30328 - HISTORY (MODULE I - GLOBAL HISTORY)
Department of Social and Political Sciences
code 30328 ‘History - Module 1 (Global history)’ and code 30329 ‘History - Module 2 (History of political institutions)’ are respectively the first and the second module of the course code 30327 ‘History’
Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 44
Course Director:
ANDREA COLLI
ANDREA COLLI
Suggested background knowledge
Students may have already gathered knowledge in areas such as macroeconomics, development economics, social sciences, and political sciences.
Mission & Content Summary
MISSION
The aim of the course is to explore the evolution globalization in economy, politics, and culture in the modern era for the purpose of enabling students to better understand developments in the present. After all, contemporary processes of significance—from China’s rise to economic power to geopolitical strategies—can only be fully understood along historical trajectories. Students will develop a sense of how economic, political, military, social, cultural, and ideological developments interrelate to facilitate change over time. They will understand global history as the sum of complex processes that connect local, regional, national, and continental actors. In order to gain these insights, students will work with a variety of primary and secondary sources to hone their analytical and writing skills.
CONTENT SUMMARY
· Globalization as a leitmotif in the history of human civilization
· Economic decline of empires
· Industrial Revolutions
· Global conflicts
· The American Century
· East-West Competition
· Decolonization
· Developments leading into the twenty-first century
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
At the end of the course student will be able to...
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- better understand the concept of globalization in its different manifestations. - apply historical knowledge to assessing contemporary phenomena by understanding them in a broader context. - better understand the historical roots of present international relations framework and dynamics in the realm of contemporary geopolitics. - discuss interrelations between developments in different spheres such as economy, politics, and culture. |
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
At the end of the course student will be able to...
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- analyze, dissect, and reflect on historical components of contemporary economic, social, political, and cultural trends. - gain analytical tools in the examination of historical material, sources, and documents. - compare events and perspectives by evaluating different sources. - improve skills in academic writing. |
Teaching methods
- Lectures
- Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
- Practical Exercises
- Individual works / Assignments
- Collaborative Works / Assignments
DETAILS
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The learning method in this course blends traditional frontal lecturing with discussion-based class activities. Students who consistently and constructively participate in class discussion may receive up to 2 extra points on their course grade at the discretion of the instructor.
Lecture- and discussion-based sessions are accompanied by the viewing of two significant films which offer historical reconstructions of major events. Both films will be discussed in class before students produce a short individual response essay on each of them.
In addition, students will work in groups to critically engage with historical sources under the guidance of the instructor during two separate sessions (called Being Historians), focusing on themes of the course. They will produce an assignment for each session that interprets and contextualizes the material under scrutiny as graded homework. |
Assessment methods
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ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
- For attending students, the final grade will be the sum of the results obtained in the two partial exams (40% of the final grade), and for the remaining 60% of the average of the grades obtained in the individual commentaries to the movies and the "being historians" workgroup sessions (continuous assessment).
- The evaluation process has as its main goal, particularly through the continuous assessment component, to make students familiarize with the concepts of globalization and deglobalization. In particular, through the analysis of historical sources and contemporary interpretation of these, students should be able to dissect the different components of globalization (social, political and cultural) and to understand whathappens when they are put into discussion by the globalization's cotraddictions.The partial written exams (Mltiple Choice) have as their purpose that of verifying the basic knowledge of historical events in the light of the globalization and deglobalization processes during the last two hundred years, in particular (but not only) focusing on the geopolitical components of this process.
- For non attending students, the purpose of the general exam is to ascertain basic knowledge of historical facts in the light of the globalization and deglobalization waves in the long run, understanding the various components affecting these processes.
Teaching materials
ATTENDING STUDENTS
Slides, textbook (as indicated in the syllabus), and compulsory readings provided by the instructor occasionally.
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
A textbook and an additional book as indicated in the syllabus.
Last change 06/07/2026 18:29