Cuore. A secular proposal for the new Italy

CYCLE: Tomorrow
SPEAKER: Adolfo Scotto Di Luzio
DATE: Tuesday, May 5, 6:00 PM
LOCATION: Bibliotheca Maior - Sala della Crociera

Cuore is an attempt to develop a pedagogy of the gaze. Through Enrico’s school diary, the book places the reader in front of the social reality of the newly unified country: poor children, early labor, class differences, families marked by hardship. The school becomes the place where this reality becomes visible and where the emerging bourgeoisie is forced to encounter the popular strata of the new Italy. In this sense, Cuore depicts the country rather than idealizing it. As in the painting of the Macchiaioli, Italy does not appear as an abstract symbol but as a series of concrete scenes, faces, and living conditions. Civic education begins here: learning to look at the country for what it is and assuming responsibility for its historical truth.

Adolfo Scotto di Luzio teaches Contemporary History at the University of Bergamo. He has long worked and continues to work on issues concerning the history of schooling and educational ideas. His major contributions in this field include Il liceo classico (Il Mulino, Bologna, 1999); La scuola degli italiani (Bologna, 2007); and La scuola che vorrei (Bruno Mondadori, Milan, 2014). He has also devoted studies to the history of Italian culture between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His most recent books are Nel groviglio degli anni Ottanta. Politica e illusioni di una generazione nata troppo tardi (Einaudi, Turin, 2020) and L’equivoco don Milani (Einaudi, Turin, 2023).

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