Theaching about the religious phenomenon in Italy: a latent contradiction

When looking in depth at the teaching of subjects that study the religious phenomenon in Italian universities, traditionally provided by the faculties of Law, Political Sciences and some humanities faculties, it is impossible to ignore the radical transformation that has been taking place in recent years in university studies. This has profoundly affected both research and didactics, in a direction that has been described by some as “mercantilistic” and that has met with deep disapproval in the academic environment. In short, the Italian university education system has undergone profound transformations in order to adapt to the European higher education model. The reform, whose logical prerequisite is represented by the so-called “Bologna process” has been carried out, in its first stage, through the modification of the old education system and the introduction of specialist degrees, as well as education credits by Ministerial Decree 509/1999. Subsequently, the new reform, which should be complete by 2011, sets out to redesign first and second level courses, introducing further modifications relating to degree classes and the naming of the awards and academic qualifications given. This was implemented by Ministerial Decree 270/2004.