Italy

This course is an introduction to the history of Africa South of the Sahara from the 19th century to the 1990s. To balance historical breadth with depth, the course analyzes some selected case-studies to highlight major historical trends and see their effects on the local level. The first lectures are an introduction to the history of the continent. The course discusses the idea of “Africa without history,” the evolution of the historical studies on Africa and the sources that Africanists have at their disposal. The course then analyzes the slave trades - local, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean- and highlights their economic, social, and political effects on the African societies involved. The course continues with the origins of imperialism, to see how Western scientific and technological discoveries, the European political and economic situation, the 19th-century racism as well as the work of missionaries and explorers, put the basis for the scramble for Africa. The course then sees the reactions of African societies to the colonial occupation and analyzes the different forms of colonialism. Particular attention is given to the early developments of African nationalism. The course investigates the participation of Africa in WWI and WWII and the development of international movements, especially panafricanism and négritude. The course then considers the most important phases of the decolonization process, from the independence of Ghana in 1957 to the end of apartheid in South Africa in 1994. The last part of the course focuses on specific case-studies to provide examples of the political and economic choices of the leaders of post-independence Africa. The course discusses some of the most prominent political leaders, such as Julius Nyerere, Thomas Sankara, Patrice Lumumba, Amilcar Cabral, and Nelson Mandela, and their writings. The course investigates the impact of colonialism on independent African countries and analyzes the relationship between history, nationalism, and the formation of the post-colonial state.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by permission of the instructor. The course offers a general view of the history of Medieval and Renaissance art. Students learn to develop a general vision of the history of Medieval and Renaissance art. On one hand, students learn how to use the skills necessary to become familiar with the artistic production of the period, and on the other, they learn to analyze some of the main works of the history of Medieval and Renaissance art using specific methodologies, and relate these to one another appropriately. Classes are divided into three sections. The first section introduces students to medieval and renaissance history and to the different approaches to a work of art (style, techniques, iconography, etc.), and discusses the most important methodological issues about them. The second section offers, in chronological order, the main lines of Italian artistic history between the beginning of Middle Age and early XVI century: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Barbaric Art, the medieval revivals (Carolingian and Ottonian), Romanesque Art, Gothic Art, the Early Renaissance, and the High Renaissance. The third section focuses on a specific topic, which varies each year. The fall 2023 topic is "Luca Signorelli and the young Michelangelo: two great artists between the 15th and 16th c."

This course is part of the LM degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by consent of the instructor. This course discusses specificities that characterize contemporary Italian history and in particular of the social, political, economic transformations, in addition to those related to the mentality and customs, of Italy in the twentieth century. The course examines the methodological competences necessary for reaching an adequate level of critical and interpretative awareness in the field of contemporary Italian history.

This course introduces modern Turkish literature, by addressing its origination, formation, and impact on the cultural milieu. It focuses on the making and predicament of modernity, its innate contradictions, and the implications of nostalgia, anxiety of influence, and globalism. It studies Turkish authors (particularly novelists), as caught between a past that was read, misread, or misunderstood, and a present that has a large body of challenge, attraction, and difference. They fathom the cultural underpinnings of the Ottoman past and non-western legacies while negotiating a western legacy of many facets. The course reads criticism in line with novelistic production, the role of the novelist as public intellectual (terms and applications are defined and set in ethnic, national, social, and cultural terms and contexts).

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program in History and Oriental Studies. The course is intended for advanced levels students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course focuses on neoliberal political economy and its social impacts on local contexts. Emphasis is placed on a critical approach to the aid industry as a key issue for understanding global governance processes. Students create a research project and bibliography autonomously on a topic related to the course. Since the end of the cold war and the triumph of a neoliberal order, Africa has faced a huge number of conflicts and devastating social effects. Starting with the analysis of selected ethnographic cases (Congo, Somalia, Liberia, Sierra Leon, etc.), the first part of the course explores the etiology of contemporary African wars focusing on the link between local violence and global economic and political processes. Special attention is placed on the relationship between youth and war and the social imaginary. The course explores topics including neoliberalism and inequality, the African State, globalization in Africa, African conflicts, war economy, young people and children in Africa, witchcraft in contemporary Africa, and development enterprise. The course includes traditional lectures and group discussions. The instructor focuses on the general topics in order to introduce the various scholarly debates. Specific examples are discussed in order to give a concrete idea of the different topics. Students are encouraged to work autonomously, comment, and ask questions. The course includes visual resources (i.e. documentaries, maps and photos).

This is an advanced level course for studio art students who already have experience in drawing techniques. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course is held at the Accademia di Belle Arti during the first and second semesters: 160A for fall and 160B for spring. Students are required to attend the theoretical part and the studio laboratory, and to complete individual projects. The course teaches students to perceive the human form through a structural view in order to grasp and identify the structural and plastic components and to reach an interpretation of the form in both analysis and synthesis.

The course focuses on Modern British Literature, and in particular the relationship between literary texts and their historical, linguistic, and artistic context. Special attention is placed on the critical methodologies useful for interpreting and analyzing literary texts. Students are expected to be able to elaborate complex analyses and formulate independent reflections on specific research topics. The topics vary each term, access the University of Bologna Course Catalog for the current topic.