L001008 - HISTORY AND GEOPOLITICS OF THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

courses

ID:

L001008

Duration (hours):

48

CFU:

SSD:

STORIA CONTEMPORANEA

Located in:

PESCARA

Url:

Course Details:

MODERN LANGUAGES FOR MANAGEMENT AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION/CORSO GENERICO Year: 1

Year:

2025

Course Catalogue:

https://unich.coursecatalogue.cineca.it/af/2025?co...

Date/time interval

Secondo Semestre (15/02/2026 - 25/05/2026)

Course Objectives

The general educational objectives aim at equipping the attending students with some mental tools to:
a) understand the importance of historical knowledge
b) form a perspective that helps them think in a historical and critical way, over the long term
c) know at least some rudiments of the historian’s methods and profession
d) approach the most relevant issues in contemporary history, from the age of revolutions at the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 21st century, exploring, among other things, the links between the historical acceleration of the last two centuries and the current situation that students are experiencing in these early years of the 21st century

Course Prerequisites

Although a good basic knowledge of the fundamental historical issues of the contemporary era is desirable, the course is aimed, among other things, at filling any gaps for attending students.

Teaching Methods

The course is composed of a total of 9 credits, 8+1 (equivalent to 54 hours of classroom teaching), and will be held in the second semester, between February and May 2026, with lessons per week over three days, according to the calendar that will be made public.
The lessons will be deliberately based on dialogue and interaction between lecturer and students.
Depending on the interests shown during the lessons, it will be agreed between the teacher and the students whether or not to use additional tools (such as the use of audiovisuals or the organisation of seminars led by historians or authoritative scholars, capable of broadening the educational horizon and cognitive stimuli).

Assessment Methods

The examination process consists of an oral exam.

The verification of learning will be based
1) on the contents of the reference text
2) on the study material that will be made available in PDF format by the teacher on the dedicated Teams channel for the course.

The exam will aim to ascertain the level of preparation.

What is of most interest, however, is not the knowledge about the specific themes of the texts, but rather other aspects.

Among these, the development of the following skills:
(a) to think 'historically', with the critical tools to approach the more recent past and its complexities
b) to organise one’s knowledge in a comprehensive way
c) to use the enormous possibilities of the Italian language with a certain property of language.

Texts

For all (attending students; not attending) who must complete the course for 8 credits::
1) pdf 1: “Storia e metodo”
2) pdf 2: “Sintesi Storia contemporanea”
3) Giuseppe Battelli, L' Età contemporanea. Un'interpretazione storica, Bologna, Marietti1820 editore, 2022
https://www.mariettieditore.it/libro/9788821113567-l-eta-contemporanea

For all (attending students; not attending) who are required to complete the course for 9 credits must add the study of the essay in PDF format:
Benedetto Zaccaria, Il sistema multilaterale per la promozione della pace dal 1945 ad oggi. Una prospettiva storica
How to obtain the reference texts:
- The volume referred to in point 3 can be purchased: on the publisher's website; in bookshops; on all major online book sales platforms
- The other three short texts (points 1 and 2 for the 8 credits, and the one for the 9 credits) are PDF paper that will be made available by the lecturer in the first weeks of the course on the institutional Teams platform, in a channel dedicated to teaching for the CdS LM38. You can access this channel by asking the lecturer for admission: the request can be sent by email or via Teams, specifying your degree program (as there are different Teams channels for other degree programs).

Attending students will be equipped with the tools:
1) to understand the importance of History and historical knowledge
2) to form a mental perspective that helps them think more historically and critically, over the long term
3) to know the main methods, meanings, objectives of the historian's profession
4) approach the most relevant issues in contemporary history, from the age of revolutions at the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 21st century, exploring, among other things, the links between the historical acceleration of the last two centuries and the current situation that students are experiencing in these early years of the 21st century
5) to learn about and understand the global power structures of the contemporary age, changes in international contexts, and new geopolitical scenarios up to the present day

Course Language

Italian

More information

Class attendance is not compulsory.
The weekly reception will be used to clarify any doubts about the course.
For times and days of reception, please refer to the notices to be published.
Of course, the professor can be contacted on the institutional e-mail address: enzo.fimiani@unich.it
or on the Teams channel of the teaching course.
(expecting a reply within a reasonable timeframe and not immediately)