Learning objectives
The aim of the seminar is to develop critical thinking and reading. By the end of the course, students will have learned how to assess source material and use it to construct historical arguments. Through the development of critical reading skills, students will learn to take positions on the broad historical issues addressed in the class
Prerequisites
THE MANDATORY PREREQUISITE TO ATTEND THE SEMINAR IS TO HAVE PASSED THE EXAM IN EARLY MODERN HISTORY 12 CFU
Course unit content
The seminar aims to offer a survey of the most important developments in the methodology and practice of history. It will examine a wide range of interdisciplinary areas of historical research, including women's history, history &"from below,&" the history of reading, oral history, the history of the body, microhistory, the history of events, the history of images, and political history.
Full programme
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Bibliography
1) La storiografia contemporanea, a cura di P. Burke, Roma-Bari, Laterza, preferibilmente l'edizione inglese con importanti aggiornamenti: New Perspectives on Historical Writing, ed. by P. Burke, Pennsylvania, 2001
2) Un testo a scelta tra:
a. R. Darnton, Il grande massacro dei gatti e altri episodi della storia culturale francese, Milano, Adelphi
b. E. Grendi, Il Cervo e la repubblica: Il modello ligure di antico regime, Torino, Einaudi
Teaching methods
Each student is required to write a paper according to the assigned subject.
Assessment methods and criteria
Oral by examination in Italian and performances given during the seminars.
Students are required to attend seminars, to participate in class activities, to complete assigned tasks, and to make class presentations. A negative evaluation of the presentation can be improved during the final oral prove. The knowledge and skills verified by the final prove are the successful acquisition of the appropriate register and the specific language of historical studies; an adequate ability to study independently, to process information learned during the course; the attitude to propose individual insights beyond the topics covered in the course the ability to deal with problems related to information retrieval and interpretation of complex texts, the ability to make independent judgments. In order to verify the achievement of such knowledge and skills, oral test questions are designed to assess the knowledge acquired during the course, the ability of independent and original processing of such knowledge, and the ability to apply the acquired skills to the analysis of a wide spectrum of sources and texts. Failure is determined by lack of knowledge and understanding of the basic contents of the course, by the inability of the student to express himself/herself in correct Italian, by the lack of self-preparation and the inability to solve problems related to information retrieval and decoding of complex texts.
More specifically, a fail is determined by the lack of an understanding of the minimum
content of the course, the inability to express oneself adequately, by a
lack of autonomous preparation, the inability to solve problems related to
information retrieval and the decoding of complex texts, as well as an
inability to make independent judgments. A pass (18-23/30) is
determined by the student’s possession of the minimum, fundamental
contents of the course, an adequate level of autonomous preparation
and ability to solve problems related to information retrieval and the
decoding of complex texts, as well as an acceptable level of ability in
making independent judgments. Middle-range scores (24-27/30) are
assigned to the student who produces evidence of a more than sufficient
level (24-25/30) or good level (26-27/30) in the evaluation indicators
listed above. Higher scores (from 28/30 to 30/30 cum laude) are awarded
on the basis of the student’s demonstration of a very good or excellent
level in the evaluation indicators listed above
Other information
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