The eighteenth-century beginnings of the movement for unification to the present, with particular emphasis on the distinctiveness of the Italian experience in culture, society, and politics.
Athena Title
Modern Italy
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in HIST 3400H
Prerequisite
Any HIST course or ENGL 1101 or ENGL 1101E or ENGL 1101S or ENGL 1102 or ENGL 1102E or ENGL 1102S or POLS 1101 or POLS 1101E or POLS 1101H or POLS 1101S
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to arrive at conclusions about the history of modern Italy by gathering and weighing evidence, logical argument, and listening to counter argument.
By the end of this course, students will be able to write stylistically appropriate papers and essays. Students will be able to analyze ideas and evidence, organize their thoughts, and revise and edit their finished essays.
By the end of this course, students will be able to identify how the history of modern Italy has shaped diverse social and cultural identities, attitudes, and ideologies, encouraging them to understand diverse worldviews and experiences.
By the end of this course, students will be able to apply appropriate methodological approaches to their analysis of primary sources and to organize their evidence to show historical continuities and discontinuities.
Topical Outline
Introduction to the Course
Post-Renaissance Italy to 1789
The Italian Enlightenment
Napoleone Buonaparte Brings the Revolution Home?
Napoleon: To Destiny (film)
The Restoration: A “Geographical Expression”
“Young Italy” & the Failed Revolutions (1820s & 1830s)
The Risorgimento & 1848
Cavour & the Piedmontese Model of Unification
Garibaldi, the Thousand, & 1860
Completing the Risorgimento (1866-1870)
The South & the New Italy | The Leopard (film)
Italy at the Opera
The Vatican & the New Italy
Forging a New Identity: Social & Economic Discontent
“What does Italy Mean?”: Liberalism & Socialism
Migration, Giolitti, a New King, & Futurism
Switching Sides: World War I & Italia Irredenta
Mussolini: Socialism to Fascism | Benito (film excerpts)
The Fascist State: Il Duce & the Individual
The Fascist State & Women
The Fascist State & Nazism: Comparisons & Contrasts
A Second World War: Collaboration & Resistance
Collapse of the Monarchy: The New Republic
Italy, Christian Democrats, & “Big Bang” Integrationists
Italian Students & the Troublesome 1960s
The “Economic Miracle” Ends: The 1970s & Aldo Moro
Italy & Contemporary Concerns, 1980-Present
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Communication
The ability to effectively develop, express, and exchange ideas in written, oral, interpersonal, or visual form.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
