12661 - Sociology of Communication (1) (A-L)

Learning outcomes

Students learn basic tools to analyze the different forms and the several channels of contemporary communication (interpersonal and face-to-face communication, media communication, web and social media).

Course contents

The course is divided into two parts that complement each other.
The first part of the course will provide students with basic concepts and tools for understanding, from a sociological perspective, communication as a process and as social practices.
The following topics in particular will be addressed:

• Definition of communication as process and as social practices
• The subjects of communication and their purposes
• Communication as a symbolic process: between symbols and reality
• Communication between understanding and interpretation
• Functions and social uses of communication
• The mediatization of reality, between production and consumption of media
  

In the second part, the processes of codification, understanding and interpretation of signs and messages will be analyzed, also with reference to the main theories of mass communication, and the processes of public opinion formation.
The following will be the subject of in-depth study:

• the theme of audiences and publics: the ways in which audiences receive them, the role of digital media in contemporary society, in relation to social, cultural and institutional transformations.
• the role of media and media representations in the construction of social problems, particularly in the areas of the environment and migration

Readings/Bibliography

First parte of the course:

G. Boccia Artieri, F. Colombo, G. Gili, Comunicare, persone, relazioni, media, Laterza, Bari, 2022

Second part of the course:

a) S. Bentivegna, G. Boccia Artieri, Teorie delle comunicazioni di massa e la sfida del digitale, Laterza, Bari, 2019 (all'inizio del corso verrano date indicazioni su quali parti saranno prioritariamente oggetto di verifica)

b) A list of chapters/articles (not final, may be subject to change until the start of the course)

Cappi V., L’altrove è già qui: comunicare il cambiamento climatico al tempo presente, 5^ capitolo del volume Cappi, Immaginare l’altrove nell’epoca dell’Antropocene, FrancoAngeli, 2023, pp. 101-126, volume open access scaricabile a questo link: https://series.francoangeli.it/index.php/oa/catalog/book/933.

Faloppa F. (2020), L’hate speech, questo sconosciuto, disponibile online:https://www.treccani.it/magazine/lingua_italiana/speciali/Hate_speech/01_Faloppa.html

Gheno V. (2020), Se gli hater siamo (anche) noi: gli errori comuni su social e giornali, disponibile online: https://www.agendadigitale.eu/cultura-digitale/gli-hater-siamo-anche-noi-la-piaga-del-noivoismo-spiegata-bene/

Moser C. S. Communicating climate change: history, challenges, process and future directions, in «WIREs Climate Change», 1: 31-53, https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wcc.11

Musarò P. e Parmiggiani P., La mediatizzazione del fenomeno migratorio, capitolo 2 del volume Musarò, Parmiggiani, Ospitalità mediatica. Le migrazioni nel discorso pubblico, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2022, disponibile online: https://series.francoangeli.it/index.php/oa/catalog/book/791

Musarò P. e Parmiggiani P., Oltre gli stereotipi: pratiche di ospitalità mediatica, capitolo 4 del volume Musarò, Parmiggiani, Ospitalità mediatica. Le migrazioni nel discorso pubblico, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2022, disponibile online: https://series.francoangeli.it/index.php/oa/catalog/book/791

Teaching methods

Lectures will be both face-to-face and interactive, audiovisual materials (films, videos, etc.) will be used, experts in the various topics covered by the course will be invited, moments of discussion will be constantly opened with students on the topics proposed during the lectures

Assessment methods

Attending students are considered those who have completed attendance of at least 85 percent of the lectures.

The final exam for attending students consists of:
- a partial written test at the end of the first 5 weeks on the topics and concepts discussed during the first part of the course in relation to the text G. Boccia Artieri, F. Colombo, G. Gili, Comunicare, persone, relazioni, media, Laterza, Bari, 2022 and the slides used in class by the lecturer. Further information on the written test will be provided at the beginning of the course.
- a second written test after the second 5 weeks on the topics covered in the second part of the course related to the text S. Bentivegna, G. Boccia Artieri, Teorie delle comunicazioni di massa e la sfida del digitale, Laterza, Bari, 2019 and to the list of chapters/essays indicated in the bibliography and discussed in class. Further information on the written test will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Only those who have passed the first paper will be allowed to take the second final paper. The final grade will be the weighted average of the grades given in the two exams.
Those who fail the first test will take the oral examination on the entire program. Those who fail the second test will take the oral examination on the second part of the course only.

The final examination for non-attenders consists of an oral examination on the entire program.

It will be assessed as excellent the performance of those students achieving an organic vision of the course contents and the use of a proper specific language.

It will be assessed as discrete the performance of those students showing mostly mechanical or mnemonic knowledge of the subject, not articulated synthesis and analysis capabilities, a correct but not always appropriate language, as well as a scholastic study of the discipline.

It will be assessed as barely sufficient the performance of those students showing learning gaps and inappropriate language.

It will be assessed as insufficient the performance of those students showing learning gaps, inappropriate language, no orientation within the mandatory bibliography and inability to analyse the subject.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities: it is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

 

Teaching tools

Lectures will be accompanied by the use of slides, audiovisual materials.
The slides projected in class will be made available via the Virtual platform - LearningEnvironment

Office hours

See the website of Giulia Allegrini