History

Much of insular history is determined by connections forged across the seas. This course explores significant times and places in insular history where this dynamic played an especially important role. Beginning with an introduction to Ireland and Britain at the close of the Late Antique period, the course covers themes such as the dynamics of slave trade in relation to St Patrick and Ogham culture, the origin of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the dynastic politics of Dal Riata and Iona, the cultural exchanges between Ireland and the English kingdoms in terms of book learning, the Easter controversy in the context of relations with Rome, and the significance of sea journeys in secular and ecclesiastical law and literature. The second half of the course explores interactions, both political and scholarly, with the Merovingian and Carolingian courts and with the Germanic kingdoms as well as the arrival of the Vikings and their impact on trade, literature, kingship and the geography of Ireland and Britain. The course explores each of these themes at the hand of primary sources contextualized with modern scholarship, allowing students to explore questions of historicity, genre, and source analysis.

This course introduces students to the study of the archaeology and history of ancient Egypt from the start of the 1st Dynasty at c. 3000 BC, and through the two Pyramid Ages of the Old and Middle Kingdoms, ending at c. 1650 BC. The course focuses on providing a basic solid grounding on the chronology, geography, society, and political organization of Egypt during this period. It furthermore looks to aspects of religion, daily life, and provide some insights into art and literature, particularly pertinent for the Middle Kingdom, the classic period of Egyptian literature.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. In this course, students acquire necessary knowledge to read and critically interpret architecture between the fourteenth and sixteenth Centuries as well as the methodological tools to understand the territory, the city, and its major buildings. In addition, the course deals with a number of theoretical and practical issues of Renaissance architecture that are still alive nowadays.

The course provides a historical overview of the major figures of Italian Renaissance architecture from 1400 to 1600—Brunelleschi, Alberti, Bramante, Raphael, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Michelangelo, Peruzzi, Giulio Romano, Sanmicheli, Sansovino, Palladio as well as an outlook on a selection of European Renaissance architects. They are analyzed within the cities or countries they operated and will be compared with the cultural, social, and political local context. The second part of the course is an overview on a selection of European courts and on the role of humanistic architecture at the dawn of colonialism. Issues such as local antiquities, revival and survival, rules and license, theory of architecture, drawings and graphic conventions are addressed throughout the course. 

This course explores the formation and development of educational thought throughout Western history. It analyzes the influence that the rise of modern democracy - and the social, philosophical, and political transformations it entailed - had on our vision of education. As the Church's authority gradually declined in the eighteenth century with the emergence of Enlightenment ideas, new ways of thinking about the role of the state and the purpose of education emerged. Education became increasingly tied to political life and was seen as a central element for the development and stability of modern democratic societies. A central theme throughout the course, therefore, concerns the political function of education: Who should control education? Why should the state intervene? For whom is it intended? The course studies the way various thinkers have thought about the purpose of education, whether it is to shape moral character, to prepare citizens for civic life, to train workers for economic productivity or to foster personal emancipation and freedom. By studying the long and complex history of educational thought in its political and social contexts, this course offers an invaluable training for thinking critically and flexibly about the political challenges of our own time.

In addition to knowledge of the subjects explored by cultural history and political ideas over the past 25 years, this course introduces the reading and understanding of texts that have shaped European political culture. It also discusses the structures that shape mass culture.

This course studies the historical processes, trends, and key figures in Latin American education during the 20th and 21st centuries.

This course guides students in a shared exploration of the history of Chinese-US relations mainly from the 1770s to the present. It starts with the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), through the Republican period (1911-1949), and through the current era (1949-present). The course incorporates a collection of primary sources, secondary sources and non-traditional materials like art, music, new media, and films. One of the main themes of the course is examining the dominant national mythologies of the United States and China, and how these have developed since the respective nations’ beginnings. The course examines the layers of national narratives in different periods both in terms of how the two powers perceived and depicted themselves, and how they perceived and depicted each other. It also explores the most recent national narratives, incorporating popular and official voices in Beijing and Taipei, Hollywood and Washington, and more.

This course provide a general knowledge of European politics, society, economy and culture between the Renaissance and the French Revolution. It focuses on the most significant events and developments that shaped European history, including the rise of humanism, religious reform, state formation and centralization, overseas expansion, global capitalism, and the emergence of representative government. It looks at the consequences brought by these developments, most notably on European political and cultural practices; and study how they impacted traditional understandings of human nature to give rise to modern ideas of human rights.

This course provides a general and introductory overview of the history and culture of the Nahuatl-speaking peoples of the Central Mexican Highlands. The course is structured in two semesters, each with a distinct yet complementary focus. This first semester course is diachronic, explaining the historical development of the Nahua peoples, from their cultural origins in the Classic period to the events leading up to the Spanish conquest. The second semester, in contrast, examines various aspects of Nahuatl culture from a synchronic perspective.