511133 - CONTEMPORARY HISTORY: COLLECTIVE TRAUMA AND MEMORY

insegnamento

ID:

511133

Durata (ore):

60

CFU:

SSD:

Storia contemporanea

Anno:

2026

Periodo di attività

Primo Semestre (28/09/2026 - 18/12/2026)

Obiettivi Formativi

The course aims to help students understand the chronological and interpretative framework of political, social, and cultural changes and persistences in contemporary world history, paying particular attention to long-lasting processes and traumatic periodizing caesuras. The critical analysis of these issues will also be conducted using methodological tools drawn from conflict, memory, and trauma studies, with a focus on the heuristic categories of social and political history, collective trauma, and collective memory.

Prerequisiti

None. Background readings are recommended and listed in the course syllabus.

Metodi didattici

The lessons will take place in a traditional mode, alternating frontal lessons with collegial discussions on issues raised by the teacher.

Verifica Apprendimento

First part. Written assessment with multiple-choice test: 20 questions in 30 minutes. Minimum score to pass: 11 correct answers (0.5 points each).
Second part: oral exam. One question on the general part (first unit) and two questions on Latin American history during the Cold War and the trauma of military dictatorships (second unit).
Pay attention: Students have to pass the first part in order to get access to the second part.

Testi

First unit:
William J. Duiker, Contemporary World History, 7th Edition, Wadsworth, Boston, 2020 (except chapter 16, pp. 396-428)

Second unit:
Vanni Pettinà, A Compact History of Latin America’s Cold War, Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 2022, pp. 5-169
Jerry Dávila, Dictatorships in South America, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, 2013, pp. 9-184
Gilad Hirschberger, Collective Trauma and the Social Construction of Meaning, National Library of Medicine, Frontiers in Psychology, 2018, open-access, pp. 1-14
Antonius C.G.M. Robben, How Traumatized Societies Remember: The Aftermath of Argentina's Dirty War, in “Cultural Critique”, n. 59 (Winter, 2005), pp. 120-164

Pay attention: All of the readings are required. The lecture slides and the material uploaded to Kiro are part of the exam program.

Contenuti

The course will be divided into two main units. The first aims to provide a problematic framework of contemporary world history, particularly delving into the international dynamics of the XX century and its traumatic turning points: from imperialism to decolonization, from the haunting memory of the Great War to the threat of the atomic bomb in the Cold War, via the Holocaust and totalitarian regimes. The second unit will focus on the Latin American Region during the Cold War, aiming to understand the region's main political, economic, and social dynamics within the bipolar conflict. Special attention will be paid to Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, and the dramatic period of military dictatorships established in these countries between the 1960s and 1980s, with further analysis of human rights violations and the traumatic issues of the desaparecidos in these countries.

Lingua Insegnamento

INGLESE

Altre informazioni

To support students, help them fill any gaps in their prior knowledge, or strengthen their understanding of contemporary history, 25 hours of optional tutoring are offered in addition to the regular classes.
All students who were assigned OFA (additional teaching requirements) are required to attend the 5 tutoring classes in History scheduled in the first semester.