Corso di laurea magistrale in Scienze storiche

The course will examine the modern and contemporary history of a number of non-European/American spaces. The first part will mainly focus on India and “Sub-Saharan” Africa, and will provide the analytical, linguistic, and theoretical frame required to approach non-Western contexts. This conceptual background will be also discussed through specific case studies.

The second part will focus on the modern and contemporary history of the Middle East and North Africa, giving special attention to the crucial junctures of the region’s ‘long 19thcentury’, when exceptional circumstances worked to shape the region’s ethno-religious, political, economic and cultural dimensions.

Students will acquire knowledge, abilities and skills in the fields of global history and history of international relations, which are crucial components of the History degree.

By the end of the 1st module students should be able to:

-acquire a comparative understanding of late modern and contemporary history.

- get acquainted with the role of “local agency” and proactive (not just reactive) history in the contexts analyzed in the course.

-acquire a deeper understanding of concepts and approaches such as post-colonial theory, de-colonization, coloniality, necro-politics, “epistemologies of the South”.

-acquire key notions on the impact of colonial practices.

-get acquainted with contemporary issues that result from “racial”, “tribal”, ethnic, and religious identities.

-acquire a gender understanding in relation to local responses to colonial rule.

-enhance their verbal presentation and written skills.

The programme, with the readings of each lesson, can be accessed at the following link: https://www.academia.edu/44559547/Entangled_Histories_India_Sub_Saharan_Africa_and_the_Middle_East_2023_2024_

The course consists of 12 lessons (3 hours each) and 2 final“laboratories” (3 hours each).

All teaching materials will be made available to students in a dedicated page on dropbox.

Students are asked to prepare the required readings carefully, in order to be able to participate to class discussions. They will be asked to send in advance to the teacher a couple of inputs or questions regarding the content of the required reading of each lesson.

Additionally, each student will be asked to prepare one oral presentation (about 12 minutes long) on one source included in the reading list (see in the programme: "Presentation delivered by one student:").

Students’ presentations should be organized in the following way: 1) present the thesis that the reading proposes; 2) summarize the main arguments used by the author to support the thesis; 3) present your comments on the article; 4) raise a number of questions to be discussed in class.

The list of presentations will be agreed during the first lesson.

Frontal lectures, students' presentations, use of media, class discussion.

Grading

Grades in this course will be based on the following assignments:

Class participation 40%

Oral presentations 20%

Final examination 40% (as an alternative to the final written exam, students can opt for a final written paper on one of the key topics addressed during the course, to be agreed with the teacher)

Grading criteria for participation:

• Demonstration of reading assigned materials prior to class
• Contribution to discussion
• Ability to critically analyze the readings

Grading criteria for oral presentation:

• Well-organized and clear structure (the presentation has a clear Intro, body, and conclusion)
• Demonstration of understanding the main ideas/thesis that the article intends to propose
• Raise critical comments to readings
• Raise questions to be discussed in the class

Grading criteria for final exam:

• 6 multiple choice & 8 open questions: all taken only from the required readings

As an alternative to the "final examination", students can opt for a final written paper to be agreed with the teacher. Grading criteria for the final written paper:

• The final written paper should present a clear research question, and will be evaluated assessing the latter, as well as the quality of research (to what extent have you adequately uncovered and documented the information necessary to sustain your thesis?), the quality of analysis (to what extent have you have provided a well-structured argument in support of your thesis?), and the quality of presentation (to what extent does your paper’s organizational structure effectively communicate its thesis?).

Students with disabilities or learning difficulties can find information on the university facilities, study support, and exam procedures at the following links.

Services:

https://www.unito.it/accoglienza-studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa

Support:

https://www.unito.it/servizi/lo-studio/studenti-con-disabilita

Exams:

https://www.unito.it/servizi/lo-studio/studenti-e-studentesse-con-disabilita/supporto-studenti-e-studentesse-con

For the book chapter, or the academic article, assigned as a "required reading" for each lesson, please see the section "programma".

Non-attending students are requested to agree (in advance) with the teacher 2 among the following books to prepare for their oral exam:

B. De Sousa Santos, The End of the Cognitive Empire, Duke University Press, Durham 2018.

E. Ertola, Il colonialismo degli italiani, Carocci, Roma 2023.

L. Kamel, Napoleone e Muhammad ‘Alī. Medio Oriente e Nord Africa in epoca tardo moderna e contemporanea, Mondadori Università, Milano 2022.

H.W. French, Born in Blackness, Liveright, New York 2021.

S. Beckert, Empire of Cotton, Random House, Toronto 2014.

L. Kamel, The Middle East from Empire to Sealed Identities, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2019.

Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Something Torn and New: An African Renaissance, Basic Books, New York 2009. 

S. Yahya-Othman, Development as Rebellion: A Biography of Julius Nyerere, v. 1, Mkuki na Nyota, Dar es-Salaam 2020.

P. Gopal, Insurgent Empire. Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent, Verso, New York 2019.

U. Makdisi, Age of Coexistence, University of California Press, Oakland 2019.

A. Hannoum, The Invention of the Maghreb, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2021.

L. Kamel, Terra Contesa. Israele, Palestina e il peso della Storia, Carocci, Roma 2022.

T. Green, A Fistful of Shells West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution, Chicago UP, Chicago 2019.