History of Culture

Code:

CINF015

Acronym:

HCUL

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	History

Instance: 2019/2020 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Portuguese and Romance Studies
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor of Arts in Information Science

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
CINF	59	CINF - Study Plan	1	-	6	56	162

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

Having an interdisciplinary focus and promoting a reflection on the past and present, the Curricular Unit of History of Culture aims at providing students with precise knowledge on the cultures of several eras, namely the written culture, so as to deepen the knowledge already acquired in the relationship with the knowledge to be acquired, stimulating the reflection on concepts. The aim is that students develop their critical sense and capacity of connection between past and present, so as to promote the acquisition of skills that allow them to identify a problem, critically discuss a topic and apply that knowledge to new situations.

Learning outcomes and competences

 This Curricular Unit aims to provide students with knowledge that allows them to identify the different Western culture eras. The first topic of the syllabus presents and discusses the concepts of «culture», as introduction, and then it develops the fundamental moments of the written culture, in particular the diversity of practices in the Greek and Hellenic worlds (Library of Alexandria) and the Roman civilization, the Middle Ages (the scriptoria, the notion of «author»), the «Gutenberg’s Europe», the book market and the reader’s taste (18^th-21^st centuries), in the context of increased alphabetization and demographic growth. The second topic will allow the study of the written culture in comparison with the «popular» culture, as a new form of social behaviour. The final topic will allow promoting the reflection on the knowledge acquired, stimulating the critical sense in understanding contemporary societies, highlighting the mechanisms of the production and circulation of cultural «products».

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

N/A

Program

 C1.            Concepts and moments of the history of Western culture: from Antiquity to the contemporary world.

1.1.         Concept(s) of Culture: definition and evolution.

1.2.         The written culture»: practice and modes.

1.2.1.      From Antiquity to the end of the Middle Ages: types of manuscript, ways and spaces of reading.

1.2.2.      Renaissance cultural models. Gutenberg and the new economy of book: techniques and practice (new paradigms of «production» and «publishing»).

1.2.3. Print circulation (books, leaflets, newspapers) and readings habits from Enlightenment to Modernity.

 

2.            Erudite culture/Mass culture

2.1.         The birth of the reading audience: loud reading/silent reading.

2.2.         The «modern» reader: reading ways and spaces in the 18^th century (libraries and literary societies)

2.3.         Book market and reader taste.

2.4.         The «new» readers of the 20^th century.

3. «Media» and reading habits in the modernity.

Mandatory literature

Barbier, Frédéric; L’Europe de Gurenberg. Le livre et l’invention de la modernité occidentale, Belin, 1990., Belin, 1990. ISBN: 2-7011-4203-2
Burke, Peter; Popular culture in early modern Europe. ISBN: 0-85117-150-8
Cavallo, Guglielmo, Chartier, Roger (org.), ; Historia de la lectura en el mundo occidental, Madrid, Taurus, 1998., Taurus, 1997. ISBN: 84-306-0028-0
Chaunu, Pierre; La^civilisation de l.Europe des lumières
Darnton, Robert; The^case for books. ISBN: 978-1-586-48826-0
Darnton, Robert; Gens de lettres, gens du livre
Delumeau, Jean, 1923-; A^civilização do renascimento
Garin, Eugénio; La revolucion cultural del renacimiento
Garin, Eugénio 300; O homem renascentista. ISBN: 972-23-1355-X
Mannheim,Karl ; Essays on the Sociology of culture, London, Routledge, 1992 [1956]., Routledge, 1992 [1956]., 1992
Pires, Maria Laura Bettencourt; Public intellectuals. ISBN: 1646-4877
Casson Lionel; Las^bibliotecas del mundo antiguo. ISBN: 978-84-7290-211-4
Rodrigues Graça Almeida; Breve história da censura literária em Portugal

Complementary Bibliography

Tortorelli, Gianfranco ; ), Biblioteche nobiliari e circolazione del libro tra Settecento e Ottocento, , Pendragon, 2002

Teaching methods and learning activities

The seminars will combine presentation, aiming at knowledge transmission, essential for students to acquire the necessary knowledge, with sessions with commentary on texts and other documents, involving, through previous preparation, the collaboration of students in the presentation or discussion. The discussion of more theoretical topics, previously prepared, aims to contribute to the development of argumentative skills that provide the students with specific skills to present topics of epistemological nature. Evaluation will be conducted by a final exam with the option of choosing among a set of topics for written analysis.

Evaluation Type

Evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	100,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	106,00
Frequência das aulas	56,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

70%

Calculation formula of final grade

Exam - 100%

Examinations or Special Assignments

Not applicable

Internship work/project

Not applicable

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

According to the rules in force

Classification improvement

According to the rules in force