Learning objectives
The aim of this course is to analise the part Great Britain had in the formation of modern sport, and to stress how this global phenomenon is crucial in the definition of both social and cultural identity of Great Britain.
Throughout the lessons, students will learn:
- to recognise the concept of modern sport, separating it from that of traditional game;
- to be acquainted with the cultural, financial, political and social elements of Victorian Britain;
- to identify in sport the expression of cultural peculiarities, being able to put the sporting event in the broader historic, social and politic context.
- to express well-informed and appropriate comments on those cultural peculiarities, estabilishing the proper links between the facts and the ideas that they express.
Prerequisites
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Course unit content
Sporting Britannia. The invention of modern sport.
The aim of this course is to analise the part Great Britain had in the formation of modern sport, and to stress how this global phenomenon is crucial in the definition of both social and cultural identity of Great Britain. The codification of most moderns sports occured during the Victorian age as a result of many major changes in British culture, society, and material conditions of life, which will be the subject of our lessons.
Full programme
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Bibliography
Enrico Martines, Sporting Britannia. L'invenzione dello Sport Moderno, Unipr CoLab, 2014.
Asa Briggs, L’Inghilterra vittoriana, Editori Riuniti, 1978.
Readings:
Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown’s Schooldays.
Charles Dickens, Pickwick Papers.
Charles Dickens, Epsom, in Household Words, June 7th 1851.
David Morley, Kevin Robins (eds.), British Cultural Studies. Geography,
Nationality, and Identity, Oxford University Press, 2001.
Teaching methods
Lectures, mainly in Italian language with specific subjects presented in English, supported by audiovisual contents: pictures of authors, texts, events and locations, documentaries, readings and videoclips.
Assessment methods and criteria
Oral exam testing:
- the knowledge of facts, persons, contexts, ideas and traditions studied in the course;
- the ability to re-elaborate the subjects studied, to propose personal in-depth analysis, to obtain further information in order to interpret complex situations and to develop personal evaluations.
Students will fail the exam if they show to possess an insufficient knowledge of the basic contents of the course, or if they are not able to obtain further information in order to interpret complex situations and to develop personal evaluations. Students will obtain a result between 18-23/30 by demonstrating to possess a sufficient knowledge of the basic contents of the course and the ability to obtain further information in order to interpret complex situations and to develop personal evaluations expressing themselves in an appropriate linguistic register. Students will obtain a result between 24-27/30 by demonstrating to possess a more than sufficient level (24-25/30) or a good level (26-27/30) in the above mentioned competences. Higher marks (28-30/30 or 30 cum laude) will be obtained by demonstrating a very good to excellent level in the above mentioned competences.
Other information
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2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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