Learning objectives
a) Knowledge and comprehension abilities
The student will learn and understand the economic, social, cultural, institutional and political- regulatory processes that characterize the European integration process.
b) Ability to use knowledge and comprehension
The student will use the studied issues to understand the community processes complexity, also with regard to the other disciplines.
c) Judgment autonomy
The student will be able to evaluate the community processes and develop a critical analysis of the powerful factors that characterize their evolution.
d) Communicative skills
The student will get a lexical and conceptual property essential for the education and the communication of a specialist student in Political Sciences.
e) Ability to learn
The student will try out an innovative didactic method based on group work.
Prerequisites
None
Course unit content
Why have the European states decided to constitute a political and monetary union? What have been the historical (political, cultural, and economic) dynamics that in the long run have characterized the process of European integration?
There are numerous traces that testify the existence of a commonality of spirits, cultures, experiences, and identities among the different European peoples. Can we say the same in the food sector?
The course will analyse the slow evolution of the idea of an “European Union”, highlighting the thrusts and resistances faced over the centuries. The building process after the Second world war of the European institutions will be focussed, underlining the opportunities given to the continental economies to grow, expand and integrate each other.
Close attention will be paid to the construction of a common agricultural-food policy and to the implications in terms of food security and safety. Finally, the course will focus on the relationship between the integration of European space and the contamination of gastronomic grammars.
Full programme
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Bibliography
Mandatory books
(1) Bino Olivi e Roberto Santaniello, Storia dell’integrazione europea, Bologna, il Mulino, 2010.
(2) Kiran Klaus Patel, Fertile ground for Europe? The history of European integration and the common agricultural policy since 1945, Baden-Baden 2009, Nomos, 2009 (pp. 1-23; 61-78; 161-179).
(3) Piero Bevilacqua, La mucca è savia. Ragioni storiche della crisi alimentare europea, Roma, Donzelli, 2002.
(4) Stefano Magagnoli e Jean-Pierre Williot, Le culture alimentari e gastronomiche, in Europa, Culture e Società, Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, 2018 (pp. 530-540).
Materials, slides and notes of the lessons.
The students who won’t take the intermediate test will have to read one book at choice among:
(1) Pascal Griset, Jean-Pierre Williot, Yves Bouvier, Face aux risques. Une histoire de la sûreté alimentaire à la santé environnementale, Paris, Le Cherche Midi, 2020.
(2) Piero Bevilacqua, Il cibo e la terra. Agricoltura, ambiente e salute negli scenari del nuovo millennio, Roma, Donzelli, 2018.
(3) Luisa Stagi, Food Porn. L’ossessione del cibo in Tv e nei social media, Milano, Egea, 2016.
(4) Elisabetta Moro, La dieta mediterranea. Mito e storia di uno stile di vita, Bologna, il Mulino, 2014
(5) Massimo Montanari, Il mito delle origini. Breve storia degli spaghetti al pomodoro, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2019.
Teaching methods
In the first part of the course (approximately 50% of the hours), the activities include lectures (with the possibility of some external guests) at the end of which an intermediate test is provided.
The second part (about 50% of the hours) will instead be dedicated to the presentation of the students' works, organized in small groups, elaborated on the basis of bibliographic and documentary indications agreed with the teacher. Presentations and discussions will take place in the classroom.
The students who won’t pass the test (<18) will have to repeat it and, if failed, will have to take the FULL EXAM.
The final mark, for those who choose the intermediate test + presentation mode will be composed as such: 40% intermediate test, 40% presentation, 20% participation.
All the teaching materials will be published on Elly site.
Assessment methods and criteria
There are two methods for passing the exam:
(1) INTERMEDIATE TEST + PRESENTATION
The written INTERMEDIATE TEST aims to ascertain the knowledge acquired in the first part of the course and will be passed with at least 18/30. This part of the exam has a value of 40%.
PRESENTATIONS will be evaluated on the quality of the following elements:
a) originality and innovativeness of work (ability to carry on the proposed topic with originality compared to the literature and documentation used).
b) precision and effectiveness of the slides (style, language).
c) quality and precision of the abstract (to present the aims, the sources, the results).
d) coherence between sources, analysis and synthesis.
e) coherence between investigation questions and proposed analysis (i.e.: if I want to study the skin quality of the shoes that I’m using I can’t analyse the cotton of my shirt). This part of the exam has a value of 40%.
PARTICIPATION IN THE CLASSROOM.
The evaluation of participation will take into account the contribution given to the discussions and the quality/innovativeness of the arguments adopted. This part of the exam has a value of 20%.
(2) FULL EXAM
The full exam includes a written test and an oral interview. To prepare it, study all the compulsory books indicated + 1 book of your choice among those indicated.
Other information
Any extra readings and activities will be communicated at the beginning of the course and published on Elly site.
