CULTURAL HISTORY

Academic year
2026/2027 Syllabus of previous years
Official course title
STORIA CULTURALE
Course code
FM0165 (AF:752224 AR:440900)
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 concept of Enlightenment and to examine some founding texts to this intellectual movement.
The reference books for the exam are the following ones:

- notes on the lectures or, as a replacement for the notes, a text that the teacher will indicate

- the texts uploaded on moodle
The students' competence will be verified through a written exam consisting of two questions: the former concerning the topics of the course or the contents of a book indicated by the teacher; the latter about one of the texts uploaded on moodle. The exams will take place during the exam sessions, as foreseen by the university calendar.
written

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

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.
This programme is provisional and there could still be changes in its contents.
Last update of the programme: 08/04/2026