Teaching Workshop
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The aim of the workshop is to provide the necessary methodological, interpretative, bibliographical and archival tools for research into contemporary organised crime.
Expected learning outcomes
It is assumed that at the end of the workshop the student will be able to distinguish and analyse the main types of sources about organized crime, to effectively orient himself in the plurality of representations of the Mafia phenomenon, to master the conceptual, archival, bibliographical and linguistic tools suitable to express a research autonomously conducted in written form. It is expected that these skills will arise from the direct and systematic confrontation with the teacher in the classroom; that the concerted discussion of the sources, historiography and public debate on the Mafia represents the core of the laboratory and that it will allow to acquire a critical and scientifically oriented view on topics of great public relevance and nevertheless very exposed to sensationalistically oriented discussions. Particularly important in this context is the student's individual commitment in re-elaborating the topics examined and subsequently in illustrating them in collegial discussion. Students who are not attending may make use of materials made available by the teacher on Ariel, as well as agreeing readings with by e-mail or during the office hours.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Giudizio di approvazione
Assessment result: superato/non superato
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
The course aims to discuss some methodological and conceptual aspects of historiography on organized crime, taking as example the case of the Sicilian Mafia. The following program is planned:
1) What is the Mafia. Introductory lecture.
2) The object and the context: Mafia and historiography
3) Mafia, terrorism, history of Italy: the case of General dalla Chiesa
4) The judge, the historian and organized crime: methods, paradigms, interpretations
5) Memory and history: the anti-mafia in historical perspective
6) The journalistic source: some stories from the inside between hetero and self-representation
7) The literary source: the Italian-American Mafia through Mario Puzo's The Godfather
8) The judicial source: the case of the Maxiprocesso
9) The cinematographic source: from In nome della legge to Il traditore
10) Final discussion and presentation of the papers
1) What is the Mafia. Introductory lecture.
2) The object and the context: Mafia and historiography
3) Mafia, terrorism, history of Italy: the case of General dalla Chiesa
4) The judge, the historian and organized crime: methods, paradigms, interpretations
5) Memory and history: the anti-mafia in historical perspective
6) The journalistic source: some stories from the inside between hetero and self-representation
7) The literary source: the Italian-American Mafia through Mario Puzo's The Godfather
8) The judicial source: the case of the Maxiprocesso
9) The cinematographic source: from In nome della legge to Il traditore
10) Final discussion and presentation of the papers
Prerequisites for admission
There are no specific requirements different from those requested for the degree admission.
Teaching methods
Attendance to classes is mandatory. The workshop's basic teaching tools include archive, print and audiovisual sources, which will be illustrated by the teacher in multimedia form and critically examined in consultation with the students. The confrontation with the students is considered an essential aspect of the course.
Teaching Resources
- Knowledge of the main topics taught in lectures.
- Knowledge of the text: Salvatore Lupo, La mafia. Centosessant'anni di storia, (Roma: Donzelli, 2018).
- Knowledge of the text: Salvatore Lupo, La mafia. Centosessant'anni di storia, (Roma: Donzelli, 2018).
Assessment methods and Criteria
Type of examination: evaluation at the end of the course on the basis of attendance of lectures, writing and oral presentation of a paper. The evaluation criteria focus on the expression skills, subjective re-elaboration, interpretative balance, critical reflection, use of the specific vocabulary of the discipline and communicative effectiveness. The evaluation consists in the approval of the course carried out with recognition of 3 CFU. The format of the assesement for students with disabilities should be arranged with the teacher.
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