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.
Course unit content
Why the European states have decided to constitute a union? What have been the historical long run dynamics (political, cultural, and economic) that have characterized the process of European integration? The course , in the first part, will analyse the slow evolution of the idea of “European Union”, highlighting the impulses and the hostilities met in the centuries. A particular focus will be represented by the building process – after the second world war – of the European institutions, underlining the opportunities given to the different continental economies to grow, to expand and to integrate.
The students that will be involved in group activities will further deepen the aspects related to the European integration process also with reference to the difficulties that appeared.
Bibliography
(1) Attenders (intermediate exercise and workgroup)
- Heiki Mikkeli, Europa. Storia di un’idea e di un’identità, Bologna, il Mulino, 2002.
- Bino Olivi e Roberto Santaniello, Storia dell’integrazione europea, Bologna, il Mulino, 2010.
- Materials, slides and notes of the lessons.
- Texts, materials and documents indicated for the group activities and group and the classroom presentation.
(2) Not Attenders (traditional final exam)
- Heiki Mikkeli, Europa. Storia di un’idea e di un’identità, Bologna, il Mulino, 2002.
- Bino Olivi e Roberto Santaniello, Storia dell’integrazione europea, Bologna, il Mulino, 2010.
One book at choice among:
- Robert C. Allen, La rivoluzione industriale inglese, Bologna, il Mulino, 2011.
- Mauro Campus, L’Italia, gli Stati Uniti e il piano Marshall, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2008.
- Federico Chabod, Storia dell’idea di Europa, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2007.
- David W. Ellwood, L’Europa ricostruita. Politica ed economia tra Stati Uniti ed Europa occidentale 1945-1955, Bologna, il Mulino, 1994.
- Eric J. Evans, Thatcher and Thatcherism, London, Routledge, 2013.
- Cosimo Magazzino, La politica economica di Margaret Thatcher, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2010.
Teaching methods
The first part of the course (approximately 60% of the hours) will be carried out with traditional lessons. The second part (approximately 40% of the hours) will be instead composed by group activities of deepening. The students will form little teams (4-5 unities) that, following the bibliographical and documentary indications supplied from teacher, will prepare a short classroom presentation (approximately 15 minutes) and a short English abstract.
After the first part of course there will be a written exercise. The students that don’t pass the intermediate exercise (<18) will have to take the final exam for not attenders.
During the workgroup activities the students will have to attend a minimum of 80% of the lessons.
The final mark will be composed in this way: 50% intermediate exercise; 35% presentation and abstract; 15% classroom participation.
Assessment methods and criteria
(1) Attenders
Intermediate exercise
a) The knowledge and comprehension abilities will be checked by 2 open-ended questions choose among three questions. Each question is 15 points worth.
b) The answers will be checked by the ability to express judgment autonomy, critical learning ability and to do cross links among different topics.
d) The ability to communicate will be checked verifying the adequacy and efficacy of language; furthermore it will be checked the tendency to clarify the meaning of the technical words and concepts used.
Classroom presentation
The classroom presentation will be checked by 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).
c) coherence between sources, analysis and synthesis.
d) 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).
Classroom participation
The evaluation of classroom work will take into account the contribution given to the discussions and the quality/innovativeness of the arguments used.
The final mark will be composed in this way: 50% intermediate exercise; 35% presentation and abstract; 15% classroom participation.
(2) Not attenders
Final written exam
a) The knowledge and comprehension abilities will be checked by 2 open-ended questions choose among three questions. Each question is 15 points worth.
b) The answers will be checked by the ability to express judgment autonomy, critical learning ability and to do cross links among different topics.
d) The ability to communicate will be checked verifying the adequacy and efficacy of language; furthermore it will be checked the tendency to clarify the meaning of the technical words and concepts used.
Other information
Eventual other readings will be communicated at the beginning of the course and published on the homepage of the teacher.
