Cultural Heritage and Creativity for tourism and territorial development

CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITIES IN THE MODERN AGE: SPACIES, ITINERARIES, PRACTICES

CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITIES IN THE MODERN AGE: SPACIES, ITINERARIES, PRACTICES

Academic year 2023/2024

Sommario del corso

• Course objectives
• Results of learning outcomes
• Program
• Course delivery
• Learning assessment methods
• Support activities
• Suggested readings and bibliography
• Teaching tools
• Course card

Course objectives

The course aims to provide students with the necessary tools and knowledge to understand the birth of European modernity from a threefold perspective: political, religious and cultural. An age of great revolutions and transformations, the three centuries of the Modern Age are fundamental for understanding Europe and the world of the 19th and 20th centuries up to the present. It is indeed in those centuries that long-lasting processes begin on the way of conceiving the State, of living the faith and of conceiving the relationship to the other on a global scale.

Results of learning outcomes

The aim is that at the end of the lessons the student will be able to

- have a basic grasp of the main themes and issues concerning modern history

- place certain historical processes in a long-term perspective

- be familiar with the tools and methodology of historical research

- have learnt to distinguish between sources and secondary bibliography from small personal research experiences

Program

In the introductory part, the course will provide an overview of the history of Europe in the Modern Age from a threefold perspective: political, religious and cultural:

- the modernity of governing: the study of the birth of the new state modernity, with the organisation of modern states in sixteenth-century Europe and their development throughout the modern age. A more institutional approach will be complemented by a reflection on theories concerning the state and state-building strategies, starting with the way of fighting and organising a system of diplomatic representation.

- The modernity of belief: with the religious crisis triggered by Martin Luther in 1517, the unity of Western Christianity broke down; multiple churches and confessions developed, imposing a renewal of the way of believing and living the faith. Confessional conflict will characterise a large part of the modern age, and is therefore a decisive point of observation for the study of Old Regime societies.

- The modernity of travelling: from the end of the 15th century, Europe discovered/conquered the rest of the world. Thus began what has been called the 'first globalisation', mainly by the Iberian monarchies. The encounter with the other entails political, military, economic, health as well as religious and cultural consequences for Europeans.

The main focus of the course will be on the processes of construction of religious and cultural identities during the modern age, with particular attention to the first two centuries (16th and 17th). The construction of identities, be they political, cultural or religious, always depends on interaction, confrontation or conflict with the Other. Wars, disputes, journeys are at the basis of such identity processes. The upheavals and conflicts of the 16th century - the construction of monarchical states, the birth of new churches, global explorations - provoked efforts to rework and redefine practices and ways of believing, representing and narrating reality. Through a few targeted examples, and at least partly drawn from the local context, it is intended to show such processes of new identity construction, somewhere between innovation and tradition. Special attention will be paid to pilgrimages, devotions, and the circulation of people, books and ideas, both on a local, European and global scale. The focus will be on encounters of civilisations, even very distant ones, that were the driving force behind upheavals and innovations.

Course delivery

The course of 48 hours in total will be carried out with the help of multimedia material; visits to archives and places of worship and pilgrimage in the region around Biella are planned. A part of the course will be held in collaboration with other courses.

Learning assessment methods

The course will be at least partly seminar-based, with the use of images and film projections, and with individual or group work by the students themselves from papers assigned during class. The exercises carried out in class during the course will contribute to the final assessment, alongside the final exam. A final written examination is scheduled.

Support activities

For students with physical disabilities, dyslexia, and other specific learning difficulties, please visit the University's support page (https://www.unito.it/servizi/lo-studio/studenti-con-disabilitaopen_in_new) and admission information (https://www.unito.it/accoglienza-studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsaopen_in_new). The procedures for requesting support during exams can be found here: https://www.unito.it/servizi/lo-studio/studenti-e-studentesse-con-disabilita/supporto-studenti-e-studentesse-conopen_in_new.

Students with dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties are required to inform the lecturer at the beginning of the course in order to agree on an individual study programme tailored to their needs, including appropriate compensation and dispensation measures for examinations.

Books, essays and further materials for students attending this course will be provided at the beginning of the course and during the lessons.

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