Insegnamento a.a. 2020-2021

In this elective course, we examine how the global economy emerged in the past and how globalization transformed macro regions of the world.

1. The first part of the course traces the connection between western expansion and the rise of the global economy in the 18th and 19th centuries and explains what factors - social, cultural, and technological - limited early globalization. We study how growing prosperity in Europe compared with the development of other world regions.
2. The second part of the course discusses the crisis of globalization during the 20th century - driven by devastating calamities such as the world wars or the Spanish Flu pandemic - and the changes in global economic development that it brought about. We teach modern economic history in a global context and focus mainly on regions outside the European core. The syllabus covers the following topics:

Part 1:

• The rise of the West
• The making of the global economy
• Empire and globalization
• Empire and society
• European prosperity
• The world outside Europe

Part 2:

• The crisis of globalization
• American leadership
• The developing world
• Africa: the loser of globalization

• Identify the main forces of globalization and the economic and social consequences of globalization
• Explain the historical origins of the global economy and differences in the impact of globalization between different world region
• Discuss economic development in a historical and global perspective

• Identify key facts and trends in global economic history
• Understand the role of the social and institutional context in economic development
• Summarize complex narrative interpretations
• Develop crtical thinking
• Develop skills in academic writing

• Face-to-face lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)

The lectures are designed to engage students on the course topics and to help them summarize and understand the content of the advanced course readings. Guest lectures serve the purpose of introducing students to aspects of the history of globalisation, which are not directly discussed in the course readings but that enrich the context in which we can understand the course material.

Attending students are evaluated in two partial exams each worth 50% of the final grade. Both exams last 60 minutes and contains two sections each worth 50% of the exam mark.

• In the first section, students answer 2 questions testing their general knowledge of the course content discusssed in class.
• In the second section, students write a short essay on 1 of 3 alternative questions testing their ability to synthesize the content of course readings and class discussions and to construct an argument.
• The midterm exam assesses students on Part I, the final exam on Part II of the course program.

The general exam at the end of the semester is aimed at students who have not attended classes or who have not passed the partial exam(s). The general exam lasts 60 minutes and contains only short-answer questions. Students have to answer 4 questions testing their general knowledge on the content of course readings: 2 questions related to topics in Part I of the course program, 2 questions related to topics in Part II. Students must answer all questions; they have no option to choose between alternatives.

To provide for both a solid grounding and a rich discussion on global economic history, the course readings consist of a short textbook and a series of more advanced texts. Our primary text is:

• R.C. ALLEN, Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press. It can be purchased in the bookshop on campus and is available as Ebook from several providers.
• The additional course readings are accessible on the Black Board course page.
• The course syllabus arranges readings by topic. The lectures may provide additional information in class aimed at helping students better understand these texts.
• Students can access all the class material on the Black Board.

The course readings consist of a short textbook complemented with a series of more advanced texts. Our primary text is:

• R.C. ALLEN, Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press. t can be purchased in the bookshop on campus and is available as Ebook from several providers.
• The additional course readings are accessible on the Black Board course page.
• The course syllabus arranges readings by topic.