The course is divided into two modules.

MODULE 1. Universal exhibitions and the development of socio-economic and cultural networks between the 19th and 20th centuries
The universal exhibitions, between the mid-nineteenth century and the Second World War, are an ideal observatory for understanding the links between the development of networks of socio-economic relationships and the construction of transnational cultural representations. The universal expositions were in fact important communication and media agencies, in particular in spreading processes of cultural interrelationships, decisive results in the social construction of close ties between Europe and the Americas (but not only).

MODULE 2. Maritime history and history of Mediterranean ports. Traffic, commerce and development models
The history of trade is investigated through a comparative historical perspective on the continuities and breaks in the maritime history of the Mediterranean. The stories of the ports of Genoa and Naples, Marseilles and Barcelona, Athens and Ravenna are narrated and intersect. Through the port system of Civitavecchia and its assumption of a leadership role, the evolution of international trade and tourism in the Euro-Mediterranean space is investigated.

Module 1:
L. Palermo, Storia del commercio, Roma-Bari, Laterza, Edizione digitale 2015
https://www.laterza.it/scheda-libro/?isbn=9788858100806: Introduzione, capitoli 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
A.Pellegrino ( a cura di), Viaggi fantasmagorici. L'odeporica delle esposizioni universali (1851-1940), FrancoAngeli, Milano 2018.

Module 2:
T. Amodio, La sfida dei porti nel Mediterraneo “allargato”, Aracne, Roma 2017
M. Elisabetta Tonizzi (a cura di), Porti dell’Europa mediterranea (secoli XIX-XX), dossier monografico di “Memoria e Ricerca”, settembre-dicembre 2002, FrancoAngeli, Milano 2002 (casi di Napoli, Genova, Marsiglia, Barcellona, Atene, Ravenna).