historians' work, in order to understand what is "behind" the teaching.

The third part of the course will provide a brief but critical and interpretative overview of the most relevant issues in contemporary history, from the French Revolution at the end of the eighteenth century to the beginning of the twenty-first century, exploring, among other things, the links between the historical acceleration of the last two centuries or so and the current times that students find themselves living.

In the fourth part, the monographic section of the course will focus on one of the great historical issues of contemporary Europe: democracy and its history, the (controversial) relationship between Power and the People, between political leaders and mass consensus, which, from the end of the 18th century to the present day, characterises political modernity and the clash/encounter between various models of democracy and anti-democratic regimes.

[Please note that non-attending students and students who are required to undertake 9 CFUs as elective courses must add the study of an additional essay, for which see the "reference texts" section].

Recommended Bibliography

For attending students:

1) Raffaele Romanelli, Nelle mani del popolo. Le fragili fondamenta della politica moderna, Roma, Donzelli, 2021
https://www.donzelli.it/libro/9788855221603

2) Enzo Fimiani, «Superare la democrazia con la stessa democrazia»: potere esecutivo, unanimismo e popolo nell’Europa tra le due guerre, in Laura Cerasi (a cura di), Genealogie e geografie dell’anti-democrazia nella crisi europea degli anni Trenta. Fascismi, corporativismi, laburismi, Venezia, Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, 2019, pp. 53-73
[the paper be provided by the teacher in pdf on the telematics platform]:

Two types of students:
a) those not attending
b) those who take, as a course of their choice, n. 9 CFU [ECTS: European Credit Transfer System Credits] and not the 8 CFU of this course,
will have to read and study of the following essay:

3) Mariuccia Salvati, Populismo, linguaggi, comportamenti: crisi o trasformazioni della democrazia?, in «Parolechiave», (2010) n. 1, pp. 205-217
[the paper be provided by the teacher in pdf on the telematics platform]

Teaching Methods

The course consists of 8 credits (equivalent to 48 hours of frontal classroom activity) and will be held in the first semester, between 2 October and around mid-December (unless lessons are made up in January), with 6 hours of lessons per week over three days, from Monday to Wednesday (based on the academic calendar).

The lessons will be deliberately based on dialogue and interaction between lecturer and students.

Depending on the interests shown during the lessons, it will be agreed between the teacher and the students whether or not to use additional tools (such as the use of audiovisuals or the organisation of seminars led by historians or authoritative scholars, capable of broadening the educational horizon and cognitive stimuli).

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

The examination process consists of an oral exam.

The verification of learning will be based
1) for the attending students, both on the contents of the reference texts and on everything that will emerge from the frontal lessons
2) for non-attending students, on the contents of the reference texts.

The exam will aim to ascertain the level of preparation.

What is of most interest, however, is not the knowledge about the specific themes of the texts, but rather other aspects.

Among these, the development of the following skills:
(a) to think 'historically', with the critical tools to approach the more recent past and its complexities
b) to organise one’s knowledge in a comprehensive way
c) to use the enormous possibilities of the Italian language with a certain property of language.

Contacts/More Information

Class attendance is not compulsory.
The weekly reception will be used to clarify any doubts about the course.
The reception is scheduled on Wednesday, 12-1 p.m. [but it is advisable to always look at the notices on the site, for possible changes].
Of course, the professor can be contacted on the institutional e-mail address: enzo.fimiani@unich.it (expecting a reply within a reasonable timeframe and not immediately)

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

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