GLOBAL HISTORY

Based on the Dublin Descriptors, students should achieve the following outcomes at the end of the course:

1. Knowledge and understanding: the ability to understand and understand the global issues and problems of contemporary times; to place the main political, economic, social, and cultural processes in their context, identifying key actors and dynamics at the international and transnational levels; to grasp the continuities and fractures that characterize global events between the 20th and 21st centuries;

2. Applied knowledge and understanding: the ability to use the acquired skills to critically interpret current events and reconstruct their historical roots, especially through the appreciation of non-Western contexts and events that cut across contemporary times (migration, civil wars, genocides, volunteer armed forces, nationalisms, imperialisms, struggles for rights and emancipation, political and social movements, cultural and artistic trends);

3. Independent judgment: the ability to develop critical thinking about global history and its protagonists;

4. Communication skills: ability to participate in public debate on pressing current issues and their historical origins, critically reconstructing their evolution, different interpretations, events, and global players;

5. Learning skills: ability to pursue learning independently (including through the identification of texts and primary sources); ability to develop research projects on the global history of contemporary times, identifying key players and events.

Lectures and workshops

Knowledge of the main events of contemporary history between the 19th and 21st centuries.

For those who feel they lack sufficient background knowledge to address the topics of this discipline, we recommend accessing the online courses on International History between the 19th and 21st Centuries, available at the following link:

https://lifelong-learning.ox.ac.uk/search#/courses?s=&areas=History%252C%20including%20local%20and%20social&format=3,6&sort=availability

Highly recommended.

For the purposes of project preparation and ongoing assessments, students who have achieved at least 70% attendance at the end of the course are considered attending.

The course will provide students with the tools and the coordinates to reconstruct the historical roots of contemporary reality, through a comparative perspective and thanks
to Global history approach. Because of the integrated look at the processes of transformation on an international and transnational scale, this discipline is able to offer a multifaceted and complex portrait of the world in transition.
The course will be organized into three parts:
1. The first part will have an introductory and methodological nature. Students will be guided to discover methods, contents and approach of the Global history, as well as its
development and main areas of application. What does Global history represent today? What is the difference between this discipline and the other historiographical approaches? What can the discipline offer scholars, and especially students of global politics and international relations? Where and how is this discipline practiced, and with what results? These are the questions that
the course will answer, through the analysis of some salient aspects of the discipline. In particular, the lessons will focus on the following topics:
- World history, Global history and the history of globalization;
- The lexicon of Global history;
- Space in Global history;
- Time in Global history;
- Global history: approaches, theories and paradigms;
- Development of the discipline since the 1990s;
- Disputes and critical issues;
- Fields and themes of Global history:

2. The second part of the course will analyze the complex forces and the processes that drove global change between the 19th and 21th centuries. Students will analyze the
construction of nation states and empires in comparative perspective, as well as the migratory phenomena, the history of social and political movements, the relationships between human beings and nature and gender relations. Why are some Countries rich and others poor? What is meant by ‘Great divergence’? What factors allowed Europe first – and then North America – to make the great leap towards industrialization and social development? For what reasons do these decades see the emergence of Countries (such as India, China, BRICS) that are reshaping the world geography of wealth? Does the map of economic development coincide with that of political, social and cultural development? What trajectories has the affirmation of human rights followed? What obstacles have they encountered? To what extent have the contaminations between different geographical areas (migrations, network) influenced the scientific and cultural climate? The course will answer these questions by adopting a global reading perspective. The lessons will focus on the following themes:

- The emergence of the West and the extension of the industrialization process;
- Imperial sistem and nation-states;
- The change in international hegemony between the 19th and 21th centuries;
- Late development: the case of Russia and Japan;
- Expansion, Crisis and Renewal: the British Empire in the perspective of Global history;
- The affirmation of the “Asian tigers” and the emergence of China;
- Networks and Migrations;
- Citizenship, Rights, Gender;
- Nature, Environment, Resources;
- Sciences, Religion, Arts.
With reference to this part of the course, students will use course lecture notes provided by the professor, with a collection of essays and chapters taken from the most important contributions relating to Global history.

3. The third part of the course includes the more active participation of students. Thanks to the theoretical and methodological tools previously acquired, students will be guided
in the preparation of a research (individually, or in working groups) concerning one of the topics covered during the course. The presentation of the research will be an integral part of the final evaluation, and and it will be accompanied by an oral exam on the other parts of the program

1. Sebastian Conrad, What is Global History?, Princeton University Press
2. Course notes by teacher available on Studium

For those attending the course, knowledge will be assessed through exercises, tests, and workshops during class. At the end of the course, students will be asked to develop a research project (written and individually or in groups), the presentation of which will be an integral part of the final assessment. The instructor will provide in-depth materials for the project and ongoing methodological support during its development. An oral exam will assess the student's knowledge and mastery of the topics covered in class. This exam is a key part of the final assessment and a prerequisite for passing the exam.

Non-attending students will present the full syllabus during the final oral exam.Grading will follow the following scheme:

0-17 - Failed

Significant deficiencies and significant inaccuracies in knowledge and understanding of the topics covered.

Insufficient analytical and synthesis skills.

Frequent generalizations.

Inappropriate use of references.

18-20 - Pass/Sufficient

Impairments in knowledge and understanding of the topics covered, which settle at a barely adequate level.

Analytical and synthesis skills not sufficiently refined.

Barely appropriate use of references.

21-23 - Fair/Discrete

Slightly more than adequate knowledge of the topics covered.

Coherent arguments, although not particularly original.

Appropriate use of references, at the standard level.

24-26 - Good 

Good knowledge and understanding of the topics covered.

Good analytical and synthesis skills.

Coherent presentation of the topics.

Appropriate use of references, at the standard level.

27-30 - Very Good/Excellent

More than good knowledge of the topics covered.

Remarkable analytical and synthesis skills.

Use of references beyond the standard, through in-depth study of the topics.

30 e lode - Distinction 

Excellent knowledge and understanding of the topics covered.

Remarkable analytical and synthesis skills.

Use of references well beyond the standard, through significant in-depth study.

In Italy, grades for individual courses range from 18 (minimum pass) to 30 (maximum). The highest grade may be awarded with “lode” (cum laude, distinction) for outstanding performance. The scale is not directly convertible to percentages or GPA, but it is roughly comparable to “sufficient–excellent” ranges used internationally

Fields of application of Global History

Imperialism and Colonialism

The White Man's burden and the Eurocentric perspective

World conflicts and global geopolitics

The Rise of Totalitarianisms: A Comparison

The Cold War on a global scale

Years of crisis: 1970-1990

The rise of the Asian tigers