Making Italians: colonial history and the graduate education system from the liberal era to Fascism

Abstract

This article explores the role of colonialism in the education of the Italian elites from\ud the Liberal era to Fascism through a study of the teaching of colonial history in the\ud universities. The rebirth of Italy’s colonial ambitions at the end of the nineteenth\ud century and their expansion during the two decades of Fascism resulted in the creation\ud of new courses in ‘Colonial Sciences’ in the higher education curriculum. The\ud development of these studies was also part of a longer-term series of changes in the\ud Italian university system that started in the early twentieth century. Colonial History\ud was taught in only a small number of institutions in the Liberal eras, but gained greater\ud importance and autonomy under Fascism. An analysis of the courses, of the careers of\ud those responsible for them and of the text books they used offers a measure of their\ud differing impact on the education of Italian students in the Liberal and Fascist periods and reveals the models of ‘italianita`’ they set out for the future ruling class

Geographical imaginations, public education and the everyday worlds of Fascist Italy

“…One can safely trust the clear vision on geographical issues of [Bottai, who] affirmed that geography 'is an indispensable instrument of action for a people that, after regaining their imperial position, must compete, and desire to compete, with other peoples'. (Malesani 1939, 217 -218) As Pes (2013), Deplano (2013) and Galfré (2005) demonstrate, the educational infrastructure of Italy was reoriented towards shaping future generations. I argue that Bottai also used formal education to make Italians think geographically at wider scales.…”

“…In addition, in early 1935 the Trieste ICF organized its third 'Afterwork course on colonial ideas', which ran weekly, in the evenings, and now expanded to include new material on geography (L'Azione coloniale 1935b). By the later 1930s, 'Colonial Science' was being taught in Universities (Deplano 2013), but in January 1935 this course in Trieste was well established and was already aimed at a broader, public constituency.…”