Luca Pes, VIU

Description
The course is an introduction to Italian modern politics, society and culture, in a historical and comparative perspective. Students will be provided with a basic knowledge of the main events and issues relating to the period 1796-2003, from Napoleon to Berlusconi, i.e. from the process of Nation-Building to the Present.

Topics may include: geographic diversity and Historical processes (mountains, countryside and cities – ideas of “Nature” in Italy – cities as organizing principles of Italian life - North/South divide); the Catholic Church and education of sentiments (the relationship between Mother and Son – Protestant versus Catholic Societies – the Catholic Church and the late formation of a Modern State in Italy); the Risorgimento (Italy as the "Land of Art and Beauty" – the idea of "Italy" throughout the Centuries – the role of Literature in the process of Unification); building the Nation-State, 1860-1914 (Parliamentary Monarchy – Liberals, Socialists and Catholics – State and Church relations –the debate on the creation of a national Language); The Southern Question, Emigration and Industrial take-off, 1860-1914 (the "Civil War" in the South - the origins of the Mafia - Italy as a second comer: economy and ideology); First World War, the origins and development of Fascism, 1914-1929 (interventionism and neutralism – D’Annunzio and Fiume – how does a dictatorship rise to power?); Structures and Policies of the "Totalitarian State", 1929-1940 (Italy compared to Germany and Spain – Cultural policies of the Regime – the role of Women under Fascism); Second World War, 1940-1945 (Italo-German Relations – Italian Racialism and anti-Semitism – the Resistance – the War in Italian Literature and Collective Memory); the Italian Republic and the Cold War, 1945-1994 (Communists and Christian Democrats – 1968 and after – Political Terrorism - Craxi); the Great Transformation, since 1958 (Economic Miracle – Industrial Districts – changes in Society and the Physical Landscape); Recent Trends, since 1994 (further changes in economy and society – Politicians on trial - European Union - debate on Constitutional Reform – Northern Secessionism - Berlusconi).

The course will be structured in twenty-four sessions of 1.5 hours, consisting of interactive lectures and discussions, plus a final session during Exam Week. Use of audio-visual material will be made: slides, transparencies and songs. Movies shown every Wednesday evening - selected by Prof. Pes - will contribute to the understandig of Italian culture and History.

Students are expected to read the proposed texts before class, make an oral presentation based on at least two articles, take part in class discussions and submit a final written paper of no less than ten pages with notes and bibliographical references. The topics of the papers will be chosen by the students themselves, in consultation with the Professor. After Half Term, the Professor will assist students in writing the final research paper, doing periodic individual revisions.

Course Outline
Unit 1 Week One. Two interactive lectures: (1) introduction to the course; (2) time-line 1796-2003.
Unit 2 Week Two to Six. Ten interactive lectures building, in more details, the narrative of Italian History: (3-4) Risorgimento 1796-1860; (5-6) Liberal Italy 1861-1922; (7-8) Fascist Regime 1922-1945; (9-10) The Republic 1945-1994; (11-12) Recent Trends 1994-2003. In these five weeks students are expected to do set readings and participate in class, raising issues, asking questions and contributing to discussion. Professor will be available after-class to help define topics of short oral presentations.
Unit 3 Week Seven to Twelve. Six interactive lectures and six classes where students do their oral presentations. Themes in Italian History: (13-14) religion, (15-16) geography, (17-18) arts and culture, (19-20) economy, (21-22) society, (23-24) politics. After-class definition and periodic revision of final research papers.
Unit 4 Exam Week. One session devoted to the presentation and collective discussion of final research papers.

Evaluation
50% active participation in class and short oral paper presentation;
50% final research paper to be submitted at the end of the Term;
A bonus will be given for a positive performance in the presentation and discussion of final research papers during Exam Week.

Readings
A course pack is available, containing the texts to be discussed in class. The pack includes a bibliography, a chronology and articles by John Davis, Adrian Lyttelton, Paul Corner, Gianfranco Pasquino, Percy Allum and Perry Anderson.

Best general book
- Holmes George (ed.), The Illustrated Oxford History of Italy, Oxford University Press, Oxford-New York 1997

Suggested readings on specific periods
- Davis John (ed.), Italy in the Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press, Oxford-New York 2000
- Lyttelton Adrian (ed.), Liberal and Fascist Italy, 1900-1945, Oxford University Press, Oxford-New York 2002
- McCarthy Patrick (ed.), Italy since 1945, Oxford University Press, Oxford-New York 2000

Suggested readings on specific issues
- Aga Rossi Elena, A Nation Collapses. The Italian Surrender of September 1943, 1999
- Ben-Ghiat Ruth, Fascist Modernities: Italy, 1922-1945, University of California Press, London-Berkeley 2001
- Bull Anna and Corner Paul (ed.), From Peasant to Entrepreneurs. The Survival of the Family Economy in Italy, Berg, Oxford 1993
- Dal Lago Enrico and Halpern Rick (ed.), The American South and the Italian Mezzogiorno: Essays in Comparative History, MacMillan, London 2002
- Ginsborg Paul, Italy and Its Discontents: Family, Civil Society, State, Macmillan, London 2003
- Kertzer David I., The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, Vintage Books, New York 1998

Suggested fiction
- Calvino Italo, Italian Folktails, Paperback, 1992
- Collodi Carlo, The Adventures of Pinocchio. The Story of a Puppet, University of California Press, 1992
- Guareschi Giovanni, The Little World of Don Camillo, The Reprint Society, London, 1953
- Morante Elsa, History, Steeforth Press, 2000
- Silone Ignazio, Fontamara, Saint Martin's Press, 1988

Biography
B.Sc. in History and Government (LSE), Laurea in History (Ca’ Foscari), Ph.D. in Italian Studies (Reading). Professore a contratto of Contemporary History and History of the City at the Faculty of Regional Planning of IUAV. Assistant dean at VIU, where he teaches Italian Contemporary History since 1997. Has been Research Fellow (assegnista) at the Department of Historical Studies of Ca’ Foscari and Visiting Lecturer at Duke. Published mostly on Venetian XIXth-XXth Century History (e.g. Le classi popolari, Il fascismo adriatico and Gli ultimi quarant’anni in Storia di Venezia. L’Ottocento e il Novecento, edited by Mario Isnenghi and Stuart Woolf, Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana, Roma 2002) and on issues related to Local and Urban History (e.g. Descrivere il territorio: il punto di vista storico, in “I viaggi di Erodoto”, a.XII, n.34 January-April 1998). Edited Il sistema maggioritario italiano (1860-1918). Collegi e deputati nel Veneto liberale, Cierre, Verona 1992 and with Piero Brunello Identici a chi? Contro l’Assessorato alle politiche per la cultura e l’identità veneta, “Quaderno dell’Osservatorio veneto”, n.4, 2002 . He is also author of Lewis Mumford. The City in History, printed in Riletture di classici dell’urbanistica, edited by Paola Di Biagi, Donzelli editore, Roma 2002.