EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
The objective of the course is to provide students with the tools and knowledge to understand and critically interpret the main developments in the modern and contemporary history of India. These developments will be analyzed from a historical perspective, seeking to trace the repercussions on present-day India of a series of long-term processes. A core objective of the course is, in fact, to understand contemporary India in light of its history. For this reason, greater attention will be dedicated to the most recent period of Indian history, including a focus on present-day India and its political, economic, and social system.
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
Students must demonstrate that they have acquired a solid knowledge of the main historical developments in India's history between the mid-16th century and today.
Furthermore, students must demonstrate the ability to use specialized, yet clear, terminology.
ADDITIONAL EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Autonomy of Judgment:
Developing autonomy of judgment is the crucial element for succeeding in this course.
Communication Skills:
Communication skills will be developed through classroom discussion and any in-class presentations. Therefore, various communication skills (argumentation and debate; oral presentation of individual/group research) intended for different types of audiences will be developed.
Learning Ability:
Students will learn to recognize and critically analyze the main long-term historical and political processes in an extremely complex country like India. The knowledge and skills acquired will, on the one hand, be "transferable" to the general analysis of complex processes in other fields; on the other hand, they can serve as a basis for further studies and progress towards a specialized knowledge of the Indian subcontinent.
None
Lectures. Classroom discussion. Student presentations. Group work.
Oral exam based on M. Torri, Storia dell’India (History of India), Chapters X-XVII + Conclusions. Attending students may choose to prepare in-class presentations, which will account for 30% of the final grade. In this case, for the oral exam, students will only need to prepare Chapters XV-XVII + Conclusions from Torri's text. The final grade will be the weighted average of the two components (in-class presentations and oral exam).
The lecturer may agree upon ad hoc exam programs to accommodate the interests of attending students.
For attending students, textbooks and teaching materials will be provided by the lecturer at the beginning of the course.
General texts:
• Michelguglielmo Torri, Storia dell’India, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2007
• David Ludden, Storia dell'India e dell'Asia del Sud e del Sud Est asiatico, Torino, Einaudi, 2011
• Sugata Bose e Ayesha Jalal, Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy, Routledge, Oxon, 2011
TOPICS
1. Mughal India;
2. Colonial India;
3. Independent India;
4. .Narendra Modi’s India (2014-)
Italian. In case there are foreign students, the course will be in English.
