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 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.
Bibliography
- Bino Olivi e Roberto Santaniello, Storia dell’integrazione europea, Bologna, il Mulino, 2010.
- 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).
- 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).
- Piero Bevilacqua, La mucca è savia. Ragioni storiche della crisi alimentare europea, Roma, Donzelli, 2002.
- Materials, slides and notes of the lessons.
- Texts, materials and documents indicated for the group activities and group and the classroom presentation.
The students who won’t take the intermediate test will have to read one book at choice among:
- Heiki Mikkeli, Europa. Storia di un’idea e di un’identità, Bologna, il Mulino, 2002.
- 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.
- Corrado Malandrino, Stefano Quirico, L’idea di Europa. Storia e prospettive, Roma, Carocci, 2020.
- Piero Bevilacqua, Il cibo e la terra. Agricoltura, ambiente e salute negli scenari del nuovo millennio, Roma, Donzelli, 2018.
Luisa Stagi, Food Porn. L’ossessione del cibo in Tv e nei social media, Milano, Egea, 2016.
Elisabetta Moro, La dieta mediterranea. Mito e storia di uno stile di vita, Bologna, il Mulino, 2014.
- Massimo Montanari, Il mito delle origini. Breve storia degli spaghetti al pomodoro, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2019.
Teaching methods
Due to the protraction of the conditions of uncertainty caused by the effects of Covid-19 the course will be held in e-learning mode, using both synchronous and asynchronous tools.
The first part of the course (approximately 50% of the hours) will include: (i) live streaming lessons, made with the platforms provided by UNIPR (Teams and Zoom); (ii) pre-recorded lessons published on Elly internet site; (iii) any other materials and activities of study.
The second part (approximately 50% of the hours) will be instead dedicated to the student presentations (organized in small teamwork), elaborated following the bibliographical and documentary indications defined with the teacher. The presentations will be made on-line using the platforms provided by UNIPR (Teams and Zoom).
After the first part of course there will be an intermediate test (on-line on Elly platform), based on a multiple choice test. The students that won’t pass the test (<18) will have to repeat it in a future date and, in case of a negative outcome, they will have to take the exam in the ways described at point 2. Multiple choice test + oral exam.
The final mark, calculated in 30ths will be composed in this way: (1) Intermediate test multiple choice + Presentation (teamwork) + On-line participation: 50% multiple choice test; 40% presentation; 10% on-line participation; (2) Multiple choice test + oral exam: 50% multiple choice test; 50% oral exam.
All the teaching materials will be published on Elly website.
Assessment methods and criteria
There are two methods for passing the exam:
(1) Intermediate test + On-line presentation + On-line participation assessment
Intermediate test (multiple choice test):
The knowledge and comprehension abilities will be checked with a 15 questions multiple choice test. Every question is 1 point worth. The test will be passed getting almost 9 point on 15. This part of the exam will be worth 50%.
Presentation
The presentation in the virtual classroom 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).
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 will be worth 40%.
Participation at on-line activities
The evaluation of on-line activities will take into account the contribution given to the discussions and the quality/innovativeness of the arguments used.
This part of the exam will be worth 10%.
(2) Final multiple choice test + oral exam
Final multiple choice test:
The knowledge and comprehension abilities will be checked with a 15 questions multiple choice test. Every question is 1 points worth. The test will be passed getting almost 9 point on 15. This part of the exam will be worth 50%.
Oral exam:
The answers will be checked by the ability to express judgment autonomy, critical learning ability and to do cross links among different topics.
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.
This part of the exam will be worth 50%.
These modes for passing the exam will apply to the winter sessions of the a.y. 2020-21. If the health conditions make it possible, from the spring sessions, we will return to the “in presence exams”. The operating procedures will be promptly communicated.
Other information
Any extra readings and activities will be communicated at the beginning of the course and published on Elly site.
