Course module - Making Italy and Making Italians, 1815-1915
Code : ITAL20301 (IT2301) Credit rating: 20 Semester : 1
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Aims |
Objectives |
Assessment |
Information
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Course Content |
Course Materials |
Tutors |
Timetable |
Teaching Methods |
Keywords
Aims
Upon successful completion of this course students will have developed:
- a sense of the chronology of developments in the Italian peninsula during the period 1815-1915;
- a knowledge and understanding of the main forces shaping Italian history in this period;
- an understanding of some of the key theories of nationalism and nationhood as applied to Italy;
- an awareness of historiographical debates regarding Italy during this period;
- an awareness of Italian social and economic history as well as political history;
- an understanding of the way that the Italian Risorgimento and Italy during this period have been represented.
Employability: see 'Transferable Skills'.
Objectives (Learning Outcomes)
Transferable Skills:
- the ability to manage time and work to deadlines;
- the ability to undertake independent learning and reflect on one’s achievements;
- the ability to develop powers of analysis and use them to solve problems;
- the ability to participate in collaborative work;
- the ability to assess the relevance and importance of the ideas of others;
- the ability to present information, ideas and arguments orally with due regard to the target audience;
- good literacy skills in English and Italian;
- an awareness of and responsiveness to the nature and extent of cultural diversity.
Assessment
A 1500-word book review, to be submitted in Week 7 (subject to discussion with other course convenors) (25% of the course mark).
20-minute presentations by groups of 4/5 students, including Powerpoint presentation and handout, to be timetabled from Week 5 onwards (25%: students in the same group will all receive the same mark, other than in exceptional circumstances; the tutor-assessed mark will be informed by peer assessment).
A 3000-word essay, to be submitted in Week 12 (50%).
Nature and timing of feedback
Initial feedback, either global or individual, will normally be provided within fifteen working days of completion of assignments.
Written feedback will be provided on all formally-assessed work.
Feedback on group presentations will be provided for the group as a whole (a) orally in class immediately following the group presentation, and (b) in writing subsequent to the delivery of the final group presentation. Anonymised peer feedback will be incorporated in the written feedback
Face-to-face discussion will be available regarding assignments after the anonymised marking has been concluded.
Information
Pre-requisite: For students outside the Italian Studies programme a reading knowledge of Italian is required, and the agreement of the course tutor.
Pathway: ITAL30402 Fascist Italy (Level 3 course)
Maximum entry: none
Course Content
This course examines the events, personalities, and symbols of the Risorgimento era, the struggle for Italian independence and unification which culminated in the declaration of the new Kingdom of Italy in 1861, and the subsequent period, up to Italy’s entry into the First World War, when the realities of ‘making Italians’ had to be confronted. It covers the cultural and political movements towards Italian independence in the Restoration period that followed Napoleon’s interventions in Italy, the revolutions of 1848-49, the wars of independence, and the problems with creating a united state/nation after political unification. While the focus is principally on political history, including the intellectual and cultural trends that provided the context for political developments, the course also looks at social and economic history. In addition, it examines the way that the Risorgimento has been portrayed and commemorated, and thus its meaning for later generations.
Course Materials
Tutor(s)
TBC
Timetable
Tuesday 11 - 1 pm and Wednesday at 11 am.
Teaching Methods
Contact hours
One introductory one-hour session; eleven one-hour weekly lectures; ten one-hour weekly seminars; ten hours of essay-planning consultation sessions, with bookable individual time, to be provided either (1) on a one-hour-per-week basis or (2) in larger blocks in weeks 8, 9, and 10, as required by the School and/or as requested by students.
Other scheduled teaching and learning activities
Group tutorials prior to assessed presentations (one per group); film screenings with introduction/discussion.
In addition, the course tutor will be available on a drop-in basis in twice-weekly ‘office hours’ sessions.
The course will be taught in English, but will include reference to texts in Italian. Some books on the course reading list are in Italian, and some films shown may be in Italian with Italian subtitles only; however, the course is suitable for students who were Italian beginners in their first year.
eLearning: the Blackboard virtual learning environment will be used for communication, course resources, links to the John Ryland University Library, and links to external sources and resources.
Preliminary reading
Recommended texts
-Banti, Alberto, Il Risorgimento italiano (Rome-Bari: Laterza, 2004)
-Beales, Derek, and Eugenio F. Biagini, The Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy, 2nd edn (Harlow: Longman, 2002)
-Davis, John A., ed., Italy in the Nineteenth Century (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)
-Duggan, Christopher, The Force of Destiny: A History of Italy since 1796 (London: Penguin, 2007)