History of the Risorgimento

The course provides the broad outlines of the political, economic, social and cultural history of the Italian states in the 19th century, and the process of building the unified Italian state, from a perspective never far separated from the more general European history. The course also provides the necessary tools for understanding the main ideological aspects of the Risorgimento political movements, and will develop reflection on the interpretations, memory and celebrations of the Risorgimento, as well as through literature, printing, cinematography and music.

By the end of the course the student will have acquired knowledge of the political-institutional, socio-economic and cultural evolution of the pre-unitary states in the 19th century, and the first decades of the united life of the Kingdom of Italy; they will be able to orient themselves around the main historiographical interpretations of the Risorgimento movement and on some of the most important manifestations of the "public use" of those events in Italian culture and politics of the twentieth century.
They shall also be able to place the most representative events and figures in their chronological and geographical contexts, to use language tools to adequately express, in a clear and effective form, concepts of a political, institutional, economic, and religious nature; they will be able to read critically historiographical works and orient themselves within the research and analysis of sources. These skills will be acquired through a direct and continuous meeting with the instructor in the classroom. The discussion around the proposed sources will be an essential moment of critical reflection and methodological learning.
Participation in meetings and seminars organized within the Department of Historical Studies will also be of great importance.