History

This course provides a long chronological overview of the archaeology of this island archipelago, from its earliest inhabitation to the great changes of the modern era. It explores this through the artefacts, landscapes, and buildings which help us understand different ways of life in the past, as well as the range of ideas and topics which archaeologists are interested in: social identity and conflict, creativity, technology, and ideology. 

This course is part of the LM degree program and is intended for advanced students. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course examines the various fields of Etruscan civilization and of the pre-Roman Italian world; explores how to use the critical tools for a correct reading of archaeological documentation integrating it with historical and epigraphic documentation; and examines the depth of the territory, also through visits to the main museums and archaeological areas of the region, which enables students to acquire a complete and conscious approach to the discipline.

This course surveys the major patterns and themes of Chinese migrations since 1400. From merchants under the tributary trade system, to indentured and free labour in the industrialising age, as well as the making of new citizens in multi-culturalist nation-states, students examine the social experience of long-distance migration through regional and global processes of political-economic change. In addition to academic texts, students read official documents, family letters, memoirs, and novels to address enduring questions in the history of human migration – why do people leave their homes, and what remains when they adapt to their lands of adoption?

This course offers an introduction to the theories and methods of history as a field of knowledge. Our general area of enquiry for this course is international history in the 20th century. Students take up independent research projects related to some aspect of this field. The course begins with an analysis of history as a discipline by exploring how historians operate; the assumptions they work from; their methods and sources; as well as their disagreements. The questions considered in this section include: what distinguishes history from the social sciences; historical sources, methods, organization, and framing; the assumptions historians make their ability to infer causation; and how the recent rise of transnational and global history challenges (and complements) more traditional approaches to international history.

Then methodology, and particularly to the use of archival sources are reviewed. Students learn to identify sources and work with archival catalogues and hone their skills of analysis. The questions considered in this section include: methods use to collect and interpret different forms of historical evidence? what can our sources tell us about historical causation? how do we incorporate different types of sources, such as oral history and memoirs, into our analysis? how do we critically evaluate our sources, and interpret silences and omissions? how do we avoid drowning in the seas of evidence that can spill out from the archive?

Throughout the course, students pursue an independent research project on a chosen subject within the field of international history which reflects the process of devising and executing a piece of historical research. Students select a topic, devise a research question, assess historiographical literature, identify and select relevant sources, dig into the sources, managing notes, and put their analysis to paper.