0000005 - Geography of Italy. A regional approach

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course offers a critical reconstruction of the genesis, historical events, and political-institutional developments that have characterized the formation of Italian regions. It discusses the processes of regionalism and regionalization as they have been addressed in national and international geographic debates.

The study of regional territorial organization in Italy, presented from a long-term perspective—from the pre- and post-unification era to the phase of the Constituent Assembly and then the period of the Italian Republic up to contemporary times—will be supported by an adequate knowledge of specialized terminology, cartographic sources, and qualitative methodological tools to deconstruct the interplay between discursive and cartographic representations, institutional demands, and social practices. The course aims to equip students with critical tools to interpret the socio-spatial dynamics of contemporary society.

After focusing on the key moments in the construction and evolution of Italian regions, the course will delve into an in-depth analysis of the territorial transformations that have taken place over time.

The course aims to foster the acquisition of methodological skills, through a historical-geographical approach, in understanding the disciplinary debate within Italian geography concerning regionality and its critical history. Since regionalism and processes of regionalization have been and continue to be structural aspects of the formation of the Italian state—significantly influencing the course of Republican Italy, its relations within the Mediterranean basin, and the variety of policies linked to the EU, from its origins as the European Economic Community with the Treaty of Rome in 1957.

The specific educational objectives of the course are:

a) To foster sensitivity towards geographical knowledge, based on a transdisciplinary approach;

b) To develop interpretative skills attentive to historical contexts, aimed at learning the specialized vocabulary of geographical culture and useful qualitative methodological tools;

c) To have mastery of the fundamental concepts and specific paradigms of the discipline;

d) To clearly present the topics discussed in class and those found in the bibliography;

e) To deconstruct the history of Italian regions and the formation of the political-administrative framework in which they are embedded.

ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

The students will be expected to demonstrate autonomous understanding and evaluation skills regarding current processes of territorialization, which result from political, economic, social, and cultural dynamics that characterize the geographies of the contemporary world.

In the second part of the course, students attending will present topics of their choice, agreed upon with the teacher who will coordinate the seminar activity based on texts of the bibliographies.

This method of presenting some themes through exposés prepared by students and conducted by a single participant or organized in small groups of two or three, it promotes the development of soft skills such as teamwork, peer coordination, and personal oral presentation skills, which are useful in any future professional activity etc.

ADDITIONAL EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

Judgment Autonomy

Mastery of the themes presented and discussed, supported by the ability to develop a conscious and critical thinking.

Communication Skills

Consolidation of the discipline-specific language aimed at framing phenomena of the contemporary world, connecting different geographical themes across scales.

The arguments will result from a disciplinary methodological approach to the themes related to the territorial, social, and political dynamics of Italian regional formations within the context of the modern world.

Learning Ability Autonomy

The autonomy of learning and judgment will be strengthened through seminar experiences via presentations, which allow for the development of a conscious use of different concepts, adopting an interdisciplinary perspective and, in particular, a historical-geographical approach.