Obiettivi formativi
The course will train students to understand the main events and theories of contemporary history. Attending students will also increase their ability to critically address the main historiographical problems. Moreover, the course will increase the ability of students to understand the nexus between political history and technological development.
Prerequisiti
Basic High-School knowledge of contemporary history.
Risultati di apprendimento attesi
Broad understanding of historical dynamics and logical interconnections between them.
The impact of human character on their thinking and action in determined situations, and the short- and long-term consequences of this thought and action, until today.
The skill of putting oneself in the position of a historical actor and understand their action in the context and under the conditions of the time.
Comparing different interpretative approaches to a historical event and being able to critically evaluate the deeper meaning of the event in a broader context with impact on today’s political and social problems. This enhances independent and critical thinking.
Public Speaking and communication skills, amidst the summary presentations and document analysis exercises in class. A participative laboratory exercise will be conducted in order to build up an historically informed negotiation capability. Students will be divided in groups in order to perform collective work that will be graded. This presentation/laboratory work will contribute to 30% of the final mark. The remaining 70% will be acquired through an oral exam. IMPORTANT : Students who benefit from an attendance exemption won’t be involved in the laboratory. Their mark will exclusively be given by the oral exam.
Contenuti Del Corso
This course addresses the main historical events of both global and European history from the 19th century up to the present days. Within the contemporary history course, the “contemporary history and technology” teaching will interrogate the nexus of the development of technology since WW2 and the main international trends. Technology represents a very effective key to provide a lecture of important political and social evolutions. Furthermore, in many cases technology shall be considered as a transformative factor, meaning that it is not only the description of human production within the evolution of the society but the production itself shapes the evolution of the society. Between the 20th and 21st century, the digital revolution has created a new paradigm where the relation between human and technology is changing, which leads to a new set of analysis.
Testi Di Riferimento
Antony Best, Jussi Hanhimaki, Joseph A. Maiolo, Kirsten E. Schulze, International History of the Twentieth Century and Beyond, Routledge, Last edutin (2015 or following years)
Additional readings will be assigned by the instructor.
Metodologie Didattiche
The course will integrate traditional teaching with student presentations and debates that will stimulate the participation of each student in the activities of the class.
Modalità di verifica dell'apprendimento
Group works + final oral exam.
Criteri per l’assegnazione dell’elaborato finale
A final course grade of at least 28/30.
Settimana 1
Introduction to the course.
The first world world as a turning point in contemporary history
Settimana 2
Political regimes and society in Europe and the world between the two world wars
International diplomacy 1919-1939
Settimana 3
Interpretations of WWII and the global transformation
The rise of a non-European world: introduction to the American century
Settimana 4
The Cold War
One world, two empires: interpretations
The Cold War in its historical development
Settimana 5
The end of the Cold War and its legacy
Interpretations of the post-Cold War age
Settimana 6
History and memory
Making history today: main challenges
The role of history in the current political debate
Settimana 7
Historical laboratory / Group presentations
Settimana 8
Historical Laboratory / Croup presentations
Contemporary history and technology, main issues.
Cases and examples of a technologically oriented approach to contemporary history.
Difference between the “history of science and technology” and the “contemporary history and technology” analysis. Technology shall not be considered as an autonomous field to be studied separately, but can serve the purpose to develop an integrated vision of the human society based on technological evolution. To period beginning after WW2 illustrates this trend, with a further acceleration after the “digital revolution”.
The relation between technology and contemporary history raises questions about the human-machine relations, to be linked with an historical anthropology approach.
Technology as an anthropomorphic activity?
History and technology
BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE VOL. 1 OCTOBER, 1950 No. 4 Presidential Address, The History of Ancient Technology Delivered by PROFESSOR J. R. PARTINGTON, M.B.E., on 1st May, 195
Stephen Barley, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management Volume 15, Issue 4, September 1998, Pages 237-255 What can we learn from the history of technology?
Science, technology, policy and democracy
_Science The Endless Frontier, A Report to the President by Vannevar Bush, Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, July 1945 / Roosevelt Presidency
https://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/nsf50/vbush1945.htm
_Carl Mitcham, Science policy and democracy, VANNEVAR BUSH’S SCIENCE THE ENDLESS FRONTIER
Volume 67, November 2021, 101783 Technology in Society
Cold War / Deterrence/ Industry
Industry in the Cold War Author(s): Francis Walton Source: Ordnance, Vol. 44, No. 238 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1960), pp. 588-591 Published by: National Defense Industrial Association Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/45365746 Accessed: 10-11-2021 14:21 UTC
Principles of Nuclear Deterrence and Strategy, Bruno Tertrais, NDC report, May 2021
Deterrence and the Cold War Author(s): Richard Ned Lebow and Janice Gross Stein Source: Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 110, No. 2 (Summer, 1995), pp. 157-181 Published by: The Academy of Political Science
Settimana 9
the question of a technological dominance. Defense technology
Technology and military power: some examples and a classic analysis.
Defense technology as a key feature/development for the reach of military supremacy/deterrence (development of weapons, nuclear race.)
The cold war, a technological victory? (USA SDI)
The switch between a “defense” technological push to a “civilian” technological push. A new paradigm? to what extend?
Additional readings
Deudney, Daniel, and G. John Ikenberry. “Who Won the Cold War?” Foreign Policy, no. 87, 1992, pp. 123–138. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1149164. Accessed 3 July 2021.
Rasser, Martijn, and Megan Lamberth. How the United States Competed: Past Technology Strategies. Center for a New American Security, 2021, pp. 14–20, Taking the Helm: A National Technology Strategy to Meet the China Challenge, www.jstor.org/stable/resrep28655.7.
Settimana 10
Space policy: from a classic case (space race during the cold war) to a transformative one (new space)
The Space race and the cold war, milestones and developments. Strategies of the main players (USA, USSR, European countries, China).
The ideological dimension of the space race: the question of an “irrational technology” persuading pure ideological goals?
Imagining the Cosmos: Utopians, Mystics, and the Popular Culture of Spaceflight in Revolutionary Russia Author(s): Asif A. Siddiqi Source: Osiris, Vol. 23, No. 1, Intelligentsia Science: The Russian Century, 1860-1960 (2008), pp. 260-288 Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science Society Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/591877
"Why Are We Telling Lies?" The Creation of Soviet Space History Myths Author(s): SLAVA GEROVITCH Source: The Russian Review, JULY 2011, Vol. 70, No. 3 (JULY 2011), pp. 460-484
Kennedy's Romantic Moon and Its Rhetorical Legacy for Space Exploration Author(s): John W. Jordan Source: Rhetoric and Public Affairs, Summer 2003, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Summer 2003), pp. 209-231 Published by: Michigan State University Press
Competing Technologies, National(ist) Narratives, and Universal Claims: Toward a Global History of Space Exploration Author(s): ASIF A. SIDDIQI Source: Technology and Culture, April 2010, Vol. 51, No. 2 (April 2010), pp. 425-443 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press and the Society for the History of Technology
Space, the Final Economic Frontier Author(s): Matthew Weinzierl Source: The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Spring 2018), pp. 173-192 Published by: American Economic Association Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26409430
Gil Denis, Didier Alary, Xavier Pasco, Nathalie Pisot, Delphine Texier, Sandrine Toulza, “From new space to big space: How commercial space dream is becoming a reality”, https://www.frstrategie.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/autres/2020/articleespace.pdf
Jean-Pierre Darnis « The New Space Economy: Consequences for Space Security in Europe », in Kai-Uwe Schrogl (ed.), Handbook of Space Security. Policies, Applications and Programs, Cham, Springer, 2019
Jean-Pierre Darnis “Space as a Key Element of Europe's Digital Sovereignty», Notes de l'Ifri, dicember 2020, 22 p https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/darnis_space_europe_digital_sovereignty_2020_.pdf
Settimana 11
From computing/telecommunications networks to the digital age, a further shift?
Informatic age, telecommunication development, internet protocols. Actors and trends.
Internet and the political vision of a “open” society in the 20th century.
Grid technologies transformation.
The 21st century digitalization shift: the data paradigm (main technological steps)
The question of the interpretation of this technological evolution. A new relation between human and machine
Grid transformation: the case of energy production and technology
Additional readings:
Rosenzweig, Roy. “Wizards, Bureaucrats, Warriors, and Hackers: Writing the History of the Internet.” The American Historical Review, vol. 103, no. 5, 1998, pp. 1530–1552. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2649970
“Internet Histories, Narratives and the Rise of the Network Ideology.” The Internet Myth: From the Internet Imaginary to Network Ideologies, by Paolo Bory, vol. 14, University of Westminster Press, London, 2020, pp. 7–38. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv12fw7sn.6
Brooke, Heather. “Inside the Digital Revolution.” Journal of International Affairs, vol. 70, no. 1, 2016, pp. 29–53. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/90012596
Jerry Glowniak, History, structure, and function of the internet, Seminars in Nuclear Medicine,
Volume 28, Issue 2, 1998, Pages 135-144, (Elsevier Science Direct)
Miller, Daniel, et al. The Global Smartphone: Beyond a Youth Technology. UCL Press, 2021. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1b0fvh1
GDPR
The Untold Story of Edward Snowden’s Impact on the GDPRAuthor(s): Hallie Coyne Source: The Cyber Defense Review, Vol. 4, No. 2 (FALL 2019), pp. 65-80 Published by: Army Cyber Institute
The European Union and the Search for Digital Sovereignty: Building “Fortress Europe” or Preparing for a New World? Author(s): FRANCES G. BURWELL and KENNETH PROPP Atlantic Council (2020)
Transatlantic Data Transfers The Slow-Motion Crisis Author(s): Kenneth Propp Council on Foreign Relations (2021)
Farrell, Henry, and Abraham Newman. “The Transatlantic Data War: Europe Fights Back Against the NSA.” Foreign Affairs, vol. 95, no. 1, 2016, pp. 124–133., www.jstor.org/stable/43946632
Digital world
REALITY BYTES Author(s): Matthew Taylor and Anthony Giddens Source: RSA Journal, Vol. 161, No. 5564 (2015), pp. 26-29 Published by: Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26204456
Inside the Digital Revolution Author(s): Heather Brooke Source: Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 70, No. 1, The Cyber Issue (Winter 2016), pp. 29-53 Published by: Journal of International Affairs Editorial Board
Settimana 12
The digital age, a completely data driven word?
Historical cases:
Citizenship and digital technology: Snowden Case, Max Schrems cases
Tech platforms and democracy: Facebook Cambridge Analytica case
Tech and power: The 5G question within the US/China competition.
Issues
The question of politics, sovereignty and democracy within the digital age:
A new scale of power for the states if compared with the techno giants? Do tech platforms raise issues for democracy?
International geopolitical competition: The US/China rivalry and its technological dimension
Digital agenda in international policy. The EU emerging as a regulatory power (GDPR, Digital strategy).
An emerging EU technological sovereignty concept.
Additional readings
Greenstein, Shane. “The Basic Economics of Internet Infrastructure.” The Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 34, no. 2, 2020, pp. 192–214. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26913190. Accessed 9 Apr. 2024.
Lamoreaux, Naomi R. “The Problem of Bigness: From Standard Oil to Google.” The Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 33, no. 3, 2019, pp. 94–117. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26732323
“THE SURVEILLANCE STATE AND ITS DISCONTENTS.” Foreign Policy, no. 203, 2013, pp. 64–74. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24576005
Laurence NARDON, Siméon RUST, USA/Europe: Seven Digital Challenges, Potomac Paper, No. 42, July 2021, https://www.ifri.org/en/publications/notes-de-lifri/potomac-papers/usaeurope-seven-digital-challenges
Jean-Pierre Darnis “The European Union between strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty: impasses and opportunities, FRS Recherches & Documents, n°10/2021 (Avril 2021), 16 p,
Ali SM, Dick S, Dillon S, Jones ML, Penn J, Staley R. Histories of artificial intelligence: a genealogy of power. BJHS Themes. 2023;8:1-18. doi:10.1017/bjt.2023.15
Scharre, Paul. “Implications for Policymakers.” Future-Proofing Frontier AI Regulation: Projecting Future Compute for Frontier AI Models, Center for a New American Security, 2024, pp. 7–8. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep58333.6. Accessed 9 Apr. 2024.
Aaronson, Susan Ariel. “The Data Governance Challenges.” Data Disquiet: Concerns about the Governance of Data for Generative AI, Centre for International Governance Innovation, 2024, pp. 8–16. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep58361.9. Accessed 9 Apr. 2024.