HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

EUR001

Academic Year of enrolment:

2017

Year of supply:

2018/2019

Degree:

Course of 2nd Cycle Degree in CULTURAL HERITAGE: ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY OF ART

Disciplinary Sector:

MODERN HISTORY

Location:

CHIETI

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

FOSI IRENE

Cycle:

First semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

108

Prerequisites:

A thorough knowledge of modern history is assumed on the basis of the university manual indicated for the corresponding three-year course.

Objectives

Training objectives
Teaching contributes to the achievement of the training objectives of the Bachelor of Literature, in particular along the following lines:
Knowledge and understanding
To favour the in-depth knowledge of the historical and social dynamics of the confrontation between cultures, through the action of some Jesuit missionaries and their connections with European history and culture from an interdisciplinary point of view; to deepen the methodologies of historiographical research and analysis; to establish connections between European history and culture and the Asian world from a global history perspective; to activate multidisciplinary approaches in the field of historical research and analysis of sources, in particular literary sources.
ability to apply knowledge and understanding
To develop the aptitude for an interdisciplinary approach in the organization, management and presentation of the skills of analysis and historiographic research acquired during the course, including through the implementation of individual projects and / or group involving several disciplines on specific topics.
Judicial autonomy
To favour the acquisition of autonomy of judgement in the research and analysis of historical sources, in the collection, organisation and management of complex cultural data, included in broader reference frameworks. Ability to analyse and understand the phenomena of modern history, of the Eastern world in the light of the relations and connections with European history and culture in the early modern age.
Communication skills
To favour the ability in the exposure and communication, written and oral, of the results of the study and of the individual research with the use of computer techniques and specific linguistic abilities.
Learning ability
Preparation of students on the methodologies of research and historiographic analysis necessary to access higher education courses, such as PhD or Masters, both at national and international level, as well as access to training courses for teaching in schools.

Contents

Meetings with Asia: Matteo Ricci and Alessandro Valignano
The course aims to present the experience of two Jesuit missionaries who, between the second half of the 1500s and the beginning of the 1600s, tried to bring Christianity to China (Matteo Ricci) and Japan (Alessandro Valignano). Their work is not limited only to missionary action, but is part of the different strategy put in place by the Jesuits, compared to other religious orders, to introduce Christianity in distant countries, in different cultures, and in an attempt to let it know to the confreres, but also to Europe more widely, understanding the distinctive traits of those cultures with which they had to deal. It was therefore fundamental to know the political organization of society, the ceremonies, the daily uses, as well as, obviously, the languages, in order to be able to implement a work of conversion and accommodation that would avoid misunderstandings and conflicts.
The course aims to analyze this cultural, political and religious dimension through the reading of texts and sources in the historical perspective to frame the meaning, developments and consequences, both in Europe and in the countries where the action of Ricci and Valignano took place.

Extended Syllabus

The exam consists of the preparation of three books (1 and 2 compulsory):
1) Ronnie Po-Chia-Hsia, Un gesuita nella città proibita: Matteo Ricci 1552-1610, Bologna, il Mulino, 2012;
2) Alessandro Valignano, Il cerimoniale per i missionari del Giappone, Nuova edizione anastatica con saggio introduttivo di Michela Catto, Roma, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2011;
plus one of the following books:
Alessandro Valignano S.I. Uomo del Rinascimento: ponte tra Oriente e Occidente, a c. di A. Tamburello, A.A. J. Üçeler, M. Di Russo, Roma, Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, 2008 (cinque saggi a scelta);
Wu Ylan, La Cina di Daniello Bartoli, Roma, Urbaniana University Press, 2014.
Further bibliographical information will be provided to students during the lessons.

Recommended Bibliography

The exam consists in preparing three books (1 and 2 compulsory):
1) Ronnie Po-Chia-Hsia,Un gesuita nella città proibita: Matteo Ricci 1552-1610, Bologna, il Mulino, 2012;
2) Alessandro Valignano, Il cerimoniale per i missionari del Giappone, New anastatic edition with introductory essay by Michela Catto, Rome, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2011;
and one of the following:
Alessandro Valignano S.I. Renaissance Man: Bridge between East and West, c. di A. Tamburello, A.A. J. Üçeler, M. Di Russo, Rome, Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, 2008 (five essays to choose from);
Wu Ylan, China by Daniello Bartoli, Rome, Urbaniana University Press, 2014.
Further bibliographical information will be provided to students during the lessons.

Teaching Methods

Lectures in the classroom, mainly seminars for reading and commenting on sources; seminars with area experts.

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

Oral exam. Actual participants can replace one of the two books of their choice with a presentation during the course of a thesis agreed with the teacher on a topic or text.

Contacts/More Information

The program is the same also for non-attendants. The course takes place in the first semester starting on October 9.

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

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