This course is part of the teachings introduced by the University of Pavia to improve transversal skills, regardless of the course attended at university level. It can be included (3 CFUs) in the study plan by students enrolled in all two years master's degree courses, in the last two years of all single-cycle master's degree courses and in the third year of all three-year degree courses. The main objective of the course is to provide an in-depth knowledge of the history of the University of Pavia from its foundation (1361) to the present day. Students will acquire a precise knowledge of the tasks of a centre of higher studies; its relations with culture and society; the means of achieving its objectives; the composition and dynamics of the student body; the profile of the teaching staff; some particularly significant figures of scholars; the places of teaching and research (buildings, collections) in the wider development of the town of Pavia. The final goal is to achieve an awareness of the role of universities in the contemporary world and of the specific characteristics that distinguish the University of Pavia as a result of its history.
Course Prerequisites
Sensitivity to relate past and present and to reflect on methods and purposes of university studies in the context of societies.
Teaching Methods
Lectures and active participation of the students in reading and discussing the documents distributed and commented on in class.
Assessment Methods
The examination is oral. Exam preparation requires the study of the texts and documents distributed and commented on in class (see Reference Texts Section).
Texts
The texts and documents distributed and commented on in class will be made available online in the Kiro space on the University of Pavia website (texts will be mostly drawn from D. Mantovani, editor, Almum Studium Papiense. Storia dell'Università di Pavia, Milan 2011-2020).
Contents
1) When was the University of Pavia born? Deconstructing foundation 'myths'. 2) The foundation by the Visconti in 1361 and its significance. 3) Being a student in Pavia in the 15th century. 4) The University finally has a home: the building in Strada Nuova. 5) The University at the time of the Battle of Pavia 6) The reforms of Maria Teresa and Joseph II. The University takes on its modern shape. 6) From Napoleon to the Unification of Italy. 7) Pavia and the birth of the University in Milan during Fascism: the end of the monopoly. 8) 1968: how the University of the 21st century was then thought to be.
