CULTURAL HISTORY

Academic year
2025/2026 Syllabus of previous years
Official course title
STORIA CULTURALE
Course code
FM0165 (AF:568432 AR:321671)
Teaching language
Italian
Modality
On campus classes
ECTS credits
6
Degree level
Master's Degree Programme (DM270)
Academic Discipline
M-STO/02
Period
2nd Semester
Where
VENEZIA
The discipline belongs to the core educational activities of different Master courses (e.g. History from the Middle Ages to Present; Philology; Archival and Library Science). The course intends to provide students with a methodological knowledge through the treatment of specific case-studies.
Focusing on a single topic, which changes every year, the course will allow students to understand how a culturalist approach might be useful to the historican's work.
Good knowledge of European History, with a particular focus on the early modern period. A profound knowledge of Italian is also required: I therefore recommend to study thoroughly a good grammar textbook; about the Italian punctuation system I recommend: B. Mortara Garavelli, Prontuario di punteggiatura, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2007.
Starting with the 1980s, a culturalist approach established itself as a valuable method to better understand historical events in their contexts. After a first introduction to the meaning and to the heuristic value of cultural history, the course intends to focus on the book censorship in the early modern period
To understand what cultural history is, we recommend the following text: F. Mazzini – C. Sorba, La svolta culturale. Come è cambiata la pratica storiografica (Rome-Bari: Laterza, 2021).
The students' competence will be verified through a written exam consisting of two questions: the former concerning the topics of the course, the latter about a monograph to be chosen between Sandro Landi, Stampa, censura e opinione pubblica in età moderna (Bologna: il Mulino, 2011) and Robert Darnton, Censors at Work. How States Shaped Literature (New York: Norton, 2014). The exams will take place during the exam sessions, as foreseen by the university calendar.
written
The evaluation will be based on the written exam. Evaluation grid: 18-22 basic knowledge; 23-25 fair knowledge; 26-28 good knowledge; 29-30 excellent knowledge
The course will consist of lectures and seminars.
Definitive programme.
Last update of the programme: 17/07/2025