Courses 2022-2023

2022-2023

Courses offered at Unifi

FALL 2022

CORE COURSE: HISTORICAL CULTURES AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY (8 ECTS)

Modernity: birth and development of a historical concept (Prof. Rolando Minuti) - 2 ECTS

_{Topics: An outline of the history of concepts. The historiographical meaning of modernity and related concepts. European modernity and ‘other’ modernities in early modern age. Classical heritage and the development of a new idea of modernity in early modern culture. An outline of the approaches to historiography in the 18^th century. Varieties and tensions of the idea of modernity. European expansion, ethnographical approaches and the problems of cultural diversity.}

Rivers and human settlement in Medieval cities (Prof. Francesco Salvestrini) – 1 ECTS

_{Topics: Medieval and Modern use of rivers in European cities. Economy, culture, religion, society. Protection of cities from river floods in Medieval and Modern periods. European examples and the case of Florence (with visit to the Arno "pescaia" and mills).}

The Contemporary use of the Renaissance (Prof. Igor Melani) – 1 ECTS

_{Topics: World Expositions between 19th and 20th centuries. The project for a World Esposition (Rome 1942). Fascism and the use of national-culture identitarian rethoric; Urban Planning and Musealization; uses of Renaissance within European historiography; displaying Italian Renaissance: objects, people, meanings.}

Travelling and building identities in the Contemporary age (Prof. Francesca Tacchi-Dr. Lorenzo Venuti) – 2 ECTS

^Topics:

_{1) West VS the “non European world”: analysis of some European illustrated travel journals in the long 19th century (representations, travel accounts, role of images). Exercitations by the students and discussion.}

_{2) Experiences and accounts by Italian travellers in Eastern Europe during the Cold War (1950s and 1960s)}

Politics of memory in post-authoritarian systems (Prof. Stefano Bottoni) - 2 ECTS

_{Topics: the patterns of post-communist transition in Eastern Europe compared to post-1945 handling of Nazi and Fascist past; the process that led to the opening of the communist-time archives in Romania and the controversies over the past; forms and outcomes of the “lustration” projects in post-communist Russia and Eastern Europe; analysis of how several museums and public institutions have been representing the totalitarian past.}

ELECTIVE/MANDATORY COURSES (8 ECTS)

HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF MEMORY – 2 ECTS

Women in ancient Rome: Portraits from Public History (Prof. Ida Gilda Mastrorosa) – 1 ECTS

_{Topics: Overview on ancient Rome's political practices and protagonists and their representation through videos you-tube, in order to clarify how video-makers use ancient sources and specific communicative techniques to enhance the non-specialized public’s awareness of ancient history.}

History and memory of Italian Republic (Prof. Monica Galfré) – 1 ECTS

_{Topics: the economic miracle (“boom”) that transformed the Italian economy, politics, culture, and civil society from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s; 1968 as Global phenomenon; the age of political violence during the so-called “anni di piombo”; the legitimation crisis of the post-war democratic system in the 1980s, that led to the corruption scandals of the early 1990s and the subsequent emergence of Silvio Berlusconi’s populist power system.}

HISTORIES OF INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION – 3 ECTS

Labelling the Other: Between History and Memory (Prof. Giovanni Tarantino) – 1 ECTS

_{Topics: Public History and Emotion (Affective cartography; Emotional grammars of identity/alterity); Genealogies of racial and ethnic representations; historical spaces as historical media; (de)commemorations.}

Inclusions and exclusions: Representations and stereotypes (Prof. Valeria Galimi) – 1 ECTS

_{Topics: Gender and race representation in the French Algeria during the 1930s; the diffusion of visual stereotypes in popular culture (cartoons, caricatures); the construction of the “other” and the representation of visual and cultural stereotypes.}

Gender and citizenship (Prof. Monica Pacini) – 1 ECTS

_{Topics: Women’s representation in political and social decision making in Europe; International agreements, diversity of settings, party gender cultures and electoral laws, good practices. Analysis on gender gap and/or gender issues in some countries.}

VISUAL REPRESENTATION AND MEDIALIZATION OF HISTORY – 3 ECTS

Urban planning and international cooperation (Prof. Giovanna Potestà-Dr. Nipesh Palata Naranayan) – 2 ECTS

_{Topics: Understanding the Urban; difference between city and settlements; physical urban spaces and social rilevance of public space; different interpretations of cities in different contexts and historical periods (early settlements and ancient cities; Greek, Roman, Medieval cities; the metropolis of the 19th century; the Modernist city). Geography and international cooperation: the Global South and urban theory.}

Human rights: The Catholic perspective (Prof. Maria Paiano) – 1 ECTS

_{Topics: The Catholic Church in the face of the Declaration of human rights and of the "modern freedoms": intransigentism and liberal Catholicism; attempts of conciliation by the papal magisterium; Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903), the age of Totalitarianism, the Vatican II Council and evelopments in the post-conciliar era.}

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS (8 ECTS)

Internships:

Photography and Public History (Prof. Tiziana Serena) – 2 ECTS

_{Topics: The role of photo archives in the age of nationalism in Italy and abroad: shaping collective memories, identities and narratives; historical photographs and photo archives in the experiences of Public history. Guided tour: Alinari Archives of Photography (Florence) or/and other Photographic collections, included a stroll through Florence, in search of some sites photographed at the beginning of the XX century (available with a mobile APP), compared to the present.}

Cinema and history (Dr. Corin Deinhart) – 2 ECTS

_{Topics: The internship pairs theories in public history and visual studies with in-class discussions and experiential learning. Lessons and practicums are designed to guide students through their individual investigations of the various ways in which cinema, and visual studies in general, have the power to enrich historical writing and research. Assigned readings, audiovisual material, and writing exercises, help students prepare for and contribute to, in-class discussions, whilst encouraging them to think critically about how cinema and visual studies may be incorporated into their writing and research. A built-in, practical component of the module will simulate a professional “public history” environment wherein students will be asked to work collaboratively on a project that provides them with opportunities to: 1) Develop professional experience for their CV; 2) Work as a team to set goals and creatively apply individual skills in public history ;3) Gain experience in cultivating a "public" and designing a project that satisfies multiple stakeholders; 4) Synthesize and communicate what they have learned in Cinema and History and other HIPS-UniFi modules.}

Workshops:

Modern Art and History in Florence (Prof. Cristiano Giometti) – 2 ECTS

_{Topics: the birth of art exhibitions as a mass phenomenon in Europe in the second half of the 19th century, and the activity in Florence between the end of the 19th century and the WW2. The outcome represents a vivid cross-section of the foremost Florentine, and only latently Italian, local identity of a cultural center where exhibitions served as an instrument to promote a shared Italian cultural identity. Wokshop includes a visit to Palazzo Fenzi historical Palace (Sagas Department headquarter) , to Opera del Duomo Museum, and other Florentine museums (i.e. Museo S. Marco, Il Bargello, etc.).}

Contemporary Art and History (Prof. Giorgio Bacci) – 1 ECTS

_{Topics: the lessons will present a series of journeys into contemporary art analysing different artists who are far from each other geographically but who often share experiences and thematic confluences. Works are looked at starting with their historical and artistic placement; on one hand they are able to relate creatively to the art of the sixties and seventies and on the other they are capable of opening up to interdisciplinary inclusion without foregoing the essence of the medium employed. The students will travel, along with migrants and the artists, and cross walls (Fiamma Montezemolo, Rula Halawani), inhospitable landscapes (Richard Misrach and Guillermo Galindo’s borderscapes), misleading thresholds to another world that is denied (Mimmo Paladino, Giovanni de Gara, Shinpei Takeda), lines of troublesome borders (Shilpa Gupta, Reena Saini Kallat) and enter houses draped in fragile memories (Mona Hatoum, Do Ho Suh, Petrit Halilaj), discovering the difficulty of relating to an identity in transit (Adrian Paci, Sislej Xhafa), remembering past languages and learning new ones (Ilaria Turba, Parastou Forouhar, Alessandra Brown), to finally reach a landing that is really a new point for future departures.}

History and identity in Italian Opera in 19th century (Prof. Antonella D’Ovidio) – 1 ECTS

_{Topics: the relationships between opera and national identity: re-reading this topic from a transnational perspective. Focus on the melodramma repertory, in order to examine how opera and politics intertwined in 19th century Italy and how Italian opera was subsequently transposed into different cultural context. Relationships between Italian opera, politics and the concept of "national identity". Transnational history and opera studies. Guided visit to Historical Archive of Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.}

SPRING 2023

Courses, internships, workshops with * will be activated/enrolled on request

Elective courses

Archaeology in the conflict areas (Prof. Marina Pucci) - 6 ECTS_{(it's possible to choose less credits)}

_{Topics: The course provides a basic knowledge of Ancient Near Eastern archaeology (primarily for non-archaeologists) and aims to provide knowledge of archaeological practice, the aims of the discipline, and methods of enhancing archaeological heritage with particular reference to the relationship with local populations in countries of conflict.}

Urban geography * (Proff. Mirella Loda - Matteo Puttilli) - 12 ECTS _{(it's possibile to choose less credits)}

_{Topics: Urban theories and definitions; City as social and political space; Urban movements and the right to the city; Urban public space and the quality of life; Research methods in Urban studies.}

GIS for the analysis of environment and space * (Prof. Mario Tartaglia) - 6 ECTS _{(it's possible to choose less credits)}

_{Topics: Introduction to GIS. Data structures, data formats, and reference systems. Mapping with GIS: basics and principles of map design. Introduction to ArcGis suite, including ArcMap, ArcCatalog and ArcToolbox. Working with ArcGis: basics, tables management and editing, selection, using symbology, labels, and layouts.}

Environment and development * (Prof. Filippo Randelli) - 6 ECTS _{(it's possible to choose less credits)}

_{Topics: The aim is to provide students with tools to analyse – in an integrated manner – environmental aspects of economic, social and political development in developed and developing countries at both micro and macro levels. This course will enable students to analyse environmental issues and to cooperate in the planning and decision making process implied by the sustainable development objectives of private and public agents in developed and developing countries.}

Social and cultural geography * (Prof. Panaglotis Bourlessas) - 6 ECTS _{(it's possibile to choose less credits)}

_{Topics: The course offers an introduction to the discipline of Human Geography, attending particularly to the social and cultural dimensions. Bbringing to the fore the vital role that spaces and places play in the production and re-production of (our) lifeworlds, the course will provide its students with central concepts and tools in order to understand, analyse, deconstruct and reconstruct the complex spatial dynamics which societies and their cultures are produced through.}

Internships:

The memory of deportation and the refugees question * (Dr. Chiara Renzo) – 1 or 2 ECTS

^{Topics: 1) Guided visit to the Museum and Documentation Centre of deportation and Resistance (Prato), which collects witness accounts on deportation and on the people’s resistance to Nazism and Fascism; 2)}^{Guided visit of the State Archive of Florence and analysis of some primary sources on the civilian internment in Tuscany during WWII; 3) discussions/exercitations about Refugee crisis and humanitarianism in the first half of 1900 and after WWII, with a focus on the Jewish displaced persons (DPs).}

The Virtual Museum of Tuscan Archaeology * (Prof. Margherita Azzari) - 1 ECTS

_{Topics: In collaboration with the Laboratory Labgeo, and the Italian Geographical Library (Unifi). The internship, related to the Chimera project, entails the creation of a virtual museum concerning the Tuscan archaeology heritage in addition to exploring the artifacts. The students could create thematic pathways, either in a virtual mode or on site.}

Public Archaeology and the political use of the Archaeology * (ref. Prof. Michele Nucciotti) - 1 ECTS

_{Topics: In collaboration with the staff of the cooperative company Archaeological Laboratories San Gallo (Prehistoric Archaeology; Classical Archaeology and Etruscology; Archaeology and Epigraphy of the Nearest ancient East; Digital Bank on Aegean Subjects DBAS). Focuses: 1)}_{past and present definitions of archaeology and their actual-potential contribution to the improvement of cultural and economic living standards on behalf of present-day communities (focus on Etruscan complex); 2) the political use of the archaeology as a medium for community identity, beliefs and economics (how artefacts and sites have been instrumentalized in order to affirm ethnicity, religion, community identity).}

Workshops:

A walk around Florence * (Prof. Francesca Tacchi-Dr. Franca Orlandi Historical Archives of Florence City Hall)

_{Topics: Joint effort with the Historical Archive of Florence City Hall, the “memory of the city” hosted in the historic Bastogi Palace. With the help of the Archive staff, students will “experience” Florence by consulting documents, the two database (Archifirenze and Archidis), and Archiview, an "old" experience of public history (some on-line thematic paths relating to the Florentine “way of life”, ideated years ago for a wide audience, such as students and tourists).}

The memory of the Shoah * (Dr. Nura Abdelmohsen) – 1 ECTS

_{Topics: 1) Terminology (Holocaust, genocide, Shoah); 2) excesses, abuses and institutionalization of memory; the “trains of memory"; 2) The Auschwitz Museum (virtual tour); 3) Guided visit to The Auschwitz Memorial (Florence)}

Digital Humanities (prof. Lapo Somigli) - 6 ECTS _{(it's possible to choose less credits)}

_{Topics: In Italian; English knowledge is required. In addition to a theoretical approach, the workshop includes some exercises to acquire practical skills in the use of different softwares: 1) the definition of digital humanities; 2) advanced word processing for editing structured texts; 3) Tools for organizing and managing bibliographic references; 4) the use of databases; 5) Introduction to the use of GIS platforms; 6) Presentation of research data and scientific communication.}

Last update

11.02.2023