History

This course studies the history of Britain from the mid-19th century through to 1945, with a focus on broadly defined political history. The course considers the impact of ideological, sexual, demographic, social, cultural, and economic change on the political process and policy-making in Britain. Students examine more conventional issues such as constitutional reform and party politics. Students also focus on aspects of social and economic history as well as some intellectual and cultural history. This option comprises the spring term of the yearlong course Politics & Society in Modern Britain, 1780-1945.

Published in 1845, Friedrich Engels’s book DIE LAGE DER ARBEITENDEN KLASSE IN ENGLAND (THE CONDITION OF THE WORKING CLASS IN ENGLAND) describes how industrialization affected the lives of working people, based in part on his encounters with them at a Manchester cotton mill. Regarding industrial labor as both a consequence of an ongoing class struggle and the sparkplug for the revolution that would end it one day, Engels told a story of industrial work as a catalyst for political change that was going to happen the world over, one nation at a time. Fast forward a good hundred and fifty years, and the perspective on work and labor shifted. Industrial wage labor has moved in large parts to the Global South and is less clearly distinguishable from unfree labor. Unemployment has arisen as a major issue in wealthy countries. New forms of work have attracted scholarly attention, from domestic, reproductive, and service labor (partly unpaid and often done by women) to creative work, where self-realization is considered as much a reward as financial compensation. Fairness of pay and conditions is still an important concern, but it has become more difficult to mobilize for it, as dwindling union membership and the decline of Labor parties indicate. The course discusses topics including major trends and issues in the history of work and labor in the West since the mid-nineteenth century, and historiographical arguments.

The course examines the development of international relations in East Asia from the Opium War to the Korean War. It discusses major international events, such as conflicts, treaties, and alliances, and examines the interplay between domestic and foreign affairs, the spread of political ideologies, and the rise of nationalism and racial/ethnic identities.

This course provides a partially integrated history of science and philosophy of science. Proceeding chronologically, through three different time periods, the course describes the actual practice of science and philosophical debates about what counts as science. Students relate both to each other and argue that both should be understood in the broader historical context of the time.  Three specific themes are considered for each of the three successive periods: the invention and rejection of tradition: 1200-1700; the individual and society: 1700-1850; and dealing with uncertainty: 1850-today.

The course reviews the shaping of Swedish industrial culture and society from 1800 to 2000. The topics addressed include the transformation of the agricultural production system and the development of an infrastructure for transport, communications, and power transmission. The significance of technical change for the transformation of Sweden from a poor country to an industrialized and democratic society with a well-developed welfare state, Sweden's military-industrial complex, and the concept of the Swedish model are analyzed in the course.

This course is part of the LM degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by consent of the instructor. The course is graded on a P/NP basis. The course introduces students to the Italian literary culture of the 16th and 20th century. It provides a wide historical background on the issue, together with the basic tools for reading, analyzing, and contextualizing Italian works of the Renaissance, and the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Course topics vary each term. For the most up to date version of the course topics, access the University of Bologna Online Course Catalog. The fall 2023 lectures are organized in four modules, and focus on a diverse range of literary topics. Module one focuses on women, female characters, and gender between Renaissance and post-unification Italy. Module two focuses on Women’s Education in Early Modern Italy: Theory and Actuality. Module three is on Women and society in the Italian peninsula (c. XIX). Module four introduces topic Of Ladies, of Passions and of Wars: Representation of Women in the Italian Resistance.

In this course, students engage critically with key historical, cultural, and conceptual developments in Persian history and civilization. They study the texts (in translation) and aspects of the material culture of Iran in order to analyze the methodologies of specific writers, historians, historiographers, artists, patrons, or audiences who crafted various cultural signifiers. In the process students are encouraged to situate those developments within their specific historical and cultural contexts. In this way, students gain an understanding of how Persia developed, both as a nation and as a concept. This course develop students' analytical skills and their ability to read historical texts and literary texts, together with visual images. The course also brings students an awareness of how Iran influenced, and was influenced by, other societies, and identify the changing role the country has played on the international scene.