BERGAMO
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
This course aims at strengthening students' critical and autonomous thinking on the most recent social phenomena (digitalization, social networks, 4.0 technologies, diversity, etc.) and their impact on the role of organisations in society. More specifically, at the end of the course, students acquire the theoretical knowledge for
a) the critical analysis of the most relevant social processes ongoing in contemporary society and organizations;
b) the critical interpretation of the relationship between biographical trajectories and demographic, technological, and cultural transformations in contemporary society and organizations;
c) the application of the main sociological categories to analyze and interpret group behaviours and organizational practice.
Course Prerequisites
-
Teaching Methods
Teaching is carried out with methodologies aimed at promoting dialogue between students and the teacher. The course includes lectures, case studies, group work, thematic insights, including audiovisual stimuli.
The teaching activity includes the use of the Moodle platform, where the materials of the lessons will be uploaded. If the course is taught in mixed or distance mode, changes may be introduced with respect to what is stated in the syllabus in order to make the course and exams usable in these modes as well.
Assessment Methods
The examination consists of a written test and the evaluation will be expressed in thirtieths.
The interview will consist of open-ended and specific questions to test understanding and knowledge of the texts. In addition, complex questions will be proposed to understand the student's ability to critically analyze situations using the conceptual tools learned during the course.
Evaluation criteria adopted:
(a) the relevance of the answer to the question.
b) the ability to synthesize
c) language property
For excellence, the ability to make connections, the use of critical and strategic thinking will also be considered.
Evaluation of students participating in the group work:
- Group work on thematic insights (30% of the final grade). Each group works on a specific thematic among those proposed and results of the activity are shared with the other participants during the lessons. Detailed modalities will be explained during the course, also depending on the number of participants. This activity will be completed before the end the course.
- Written exam on the general part of the course, starting from the themes emerged in the group work.
Evaluation of students who do not take part in the group work:
- Written exam on general part of the course and one in-depth thematic insight of the student's choice among those proposed.
Contents
The course introduces some of the most relevant transformations in the contemporary society and focuses on the implications of the interplay between individuals (micro level) and their social context, including organizations (meso) and the wider society (macro), adopting a sociological perspective to observe and analyze the interactions between cultural, economic and social change.
The first part of the course introduces students to the building blocks of the “sociological thinking” and to the main sociological perspectives. The course covers key concepts like culture, including values and social norms driving human behavior; social relations, ranging from group interactions to social networks, conflict and social cohesion; social inequalities, with reference to the dynamics of mobility and stratification. On these bases, the course explores the mechanisms of social change, the main social transformations in the modernization framework, and the social implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In this context, social phenomena of specific interest of this course are critically analyzed making use of the sociological conceptual instruments previously introduced in the course. These in-depth analyses cover organizational phenomena like, for example, work-life balance challenges; the impact on social life of digitalization; and new emerging forms of economy, such as platform economy, green economy.
Online Resources
More information
Additional readings are not required for non-attending students but they are encouraged to contact the professor prior to the exam.