WORLD CULTURAL HERITAGE: VENICE AND BEYOND

Academic year
2025/2026 Syllabus of previous years
Official course title
WORLD CULTURAL HERITAGE: VENICE AND BEYOND
Course code
ECC085 (AF:632602 AR:355815)
Modality
ECTS credits
6
Degree level
Corso Ordinario Secondo Livello
Academic Discipline
L-ANT/03
Period
1st Semester
Course year
1
Where
VENEZIA
Moodle
Go to Moodle page
Collegio Internazionale - Corso Ordinario di II Livello
By the end of this course, students will be able to:

Critical Analysis: Analyze a public monument as an expression of specific ideologies, historical narratives, and power structures.

Historical Contextualization: Contextualize monuments and symbols within the historical period and political context in which they were erected or altered.

Deconstruction of Memory: Understand and deconstruct the models of memory implied by monuments, distinguishing between official memory and alternative or hidden memories.

Ethical Evaluation: Evaluate the ethical challenges and issues of cultural ownership related to monuments, especially in cases of theft, expropriation, or reappropriation.

Spatial Analysis: Apply concepts learned in the classroom to the direct analysis of monuments and public spaces, recognizing the dialogue between the artwork and the surrounding urban environment.

Participation in Public Discourse: Develop an awareness of the role of historians, artists, and citizens in the public debate about the fate of monuments.
curiosity for the topic, readiness to engage with reading material & debate in class
The title of this class is: Challenging Monuments: Public Space, Memory, and Contested Heritage in Venice and Beyond

This course examines the role of monuments in shaping collective memory and civic identity. We will explore how these symbols represent power structures and historical narratives, and how they become sites of conflict and protest. Using theoretical frameworks on memory, representation, and public history, we will analyze how diverse communities challenge dominant narratives through the reinterpretation, recontextualization, or removal of monuments.

The first part of the course will address key theoretical questions:

- What roles do public monuments have from a socio-cultural point of view? How important are their aesthetic and decorative aspects?
- What histories do these public symbols represent, what histories do they obscure, and what models of memory do they imply?
- How do they do this work, and how might they do it differently?
- What social and political forces are at play in their erection or dismantling?
- Who else can have a role in seeking a new intersection of theory and praxis in the social struggles around such monuments and markers?

In the second part, we will move out of the classroom and analyze specific case studies in the historical center of Venice on site. We will investigate the history of St. Mark's Bronze Lion, The Tetrarchs, and The Horses of St. Mark's, considering how these monuments were acquired and what narratives they were meant to project. We will also analyze the Equestrian Statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni and the Monument to the Partisan Woman to understand how different eras have commemorated heroes and sacrifice.
Michael J. Kolb. 2020. Making Sense of Monuments: Narratives of Time, Movement, and Scale. Routledge: London.
Andrew M. Shanken. 2022. The Everyday Life of Memorials. Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ.
1) Written test at the end of the first part
2) Final essay
written
Scores in the 18-22 range will be given in the presence of:

Sufficient knowledge and applied understanding related to the syllabus;
Limited ability to gather and/or interpret data, forming independent judgments;
Sufficient communication skills, particularly in relation to the use of specific and appropriate terminology;

Scores in the 23-26 range will be given in the presence of:

Fair knowledge and applied understanding related to the syllabus;
Fair ability to gather and/or interpret data, forming independent judgments;
Fair communication skills, particularly in relation to the use of specific terminology;

Scores in the 27-30 range will be given in the presence of:

Good to excellent knowledge and applied understanding related to the syllabus;
Suitable to excellent ability to gather and/or interpret data, forming independent judgments;
Wholly appropriate communication skills, particularly in relation to the use of specific and appropriate terminology and language;

Honors will be awarded in the presence of excellent knowledge and applied understanding related to the syllabus, judgment capability, and communication skills.
Directed Reading
Fieldwork

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development

Definitive programme.
Last update of the programme: 14/09/2025