History of Venice: syllabus
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Luca Pes, Venice International University
The course will be divided into six units: 1) interpretations of the origins of the City; Wladimiro Dorigo’s controversial interpretation; the armwrestle between land and sea; City-building and the invention of the Lagoon; digging wooden poles; excavating and sanding canals; the defense of the Lagoon; the Magistrato alle acque; functions of water; water and City morphology; toponyms and the City origins 2) the fortunes of Venice; vanguard position of the Byzantine Empire with good relations with the German Empire; the fight against pirates for the protection of the Adriatic Sea; gradual autonomy from Byzantium; the conquest of the Eastern Mediterranean markets; the Cruzades; Constantinople taken over; foundation of an Empire; conquest of the Mainland; City-State and dominions; physical presence of Venice in the former dominions today; an economy-world made of culture and exchanges; City-emporium; Marco Polo; the segregation of foreigners 3) myths and anti-myths; the capital of Art, Culture and Printing; the Most Serene oligarchic government and the non-feudal aristocracy; Venice and the Inquisition; a Secular or a Christian City?; the condition of women; health and welfare policies; Scuole Grandi, hospitals, corporations; popular classes; a network of ambassadors; a “pacifist diplomacy”?; vanguard urban planning; Murano, first industrial district; the slow decline; Napoleon; the democratic republic; imprints of modernity; the black legend against the aristocracy; the myth of the death of Venice; the defence of the City’s past in the XIXth Century; “com’era dov’era” 4) the XIXth Century as a rebirth; urban policies: continuities between democratic municipality, Napoleon, Austrians; arsenal, canals, punto franco, porto franco, railway, road network; City engineers; from a society based on orders to a society based on classes; the formation a new High Bourgeoisie which included the rich aristocracy; the importance of the Chamber of Commerce; the exclusion of the Professionals from politics; the 1848-49 Revolution; Rights, Censorship, the role of the Church; the conditions of women and of the popular classes; charity and beggars; Igienismo; port, tourism, industries; the incorporation in the Kingdom of Italy; Lido becomes part of the Venice City Government; the relationship between the City, the Lagoon, the hHinterland and the region; the Piano di Risanamento of the 1880’s 5) the first Venetian industrial revolution (1880); the impact; the transformations of the social classes; a “new” capitalism; SADE; Adriatic Imperialism and the Marghera Project; the workers and Socialist Movement; the Catholic movement; the anti-socialist front; the First World War; building the new industrial port and area; the growth of Fascism and Fiumanesimo; the extension of municipal boundaries to inglobe the Mainland (1926); the idea of the Greater Venice; its strength and weakness; urban development at the Lido; the Rosso Plan; Life in Venice during Fascism; the invention of Triveneto; Second World War; Venice headquarter of Ministries of Salò; Resistence movements; postwar Reconstruction; the Second Industrial Zone at Marghera; projects for a Third Zone: Venice as the heart of Fordism; the advent of mass tourism 6) migrations fron the Center to the Mainland; functional City and Urbs; the definition of the Problema di Venezia; Venice and the debate on the Historic Centers; 1966; Venice in peril; crisis of Marghera; fear of Mestre and imaginary on Mestre; Venice as excluding City; the failure of the great projects of urban innovation (S.Giuliano, underground transportation system; Expo 2000); referendums; Bipolar City versus città al plurale; Mainland urbanization; the Housing Problem; ethnocentrism in Venice; effects of globalization; from a class-based society to a status-based society; decisionì-making and power in contemporary Venice; Lagoon, MoSE, Consorzio Venezia Nuova; pollution, HighTide; sustainable tourism?; port and airport; the universities; labour structure; scenarios The course will consist of interactive lectures, visits on locations (Historical Archives, Arsenale etc.) and discussions with students on selected readings. Students arew expected to write a final essay of at least 15 pages and to present it orally to the class at the end of the course. 
