SOURCES AND METHODS FOR CONTEMPORARY HISTORY LM A – 2026-2027

 

Teacher: Prof. Gianluca Fiocco
E-mail: fiocco@lettere.uniroma2.it
CFU: 6
Course code: 804002822
Degree: Master’s Degree “Scienze della Storia e del documento”
SSD: HIST-04/A (ex M-STO/04)		 Course delivery modalities: In-presence
Language: Italian
Pre-requisites: Basic knowledge of Contemporary History
Attendance: Optional
Assessment method: Oral examination
Period: 1st term
Starting day: Thursday, 1 October 2026
Class hours
Monday, 11.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m, Classroom P08
Tuesday, 12.00 p.m. – 2.00 p.m, Classroom P03
Thursday, 1.00 p.m. – 3.00 p.m, Classroom P24
Program:
The course aims to provide students with a solid foundation regarding the main features of contemporary history and important methodological issues of which those who work in this disciplinary area must be aware. More specifically, the following questions will be addressed: possible definitions and interpretations of contemporary history; problems of historical periodization; sources for contemporary history; historiographical schools and their methodologies; role of the contemporary historian and problems related to the public use of history. Major historiographical issues will also be taken into consideration and some thematic strands of contemporary history will be explored, examining relevant authors and works.
Text books:
  1. Vittorio Vidotto, Guida allo studio della storia contemporanea, Laterza
  2. A second text must be chosen from the following:
    • Geoffrey Barraclough, Atlante della storia 1945-1975, Roma-Bari, Laterza.
    • Marc Bloch, La guerra e le false notizie. Ricordi (1914-1915) e riflessioni (1921), Introduzione di Maurice Aymard, Roma, Donzelli.
    • Marc Bloch, La strana disfatta. Testimonianza del 1940, Torino, Einaudi (va bene anche l’edizione Res Gestae).
    • Bruno Bonomo, Voci della memoria. L’uso delle fonti orali nella ricerca storica, Roma, Carocci.
    • Sebastian Conrad, Storia globale. Un’introduzione, Carocci.
    • Giovanni De Luna, La passione e la ragione. Il mestiere dello storico contemporaneo, Milano, Bruno Mondadori.
    • Marco De Nicolò (a cura di), Il pane della ricerca. Luoghi, questioni e fonti della storia contemporanea in Italia, Roma, Viella.
    • Roberto Gualtieri, Introduzione alla storia contemporanea. L’Europa nel mondo del XX secolo, Roma, Carocci.
    • Isabella Zanni Rosiello, Gli archivi nella società contemporanea, Bologna, Il Mulino.
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