SCV0762 - HISTORY OF ASIA

courses

ID:

SCV0762

Duration (hours):

52

CFU:

SSD:

STORIA E ISTITUZIONI DELL'ASIA

Year:

2025

Date/time interval

Primo Semestre (22/09/2025 - 19/12/2025)

Course Objectives

The course provides an in-depth knowledge of the History Asia during the 19th and 20th century.
Among the learning objectives we find:
• the knowledge of the main processess and events that characterized the modern history of Asia in a global perspective;
• the ability to interpret, discuss and present the acquired information under the lens of the historical processes;
• the ability to understand the social and political dynamics in Asia in the framework of the Asian international relations;
• the capacity to understand the premises and the results of the historiographical debate among scholars as well as the public debate on the mass media.

Course Prerequisites

None

Teaching Methods

The learning objectives will be achieved through 52 lecture hours. Students are expected to participate in the discussions and analysis of additional materials (documents short videos, films, and images) provided by the lecturer. Attending students will be offered the opportunity to prepare (as an alternative to studying the text authored by Ludden) a final output to be presented in class orally at the end of the course (which will be assessed). The output consists in a 10-to-15-slides powerpoint file on a topic to be chosen in agreement with the lecturer. All those who have attended 50% minimum of the class hours are considered attending students.

Assessment Methods

The final exam consists in an oral examination (four questions) concerning the readings suggested for the “General” and “Monographic” parts of the course, specifically:

o Two questions concerning the reading by Enrica Collotti Pischel, Storia dell’Asia Orientale, 1850-1949, Roma, Carocci, 1994.

o one question concerning the reading by Kai Vogelsang, Cina. Una storia millenaria, Torino Einaudi, 2014 (ch. 8, 9)

o one question concerning the reading by David Ludden, Storia dell’India e dell’Asia del Sud e del Sud Est asiatico, Torino, Einaudi, 2011 (ch. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

The final mark (expressed on a scale of 30) will take into account the accuracy of the answers (worth 60% of the mark), as well as students’ analytical and presentation skills (worth 40% of the mark).
Attending students who have presented their final work in class will have to answer three questions related to the indicated reference texts excluding Ludden's volume. The minimum grade for passing the exam is 18/30.

The course explores the history of modern Asia in a global perspective, specifically the changes of traditional social structures determined by the European colonization, the subsequent emergence of nationalisms and the main stages of decolonization. The course focuses on the origins and evolution of the People’s Republic of China and the processes of independence of India and Pakistan, in order to assess the crucial weight of religion in defining identities and political balances in South Asia.