The students will get a general knowledge of the great problems of European early modern history, so they will construct a basis for more advanced knowledges.

The second part of the course will examine a more particular problem, viewed through the reading and the analysis of texts and documents. The general context, however, will be kept into consideration, too.

The knowledge of Early Modern History is necessary for those who will be teacher in the secondary schools, and it also allows the student to acquire more detailed knowledge in other subjects.

The course is divided into two parts: a general one, and a monographic one. Each one of this parts will consist in 36 hours of lesson (the whole course consists in 72 hours of lesson)

The lessons wil begin in September 2016

First part (general)

The main problems of Early modern history

Syllabus:

1. Indroduction: history, history of historiography, and sources.

2. The general framework: historical demography, economy and society of Earli Modern Europe

3. The great discoveries: Columbus and others.

4. Early modern political Europe

5. Religion: Reformation and Counter-Reformation

6. The general crisis of the XVII century.

7. The French Revolution.

8. The industrial revolution.

Second (monographic) part:

The History of Childhood in Early Modern Europe (XV-XVIII cent.)

The monographic part of the course will deal with the problem of childhood and its representations in Early modern Europe. During the lessons, the professor will start from the problem itself and will examine the main thesis regarding the history of childhood from the beginning of contemporary historiography until today. Then he will expose the history of childhood properly said. The topics of the lessons (not necessarily in the following order) will be as follows:

-  Methodological introduction: the problem, the sources and their interpretation;

-  Philippe Ariès’ theses on the history of childhood

-  The criticism against Ariès’ theses

-  The figures: child mortality and its changes

-  Pregnancy, birth, baptism

-  The newborn care and its changes between early modern and modern age

-  Infancy and its representations

-  Education

-  The children, the violence and the sacred

-  The domestications of childhood

None.

• The students must gain a general and particular knowledge of historical problems of European early modern history (both of the problems, and of the methods of historical science). They must also get acquainted with a specific issue of early modern history, through the analysis of the primary and the secondary sources.
• The students must learn to understand the historical development of Early modern Europe, to communicate and argumentate their ideas on history, and to ground them upon the documents and their interpretations.
• The students must learn how to do search for secondary sources and to extract helpful information from a history book. They must also learn to speak about history in a public context, to make questions and to ground their statements upon the sources.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

The teaching material made available by the lecturer can be found, together with other supporting activities, inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it.

Teaching

Oral lessons, together with lessons given by other professors expert in the history of childhood.

Attendance

Attendance is strictly recommended, but not mandatory.

Course books

Textbooks for the first part of the course

A modern history handbook (chosen between the two listed below), and a complementary textbook:

1. One of the following handbooks:

a. FRANCESCO BENIGNO, L'età moderna. Dalla scoperta dell'America alla Restaurazione, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2005;

b. CARLO CAPRA, Storia moderna (1492-1848), Firenze, Le Monnier, 2004 (until chapter 25 included, that is, until page 320)

2. Complementary textbook, chosen between the following:

a. GIAMPAOLO ROMAGNANI, La società di antico regime (XVI-XVIII secolo). Temi e problemi storiografici, Roma, Carocci, 2010

b. GUIDO DALL'OLIO, Storia Moderna. I temi e le fonti, Roma, Carocci, 2004.

Second (monographic) part of the course (mandatory textbooks):

Ottavia Niccoli, Il seme della violenza. Putti, fanciulli e mammoli nell’Italia tra Cinque e Seicento, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1995 and reprints.

Storia dell’infanzia, a cura di E. Becchi e D. Julia, vol. 1: Dall’antichità al Seicento, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1996 and reprints [It is sufficient to study the introduction: Storia dell’infanzia, storia senza parole?, and then from page 115 to the end of the book]

The students will study the books listed above, but they have to know also the documents and the parts of the works that the professor will analyze during the lessons, that will be uploaded on the Moodle platform for blended learning

Textbooks for the students who choose to give the exam in English

1.  General History:

M. E. Wiesner-Hanks, Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789, Cambridge, Cambridge UP, 2013 (2nd edition)

2.  History of childhood:

-  P. Ariès, Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life, New York, Knopf, 1962 (and other editions and reprints)

-  Margaret L. King, Concepts of Childhood: What We Know and Where We Might Go, “Renaissance Quarterly” 60 (2007), pp. 371-407

Assessment

The final exam (to be held in January-February 2017) will be an oral exam, with questions and answers.

There will be also a written proof (not mandatory) to be held at the end of the general part of the course (approximately first half of November), that will consist he written proof consists in open questions (it's not a multiple choice test).

If the students pass the written proof after the first part of the lessons, the final exam will consist only in questions concerning the second part of the course (history of childhood). The final grade will be the mean between the written proof and the oral exam.

If the students don't pass the written proof, or if he chooses not to give it, the final, oral exam will concern both the first and the second part of the course

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Individual study.

Course books

First part of the course (general history, identical for attending and non-attending students):

1. One of the following handbooks:

a. FRANCESCO BENIGNO, L'età moderna. Dalla scoperta dell'America alla Restaurazione, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2005;

b. CARLO CAPRA, Storia moderna (1492-1848), Firenze, Le Monnier, 2004 (until chapter 25 included, that is, until page 320)

2. One complementary textbook, chosen between the following:

a. GIAMPAOLO ROMAGNANI, La società di antico regime (XVI-XVIII secolo). Temi e problemi storiografici, Roma, Carocci, 2010

b. GUIDO DALL'OLIO, Storia Moderna. I temi e le fonti, Roma, Carocci, 2004.

Second (monographic) part of the course:

For non-attending students, the topic is different, closer to early modern European (general) history.

The textbooks (all mandatory) are:

Roland H. Bainton, La Riforma protestante, Torino, Einaudi, 1960 (and reprints)

Guido Dall'Olio, Martin Lutero, Roma, Carocci, 2013

Ottavia Niccoli, La vita religiosa nell'Italia moderna, sec. XV-XVIII, Roma, Carocci, 2008

Adriano Prosperi, Il Concilio di Trento. Una introduzione storica, Torino, Einaudi, 2001

 Textbooks for the students who choose to give the exam in English

1.  General History

M. E. Wiesner-Hanks, Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789, Cambridge, Cambridge UP, 2013 (2nd edition)

2.  Monographic reading

D. McCulloch, Reformation: Europe's House Divided 1490-1700, New York, Viking, 2004 (and following editions)

Assessment

Oral exam.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

The lessons will be given in Italian; the written proof and the exam can be done in English.