Università Roma Tre

Unit 1 – 36 hours - 6 CFU
This unit is a general course of contemporary history, considered as the study of the evolution of modern industrial and post-industrial societies in the western world. Even though the historical watershed of the first industrial revolution is analyzed at first, the course deals mainly with the period going from the second industrial revolution to the end of the 20th century. An overview of the recent trends in contemporary historiography (la “Nuova Storia”) is included.

UNIT I (6 CFU):

- A TEXTBOOK OF CONTEMPORARY HISTORY FROM THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION TO THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL (ABOUT FROM 1870 TO 1989), AS THE VOLUMES BY G. SABBATUCCI/V. VIDOTTO OR BY A.M. BANTI OR BY P. VIOLA;

- P. BURKE ED., "LA STORIOGRAFIA CONTEMPORANEA", LATERZA, ROMA_BARI 1993 (ONLY THE INTRODUCTION AND AN ESSAY AT STUDENT'S CHOICE);

(SUGGESTED READING: D. LANDES, PROMETEO LIBERATO (THE UNBOUND PROMETHEUS), EINAUDI, TORINO 2000 (FIRST 5 CHAPTERS)

Unit 2 – 36 hours - 6 CFU
This unit deals with events of the first half of the 20th century that influenced the entire century: the Great War, the rise of the fascist and communist regimes, the spreading of the American and Bolshevik myths, the processes of decolonization, the emergence of consumerism, mass culture and women’s emancipation. Adopting a comparative approach, the course analyzes both features and consequences of the process of modernization, focusing in particular on the emergence of a mass society and a global world. Students choose one of these events for their monographic study. All books proposed to the students’ choice are available both in Italian and in English.

I) - A.M. BANTI, "LE QUESTIONI DELL’ETÀ CONTEMPORANEA", LATERZA, ROMA-BARI 2010 (7 CHAPTERS AT STUDENT"S CHOICE) AND

II) ONE VOLUME CHOSEN AMONG THE FOLLOWING ONES:

- E. J. HOBSBAWM, "IL SECOLO BREVE", RIZZOLI, MILANO 2002;
- E.J. LEED, "TERRA DI NESSUNO", IL MULINO, BOLOGNA 1985, TOGETHER WITH THE ESSAY BY F. THEBAUD, "LA GRANDE GUERRA: ETÀ DELLA DONNA O TRIONFO DELLA DIFFERENZA SESSUALE?" IN STORIA DELLE DONNE: "IL NOVECENTO" BY F. THEBAUD, LATERZA, ROMA-BARI 1997;
- D. ROSSINI, "IL MITO AMERICANO NELL'ITALIA DELLA GRANDE GUERRA", LATERZA, ROMA-BARI 2000, TOGETHER WITH THE ESSAY BY D. ROSSINI, "RETI DI DONNE NELLA PROPAGANDA DI GUERRA TRA ITALIA E STATI UNITI, 1917- 1919" IN WORDS AT WAR, EDITED BY M. CAMBONI ET AL., LE MONNIER, FIRENZE 2005;
- E. GENTILE, "LA GRANDE ITALIA. IL MITO DELLA NAZIONE NEL XX SECOLO", LATERZA, ROMA-BARI 2011
-P. WILLSON, "ITALIANE. BIOGRAFIA DEL NOVECENTO", LATERZA, ROMA-BARI 2011.

N.B. THERE IS AN ENGLISH VERSION FOR MOST BOOKS LISTED ABOVE