Universitat Pompeu Fabra
International Campus

Barcelona: The City and its History

Hispanic & European Studies Program 2009/10

 Lecturers: Fall Term Meritxell Ferrer (Group 1) & Lucía Conte (Group 2) / Spring Term Stephen Jacobson (Group 3) & Toni Luna (Group 4)
 email: lucia.conte@upf.edu meritxell.ferrer@upf.edu  stephen.jacobson@upf.edu antoni.luna@upf.edu

 Office: 20.2E52 (Meritxell) - T-304  (Lucía) 20.263 (Stephen) & 20.258 (Toni)- Jaume I Building (Ciutadella Campus)

 

[Please Note: Students with disabilities that require special arrangements should see the instructor as soon as possible so that they can be accommodated.]

Barcelona: The City & its History

1. INTRODUCTION
- Course presentation
- Introduction to Barcelona
 

2. THE ROMANS IN BARCELONA
- The foundation of Barcelona
- Urban morphology of the roman city
- Visit to the Museu d'Història de la Ciutat de Barcelona

3. A COUNTS AND KINGS' CITY
- The birth of "Catalunya"
- The catalan-aragonese Mediterranean empire
- The development of civil institutions: Consell de Cent, Guilds, etc.

4. THE GOTHIC BARCELONA
- First and second medieval walls
- Urban development and society in late medieval Barcelona
- Romanesque and gothic art and architecture
- Walking tour around the Ribera neighbourhood
- The crisis of the Medieval Age

5. UNDER THE CITADEL
- The times of the Austrias
- International political conflicts: "War of Spanish Succession"
- The city under the citadel
- The reach of America

6. COTTON, STEAM AND URBAN GROWTH
- The Industrial Revolution in Barcelona
- Growth and densification of the Old city
- Cerdà and his project of L'Eixample

7. A PRODIGIOUS CITY
- The Renaixença
- The International Exhibitions of 1888 and 1929
- Modernisme
- Visits to the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Park of the Ciutadella

8. THE REPUBLICAN BARCELONA
- The political development of catalanism
- A crisis for catalanism: Primo de Rivera's dictatorship
- The Spanish Republic

9. CIVIL WAR AND FRANQUISM IN BARCELONA
- Civil War (past and present experience)
- Barcelona under Franquism
- From isolation to economic growth, from survival to active fighting

10. A COLORFUL CITY?
- The return of democratic institutions
- The Olympic Games
- Forum de las Culturas Barcelona 2004

COURSE DIRECTIONS

For the students' evaluation there will be one middle term exam, final exam and a paper, all compulsory. Besides, class participation will be graded.

The paper could be entitled: "Critical field studies of Barcelona". It will consist on a critical essay about another site of the city that you choose and that you need to visit on your own (5-7 pages). In the essay you have to describe the site and study critically some aspect related to it, based on some critical academic bibliography (at least 3 sources).

Evaluation of the course is distributed as it follows:

  • Middle term exam 30%
  • Final exam 30%
  • Paper 30%
  • Class participation 10%

      During the course the student would read the texts of the xerox/reader. These readings will be distributed among the students and will be evaluated in the exam. Most of the texts will be discussed in class.

Last updated 05-06-2009
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