Corso di laurea in Storia

The aim of the course is to provide the students with a basic knowledge of the main international historical transformations since the late nineteenth century to the early 2000s. Another focus is on the history of journalism and on the history of the television system in Italy.

At the end of the classes, students will know the main international historical processes of the 20th century; they will be able to explain the historical transformations of the journalism and the history of the broadcasting system in Italy. They will be able to develop skills in the knowledge, analysis and interpretation of historical documents. Students will attain a good knowledge of the topics covered during the lectures. Students will have to strenghten communication skills and to develop autonomous learning capacities on Contemporary History. They will be able to use the tools acquired. Students will have to strenghten communication skills and to develop autonomous learning capacities. The possession of these skills will be subject to verification as described under the heading "Assessment methods".

The exam program (A, B, C o D) is the same for attending and non-attending students.

The course consists of a general introductory part and a monographic part (36 h.). The general part will analyse the main national and international events of the 20th Century, focusing on their socio-economical dimension as well as their political, institutional and cultural facets. The lectures will cover the period until the end of the Twentieth century, examining the defining issues of democracy, nation-state, imperialism, the World Wars, totalitarian dictatorships, the Cold War, the decolonisation and the globalisation. A part of the lessons will be held, in Italian, by the visiting professor Fabien Archambault, Université de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

The monographic part of the course will then investigate the history of the journalism (18 h.) and the history of the television system in Italy (18 h.).

Lectures and educational visit (Museo della radio e della televisione, Torino)

The teaching material presented during the lessons will be made available through the e-learning page of the teaching (icon: Vai a Moodle).

Exam Program A: The exam consists in a written test and an oral examination. The written test is with 20 multiple choice questions and two open-ended questions on international (history general introductory part). Each written test takes about 70 minutes. Each oral examination takes about 20 minutes (history of journalism and TV). Partial exemption from the general exam can be obtained by passing the intermediate test held during the course (april 2025): this partial exemption is similar to the written test indicated above and also takes about 70 minutes.

Exam Program B, C or D: Oral examination.

Each oral examination takes about 20 minutes.

Evaluation criteria.

Students who achieve an independent vision of the themes explored in class, combined with good critical capacity, a command of expression using precise language, will be assessed with a very good or excellent grade (28–30 and honours); a primarily mnemonic or somewhat under developed acquisition of the contents of the course, with a linguistic and logical competence which is not always adequate will be valued with a grade from fair (21–24) to good (25–27); a minimal level of understanding of the contents of the course, combined with gaps in training or inadequate linguistic and logical competence, will earn a sufficient grade (18–20); the absence of the minimal level of understanding of the course contents, combined with inadequate linguistic and logical competencies and with training gaps, will produce an insufficient grade (<18/30).

Exam Program A) The 12 cfu course intends to address the students of Communication Sciences and the students of the 1st year of History. They will have to study these three books:

1) A.M. Banti, L'età contemporanea. Dalla Grande Guerra a oggi, Laterza, 2009

2) M. Forno, Informazione e potere. Storia del giornalismo italiano, Laterza, 2012

3) I. Piazzoni, Storia delle televisioni in Italia. Dagli esordi alle web tv, Carocci, 2014 (Introduzione e capitoli 1, 2 e 3)

Exam Program B) Students who must take the 9 cfu exam (in particular those of Political and Social Sciences) will have to study these books: 

1) M. Forno, Informazione e potere. Storia del giornalismo italiano, Laterza, 2012.

2) I. Piazzoni, Storia delle televisioni in Italia. Dagli esordi alle web tv, Carocci, 2014 (Introduzione e capitoli 1, 2 e 3)

and these articles by M. Margotti (on Moodle):

3) La stampa cattolica (1859-1864), in La nascita dell’opinione pubblica in Italia. La stampa nella Torino del Risorgimento e capitale d’Italia (1848-1864), a cura di V. Castronovo, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2004, pp. 205-261

4) Stampa parrocchiale cattolica della diocesi di Torino durante la seconda Guerra mondiale, in Cattolici, ebrei ed evangelici nella Guerra. Vita religiosa e società. 1939-1945, a cura di B. Gariglio e R. Marchis, Milano, Franco Angeli, 1999, pp. 302-324;

5) I giudizi su fascismo, antifascismo e resistenza nella stampa cattolica italiana (1945-1965), in Vom Umgang mit der Vergangenheit: Ein deutsch-italienischer Dialog -; Come affrontare il passato? Un dialogo italo-tedesco, a cura di C. Liermann, M. Margotti, B. Sösemann e F. Traniello, Tübingen, Max Niemeyer Verlag, 2007, pp. 161-175;

6) Lo specchio europeo. L'Italia vista dai giornali francesi (1968-1978), in L’Italia repubblicana nella crisi degli anni settanta. Tra guerra fredda e distensione, a cura di Agostino Giovagnoli e Silvio Pons, Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino, 2003, pp. 451-478.

Exam Program C) Students who have to take the exam only from 6 cfu will have to study these two books:

1) M. Forno, Informazione e potere. Storia del giornalismo italiano, Laterza, 2012.

2) I. Piazzoni, Storia delle televisioni in Italia. Dagli esordi alle web tv, Carocci, 2014 (Introduzione e capitoli 1, 2 e 3).

Exam Program D) The students of History (of the 2nd year or later) and of other degree courses, who have already taken an exam of Contemporary History and who intend to take the 12 cfu exam, will instead have to study these two books:

1) M. Forno, Informazione e potere. Storia del giornalismo italiano, Laterza, 2012

2) A. Sangiovanni, Specchi infiniti. Storia dei media in Italia dal dopoguerra ad oggi, Donzelli, 2021 (except p. 29-37, 72-81, 151-160, 190-193, 254-267, 401-410

and these articles by M. Margotti (on Moodle):

3) La stampa cattolica (1859-1864), in La nascita dell’opinione pubblica in Italia. La stampa nella Torino del Risorgimento e capitale d’Italia (1848-1864), a cura di V. Castronovo, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2004, pp. 205-261

4) Stampa parrocchiale cattolica della diocesi di Torino durante la seconda Guerra mondiale, in Cattolici, ebrei ed evangelici nella Guerra. Vita religiosa e società. 1939-1945, a cura di B. Gariglio e R. Marchis, Milano, Franco Angeli, 1999, pp. 302-324;

5) I giudizi su fascismo, antifascismo e resistenza nella stampa cattolica italiana (1945-1965), in Vom Umgang mit der Vergangenheit: Ein deutsch-italienischer Dialog -; Come affrontare il passato? Un dialogo italo-tedesco, a cura di C. Liermann, M. Margotti, B. Sösemann e F. Traniello, Tübingen, Max Niemeyer Verlag, 2007, pp. 161-175;

6) Lo specchio europeo. L'Italia vista dai giornali francesi (1968-1978), in L’Italia repubblicana nella crisi degli anni settanta. Tra guerra fredda e distensione, a cura di Agostino Giovagnoli e Silvio Pons, Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino, 2003, pp. 451-478.