Learning objectives

Acquisition of a good command of the research tools related to early modern history, so that the student is able to critically use the sources and scientific literature related to one or more themes chosen as central to the course. The teaching activity will therefore aim to develop the individual research skills of the student as much as possible.

Prerequisites and basic notions

Good knowledge of early modern history. The course will have a seminar character, and therefore also includes the reading and commenting, with the participation of the students, of the sources that are gradually analysed.

Program

"Family memory in the early modern period."
Since antiquity within the nobility, and since the Late Middle Ages within the mercantile and bourgeois classes, special forms of memory, written and unwritten, have developed, specifically designed to remember the past of the family, to perpetuate its self-awareness, and to build a reference model for future generations. The written form of this unusually early kind of memory, initially born also for practical purposes (remembering everything that can be useful) is the "family book", which emerged in vernacular in Italy at the end of the thirteenth century and through the whole early modern period will get up to today. After an introduction on the oldest forms assumed by family history, the course will analyze in a specific way especially the Italian texts (15th-18th centuries), through which the family expressed its "need for eternity" in all ages. Comparisons will be carried out also with other European situations. At least one lesson will be dedicated to aspects of iconography and art history.

Bibliography

Didactic methods

The course will be seminar-based, and therefore foresees also the reading and comment, with the participation of students, of the sources that are gradually analyzed. Readings of particular texts will be gradually assigned by the teacher, and students will take care to read them in time so as to encourage a better active participation in the seminar work.

Learning assessment procedures

The exam will consist of:
1. of an ORAL PART, based on the knowledge of the indicated texts (see Libri di testo / Reference texts), of the materials distributed during the lessons and (for attending students) of the lesson notes;
2. a WRITTEN PAPER of 40-50,000 characters (notes included) on a topic related to the course and agreed with the teacher. The written text must be sent to the teacher at least two weeks before the oral exam (according to methods to be agreed with the teacher during office hours).

Evaluation criteria

Assimilation of the concepts conveyed during the course and ability to present them by arguing and connecting them critically with the illustrated sources.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

50% Oral exam
50% Paper

Exam language

Italiano