History

The LdM History Department allows students to pursue a variety of different courses, according to their needs and goals. From courses like 'Ancient Rome' and 'Travel in the Middle Ages' to 'Women of the Medici' and 'History and Sociology of Modern Consumerism,' students can span centuries of history to investigate the social, political and artistic thought of times past. Courses cover Ancient Rome to the contemporary world, paying special attention to European and Italian history.


Find out how the European Union came to be, why the women of the Medici dynasty were some of the world's most powerful, the centuries-long Jewish experience in Tuscany, the aspects of daily life in Renaissance Florence, the history of the Fascist Era in Italy and the importance of the Catholic Church in Italian history and society.

 

The Holocaust: Jewish and Christian Responses

Code:
HIS 235 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
This course is an introduction to the legacy of the Holocaust and its religious implications. The course explores Christian anti-Judaism as one of many factors in the Nazi rise to power and the "Final Solution". It then proceeds to various accounts of life in the Nazi ghettoes and death camps and deals with Christian and Jewish efforts to remember the Holocaust within particular communities and places. The course will focus on the Holocaust of the Italian Jews. It will begin with an analysis of the emergence of the Fascist movement in Italy, which lead to the Racial Laws. It will proceed with the study of specific stories of persecution, deportation and salvation in the various cities of Italy. We will study in depth the reaction of the Vatican to the Holocaust. In addition we will analyze the reactions of Italian society, starting right after the war up until today, to the Holocaust.

Lifestyle in Renaissance Florence

Code:
HIS 280 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
Important Renaissance works of art, paintings, sculptures, and art objects like wedding chests and furniture, ceramics, and jewels and luxurious clothing are often characterized by coats of arms, by family, individual, or wedding emblems, and by symbols that are deeply related to their powerful commissioners (such as the Medici, Rucellai, Strozzi, and Pitti families in Florence). The course will illustrate and investigate their possible meanings and connections with history, families, and artists of the Renaissance, as well as with philosophy, astrology, and iconography from the end of the 15th to the 16th century.

The Quarters of Florence: History and Culture

Code:
HIS 250 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
The course offers students a first-hand experience of the historical city of Florence, which from 1252 was divided into four "quartieri" or quarters. Each quarter, which was named after the main church of the district, presents its own particular social, political and urban characteristics, and these form the central themes of the course. Students will discover the prestigious families, major buildings, artistic masterpieces, economic activities and historical events that have characterized the development of each quarter from the medieval period to the modern age. Site visits will form an essential part of the learning experience.

Ancient Rome

Code:
HIS 200 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
This course offers a comprehensive introduction to the history and growth of the ancient Roman empire from the early settlements in Latium, through the republican and imperial periods, to the formation of a new Roman world after the crisis of the 3rd century. A series of themes and issues will be explored: the range of primary sources available for ancient history; the political organization of the Roman state; the territorial expansion and its influence on the cultural and administrative sphere; Roman religion and the spread of Christianity; the Roman frontiers and the barbarian populations; and the end of the Roman world and the birth of a new society. In order to stimulate students’ critical skills in observing historical phenomena, a problem-oriented approach will be supported by readings of primary sources. Students will also have the chance to observe different approaches to understanding the past and will develop a sense of the role of historians and history in society.

The Social World of Renaissance Italy

Code:
HIS 248 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
From the age of communal civilization to the splendor of the Renaissance and beyond, this course explores the main social, cultural and religious developments that defined one of the most intense periods in Italian history. The course is centered around a gallery of portraits, common and uncommon people, each one representative of its own age. The peasant, the citizen, the merchant and the friar will introduce us to the country and city life in the age of the Commune. The scholar, the artist, the patron and the courtesan will bring us into the world of cultural renewal in the age of the Renaissance. The religious rebel, the inquisitor and the heretic will testify to the downfall of one age and the rise of a new cultural atmosphere. This approach will allow us to analyze the social and cultural movements through the concrete lives of the individuals and to examine the historical phenomena in terms of individual choices and experiences. To this purpose both the members of the élite and the common people will be explored in their behavior and values, daily practices and mentality. The city of Florence will provide vivid illustrations of the various developments dealt with.

Archaeology Field School: Accesa (Italy)

Code:
HIS 313-314 F
Num. hours:
180
Credits:
6
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
This four-week intensive course in archaeology is held at a specific site representing a distinctive ancient Mediterranean culture. The course offers students a unique combination of supervised on-site fieldwork and specialized academic instruction by archaeologists and other specialists. Participants contribute to the ongoing excavation and preservation of the site, learning essential practical archaeological techniques. The particular civilization represented by the site is analyzed in terms of its material culture, artistic production, and society (including political organization, religion, economy, and everyday life). The course includes weekly visits to sites, monuments and museums of relevance. Participants work alongside students from the University of Florence. The course is offered in collaboration with the Center for Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies (CAMNES). Offered at various sites, including two sponsored by the Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute. The vast Accesa settlement site, near Massa Marittima in southern Tuscany, stands in the southern area of the region inhabited by this people between the 9th to the 1st centuries BCE. Discoveries include a necropolis (pre-Etruscan Villanovan and Orientalizing periods) and a settlement divided into five quarters each with its own necropolis (Archaic period). The town flourished thanks to the nearby lake and important mineral deposits. Most of the site has been open to the public since 2001 as an archaeological park. The course focuses on Etruscan culture between its early growth and apogee. Learning activities may include visits to the Museum in Massa Marittima, to Populonia, Vetulonia, and Baratti. Excavation began in the 1930s and since the 1980s has been overseen more systematically by the University of Florence, since 2008 with the Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute, and CAMNES.

Florentia: the Ancient Roots of Florence

Code:
HIS 215 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
This course analyzes the ancient past of Florence from its origins to the end of the Roman Empire. A few aspects concerning the Barbarian rulers will also be considered. The ancient town of Florentia will be discovered during each lesson through a variety of sources: written texts from ancient and medieval authors, archaeological evidence, past excavations and recent discoveries, artifacts and items housed in local museums as well as objects unearthed in recent years. Emphasis will be placed on the urban pattern by tracing and locating the main temples and sacred spaces, public buildings and private houses. Beyond acquiring a basic chronology and a timeline, students will closely examine selected topics about Roman civilization, art and architecture, lifestyle and customs. To better understand certain themes, a number of visits and field trips are planned, including to the National Archaeological Museum of Florence and little-known archaeological areas.

Women of the Medici

Code:
HIS 295 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
HIS 130 Western Civilization, or equivalent, or sophomore standing
Description:
This course is an introduction to the important women of the house of the Medici (1368 - 1743). Particular emphasis will be given to their biographies and their unique roles in history. The Medici are the best-known and most prestigious Italian family, their history developed over four centuries and embraced thirteen generations. Their name is linked to the history of Florence. From simple bankers and merchants they became one of the most important families in Europe. In the story of the Medici family only a few of the women lived and acted as equals to men. Yet, some of these Medici women were more intelligent, more open and more positive than many of their masculine counterparts. We will explore four centuries of the Medici family, its men, its children, its power and its role in Florentine, Italian and European life, looking through the lens of the Medici women’s lives.

The Renaissance Theory of Love

Code:
HIS 285 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
PHR 130 Western Philosophy, or HIS 130 Western Civilization, or equivalents
Description:
'Love' is a fundamental concept in our culture. A glance into contemporary literature, poetry and cinema will demonstrate the centrality of this notion still in modern days. During the Renaissance, the concept of 'love', which draws its basic tenets from Marsilio Ficino's interpretation of Platonic love, was even more central and predominant. This course will begin with the study of the Neoplatonic metaphysical theory, the basis of the Renaissance theory of love, as interpreted by Ficino in the fifteenth century, and will follow its development to more encompassing theories, such as that of Leone Ebreo, and especially to the manifestation of these theories in art and literature (at times very light courtly literature), which became very fashionable in the sixteenth century and known to a very large and varied public. The course will consist of the study of various types of fifteenth and sixteenth primary sources (philosophical and literary) and of the study of the works of art, especially of Titian and Michelangelo, backed with the reading of up-to-date secondary sources.

The 1960's: a Global Counter Cultural Movement

Code:
HIS 290 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
The course aims to study this seminal decade through an analysis of the most important historical, social, cultural and artistic achievements of the period, specifically in the USA, Italy, Great Britain and France. In the first part of the course students will explore the cultural climate marking the end of the 1950’s and beginning of the 1960’s in the USA and in Europe (for example McCarthyism and Eurocommunism). Students will investigate how these elements contributed to the birth of a new public sensibility towards politics, minorities, women, culture and social values. The central part of the course will focus on some of the leading personalities of the time, such as Martin Luther King, J. F. Kennedy and D. Cohn Bendit, and on the main themes of the cultural debate of that time (pacifism, new social values, individual creativity and racial integration). The last part of the course will provide the opportunity to evaluate the achievements of the decade and reflect on its subsequent consequences.

Italian Renaissance Civilization and Culture

Code:
HIS 300 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
HIS 130 Western Civilization, or equivalent
Description:
This course explores the historical, literary and cultural developments of one of the most remarkable and vibrant periods of Italian history: the Renaissance. Students will be introduced to the main historical developments of the Renaissance period from the late fourteenth century to the end of the sixteenth century. The Renaissance is above all the age of the individual and the affirmation of his/her achievements, best summed up by the credo "Man – the measure of all things". The focus of this course is therefore upon great personalities of the Italian Renaissance mainly in the fields of the visual arts, literature and philosophy, but also drawn from those of politics and civic life. These include key figures of the most prominent Italian families: the Medici, the Sforza, the Della Rovere; artists and architects: Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo; writers, poets and philosophers: Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio, Pico della Mirandola, Machiavelli, as well as merchants and bankers. All these individuals left their mark in Italy between the early 1400s and the late 1500s.

Rise and Fall of the Medici

Code:
HIS 340 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
HIS 130 Western Civilization, or equivalent
Description:
The course deals with the full story of this extraordinary family, whose fortunes are traced over three hundred years (from the late 14th century up to the early 18th century), from the rise of the bank under Cosimo the Elder to the final collapse of the house of Medici with the death of the last Medici in 1737. Since the power of the Medici family enabled its members to rule Florence, control the papacy, act as the "needle of the Italian compass," and sometimes influence the policies of an entire continent, the course will provide students with an understanding of the history, politics and civic life of this period. The Medici were statesmen, scholars, patrons of art, collectors, entrepreneurs and impresarios. Some of them were poets, others were popes. The course introduces students to philosophy and artistic movements by discussing the most important achievements and the people who worked for the Medici, like Michelangelo, Poliziano, Donatello, Botticelli, and several musicians who worked at the Medici court in the 16th and 17th centuries. Visits to churches, museums, palaces and galleries, which are a significant part of the study of the Medici family, will supplement classes.

Europe since 1945

Code:
HIS 299 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
HIS 130 Western Civilization, or equivalent
Description:
The course focuses on the history of Europe after World War II until the present. It covers both Western and Eastern Europe, dealing with the political, economic and social developments on the two sides of the iron curtain. It investigates the main Western and Eastern European issues: the immediate post-war situation in the West (France, Great Britain and Italy) and in the East (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia); the German problem and German division; the Cold War in Europe and European reactions (East and West); the Hungarian and the Suez crisis in 1956; the 1968 unrest and the Prague Spring; German-German relations; the roots of the crisis in the East and the events of the 1980s (Poland); the end of the Cold War in Europe and German reunification; the disintegration of the Eastern bloc and its consequences (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Rumania, former Yugoslavia); European integration from its origins to Eastern enlargement. These and many other themes will be discussed, considering the international background and the relationships between the two superpowers.

The Second World War

Code:
HIS 390 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
HIS 130 Western Civilization, or equivalent
Description:
The Second World War caused the death of about 50 million people and enormous destruction all over the world. The course examines the causes of the war, focusing upon the rise of Nazism in Germany. It then focuses on the course of the war from a political, social and military point of view, taking into account the political strategies of the main powers, the most important war campaigns and the suffering of the civilian populations. A special session will be devoted to the great tragedy of the Holocaust. The course will conclude by examining the political consequences of the conflict: the new balance of power that was to last for almost 50 years, until the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Catholic Church and Society in Italy

Code:
HIS 254 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
HIS 130 Western Civilization, or PHR 210 World Religions, or equivalents
Description:
Over the centuries the Catholic Church has had a major impact on Italian society, and its beliefs and traditions form a central part of modern Italian culture. This course explores the interaction of religion and society in Italy over a long period, beginning with the birth of Christianity, and moving onto early developments in Latin Roman times, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Reformation and Counter Reformation, up to contemporary issues in the present day.

Western Civilization

Code:
HIS 130 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
Survey of cultural, social and political developments in the western tradition between its origins in the Ancient Near East and the present. Themes include: the Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman heritages, medieval to modern Europe, nationalism, industrialization, western imperialism, totalitarianism and two World Wars, challenges of the later 20th and early 21st centuries.

Medieval Civilization and Culture

Code:
HIS 212 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
This course explores the remarkable series of transitions that Western civilization underwent between the years 313 and 1400 CE, dates corresponding to Emperor Constantine's official acceptance of Christianity, and the imposition of humanistic culture. In culture, politics and society, this long period witnessed a reorientation of values and enormous shifts in the configuration of Europe. In the visual arts, efforts to interpret classical artistic language were flanked by innovative contributions from different cultures. As students study historical and literary sources, archaeology as well as architecture, sculpture and painting, they acquire a chronological map of the essential developments, learning to distinguish between eras, and to interrelate political, social, economic and cultural trends. Rejecting the popular notion of a "dark age" of culture in the Middle Ages, we shall emphasize the concept of historic evolution. Topics include: the Late Roman Empire, the Barbarian invasions, monasticism, medieval Christianity, the Crusades, the rise of the Italian city-states, the Black Death, and the roots of the Renaissance; Early Christian, Carolingian, Ottonian, Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic Art. Italian developments and monuments receive special attention, and site visits in Florence and Tuscany form an essential component of the course.

The Role of Magic in Renaissance Thought

Code:
HIS 318 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
PHR 130 Western Philosophy, or HIS 130 Western Civilization, or equivalents
Description:
During the Italian Renaissance an extraordinarily talented collection of writers and thinkers embarked on a voyage of rediscovery, uncovering the rich body of knowledge left by ancient civilizations and creating a new and exciting synthesis from what they found. In this synthesis magical thought exerted a central and prestigious influence. Regarded as the key to understanding the nature of reality, magic occupied much the same place held by natural science in today’s society. This course explores the spiritual and magical world conjured in the thought of important Renaissance thinkers such as Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola and Giordano Bruno, examining their texts and visiting sites in Florence which made this city one of the great centers of Renaissance magic. By reinterpreting the Renaissance in the light of magic and imagination, the course offers a fresh perspective on the origins of the modern world.

Muslims, Jews and Witches: Outsiders in Medieval and Renaissance Europe

Code:
HIS 320 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
HIS 130 Western Civilization, or equivalent
Description:
In the Medieval and Renaissance period Christianity provided Europeans with a strong cultural identity that determined both the perception of otherness and the mechanisms of social exclusion. This course analyzes European attitudes toward “outsiders” and examines the different patterns of relationship, discrimination, and persecution that emerged. The “others” lived far from Europe. The relationship with Muslims will be analyzed through the concept of holy war (in both versions, Jihad and Crusade) while Columbus will guide us to the encounter with the Native Americans. The “others” lived in Europe. Because of their religious diversity Jews were often perceived as potentially dangerous, suffering discrimination and persecution. Likewise for heretics, whose doctrinal and theological errors were not tolerated, or witches, who were believed to be inspired by the devil, and thus blamed for crimes that ultimately originated in collective fears, Europe’s inner demons.

History of Political Terrorism

Code:
HIS 380 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
HIS 130 Western Civilization, or equivalent
Description:
Terrorism means the calculated use of violence (or threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation, coercion, instilling fear and, in the worst case, violent attacks on people. This word "terrorism" comes from "Terror," a term that was first used during the French Revolution to describe the political use of strength to suffocate (or destroy) the opponents of the Republic. The 20th century shows how this form of violence still remains, used by totalitarian regimes. However, nowadays terrorism means violent actions, in most cases illegal and clandestine, carried out in order to overthrow order and the legal government. Starting from this distinction, this course examines the main geopolitical areas that faced terrorism in the past and still do. Every terrorist phenomenon is individual, but by examining the socio-political and cultural environment we can understand common reasons and similar consequences. In the first part we will deal with the "terror regimes of 1900s'"(Fascism, Nazism, Stalinism and the Latin American dictatorships); in the second we will study the different forms of "anti-government" terrorism grouped by their goals: anticolonialistic groups (Algeria, India), independence movements (ETA, IRA), communist and antidemocratic groups (Brigate Rosse, RAF), independence and religion (Palestinian terrorism), up to the current global threat of Al-Qaeda.

Ancient Tuscany: the Etruscan Civilization

Code:
HIS 265 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
This course offers an overview of the archaeological, historical and cultural features of the Etruscans, the ancient civilization that flowered in central Italy during the first millennium BCE. Students will explore this civilization, (known to itself as “Rasenna”), which contributed so much to Roman and later Italian culture and heritage, through in-class lectures and visits to selected, major museums and sites. Attention is given to both chronological periods and major issues (e.g. language, politics, art, burial customs), as well as essentials of archaeological practice. This course offers direct contact with the over 2500 year-old archaeological finds in CAMNES/LdM's Archaeology Lab. These finds have recently been unearthed at the digs of Accesa (Archaic period settlement) and at Bosco della Riserva and Pratino, near Tuscania, (Hellenistic necropolis), where two excavation projects have been conducted by CAMNES/LdM since 2005. The present course is an ideal preparation for the institute’s summer archaeological workshops.

The Jewish Experience in Italy: Traditions and Culture

Code:
HIS 262 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
HIS 130 Western Civilization recommended
Description:
This is a general introduction to the rich and varied world of the Jews in relationship to the history of Italy from the first Jewish settlements till today. We shall examine the early history of the Jews of Italy from their arrival as imperial slaves during the ancient Roman Empire. Next we shall discover the fascinating and dynamic relationships of the Jews as bankers, artisans, authors and physicians. We shall see how the Jews, while separated from the mainstream culture of Christian Italy, gave a remarkable contribution to the ideas of Renaissance civilization. Finally the course will examine the modern experience, from Napoleon and the Italian Risorgimento, through the catastrophe of the Nazi Holocaust, to the Jewish contribution to contemporary Italy.

Modern Italy

Code:
HIS 296 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
an introductory course in History or Political Science
Description:
The main goal of the course is for students to gain a general understanding of the way Italian history and culture has developed in the last 50 years, especially in the arena of public policies and social interactions. The course will be loosely divided in three main segments. The first one, relying mainly on historical data and information, aims to provide a general background about Italian politics and culture. In the second part, we will focus on the current changes that have occurred in Italy during the past 20 years, focusing especially on the breakdown of the traditional political system and on the decreased relevance of the Church in State and public matters. Finally, we will examine how the last 10 years – during which there has been a great transformation in the way media affects the distribution and spread of information – have brought an apparent, but possibly not real, upheaval in the way politics, culture and information are received and debated among Italians.

The Making of Modern Europe: Antiquity to French Revolution

Code:
HIS 150 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
The course will explore the vast physical, social, political and mental changes that occurred in European societies from the rise of Mediterranean civilization until the French Revolution. This long-term perspective will help students to understand the turning points in European history and the historical roots of contemporary European states. Particular attention will be devoted to the influence of Roman civilization on subsequent European empires and states. The evolution of Europe's external relations will be another key topic of the course. The imperial expansion of Rome, the barbaric invasions, the Crusades and finally the new forms of European colonialism will be analyzed and explained. The third main theme of the course will be the process of nation building in modern Europe, the rationale for the rise of nations and empires and the dynamics of the new system of states and international relations that appeared with the so-called Ancien Régime. This part of the course will provide students with a very important tool for understanding contemporary Europe and elements of historical methodology as well as elements of political theory which will be useful for other courses on European history and politics.

Modern Europe: French Revolution to Unification

Code:
HIS 155 F
Num. hours:
45
Credits:
3
Prerequisites:
None
Description:
The course explores the major developments in society, politics, culture, and outlook in Europe between 1789 and the present. Themes include the French Revolution, technological and ideological revolutions of the nineteenth century, nationhood and national problems (some still unsolved), the two World Wars, and the difficult path to contemporary united Europe. The values of the French Revolution (liberty, equality, brotherhood) affected European history in an unprecedented way, partly through Napoleon’s empire. The rise of new ideologies including liberalism, socialism, imperialism, and nationalism changed the shape of Europe forever, as did the upheavals of the Industrial Revolution. We will relate totalitarian regimes (chiefly Bolshevik Russia, Fascist Italy, and Nazi Germany) to the origins and aftermath of World War II. The postwar balance of world power forced European nations to redefine their identities and global roles. If the Cold War, symbolized by the Berlin Wall, expressed deep breaches within Europe, today’s European Union represents a new approach to overcoming national divisions through political and economic integration. This course provides tools for understanding contemporary Europe, and elements of historical methodology and political theory useful for further study of European history and politics.

Italian Renaissance Civilization and Culture

Code: HIS 300 F | Cr.: 3 | Contact hrs: 45
This course explores the historical, literary and cultural developments of one of the most remarkable and vibrant periods of Italian history: the Renaissance. Students will be introduced to the main historical developments of the Renaissance period from the late fourteenth century to the end of the sixteenth century.

Roman Civilization through Its Monuments

Code: HIS 307 R |Cr.: 3 | Contact hrs: 45
This course investigates the history of ancient Rome primarily through its monuments caput mundi ("the head of the world"), as well as the physical city and its infrastructures in antiquity, from the 8th century BCE to the 5th century CE. Significant architectural examples and monuments will be studied in their original historical, social and cultural context. The ways in which power was expressed symbolically through building projects and artwork will be addressed during classes, which will be held mostly on site in the city and its environs. Key archaeological sites and museums in and around the city of Rome will also form part of the program.