Teaching code

4S01041

Teacher

Mattia Viale

Coordinator

Mattia Viale

Credits

6

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

SECS-P/12 - ECONOMIC HISTORY

Period

I semestre (Area Lingue e letterature straniere) dal Sep 22, 2025 al Dec 24, 2025.

Courses Single

Authorized

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning objectives

The course intends to provide the fundamental elements required for an understanding of the international economic relationships which developed in the Modern and Contemporary Age. After an outline of the historical conditions and the motives underlying the expansion of Europe, the course investigates forms of organisation of production, trade and circulation of the goods from the different areas (Europe, Africa, Asia America ...) in the 15th-20th centuries with particular emphasis on the problem of the structure of interregional and intercontinental trade routes. The course aims to provide students with the basic knowledge in the field of Commerce History in order to acquaint historical events of the current market economy model and the comparisons among them.

Prerequisites and basic notions

There are no prerequisites.

Program

This course offers an overview of the evolution of international trade: it begins in the mid-15th century, when European explorers and merchants opened new routes and laid the foundations of global commerce; it moves through the mercantilist policies of the 17th and 18th centuries, in which trade was a key tool in the formation of modern nation-states; it arrives at the core of 19th-century industrialization and the advent of free trade; and finally, it delves into the upheavals of the 20th century, from the disruptions and recoveries tied to the two World Wars to the rebuilding under the Bretton Woods system, culminating in the first regional trade agreements and the oil shocks of the 1970s, which permanently reshaped world trade flows.

The main topics covered will be:
- The Age of Geographic Discoveries and the Beginning of Global Trade (15th–16th centuries)
- The Age of Mercantilism (17th–18th centuries)
- Colonial Trade and the Triangular Trade
- Industrialization and the Advent of Free Trade (19th century)
- The World Wars and the Age of Uncertainty (1914–1945)
- The Post-war Era and Reconstruction of World Trade (1945–1970)
- Regionalism and the First Economic Blocs
- Energy Crises and the Restructuring of Trade Flows (1970s)

Bibliography

Didactic methods

Lectures and possible in-depth seminars. Teaching materials used in lectures will be available on the teaching webpage.

Learning assessment procedures

The exam consists of an individual written test covering the entire syllabus, designed to assess students’ understanding of the course material. The test is divided into three open questions and lasts 90 minutes.

Evaluation criteria

The written exam is graded on a 30-point scale. The final mark is the average of the scores obtained in the three questions, provided each question is individually passed. Each answer is evaluated not only for accuracy but also for the student’s ability to present knowledge in a coherent, discursive manner and to demonstrate critical reasoning about the material studied.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

The test is structured to assess the level of mastery of the main contents of the syllabus.

Exam language

Italiano