. – History of civilisation and European culture
PROFESSOR ELENA RIVA
Text under revision. Not yet approved by academic staff.
COURSE AIMS
The general aim of the course is to give students the opportunity to consider certain
ways of reading the history of European culture and civilisation as a factor within
dialogue between different civilisations.
COURSE CONTENT
For full-time students:
The most serious problems affecting certain large-scale civilised communities
within our continent are the result of a laceration which takes us further and further
away from our cultural origins. The new millennium is destined to redesign the fate
of populations. On the eve of this new European scenario, no-one will be able to
dissimulate or hide the urgency of new, serious problems which are destined to
occupy conscientious responsibility able to perceive and face them. Just as in the
past when young populations pushed at the barriers of the Roman Empire and
threatened to overrun it, today, other populations, at the edge of the continent, look
in, motivated by the need to conquer new space in order to survive. And because
the future has an ancient flavour, implementing a new cultural relationship with the
distant past cements a new spiritual bond between us and extinct populations which
continue to tech us about ourselves and in some way also help us understand our
own complex, historical present.
The course intends to highlight the main features cultures which developed in the
Mediterranean and Europe have led to the forming of our continent’s cultural
heritage, with a view to understanding that there are no privileges for populations
but rather mutual obligations to co-exist.
READING LIST
For full-time students
H. MIKKELI, Europa: storia di un’idea e di una identità, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2004.
R. PERRISICH, L’Unione europea. Una storia non ufficiale, Milano, Longanesi, 2008.
For distance-learning students
H. MIKKELI, Europa: storia di un’idea e di una identità, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2004.
R. PERRISICH, L’Unione europea. Una storia non ufficiale, Milano, Longanesi, 2008.
L’Europa e le sue memorie. Politiche e culture del ricordo dopo il 1989, edited by
Filippo Focardi e Bruno Groppo, Viella, Roma, 2013.
TEACHING METHOD
Lectures.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Oral examination.
NOTES
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG or on the Faculty notice
board.
Distance-learning students may consult their study programme on the tutor’s webpage
(www.unicatt.it/docenti) at the beginning of lectures.
Professor Riva will provide information regarding the time and location of meetings
with students during lectures and on the University website.