The course will introduce students to the study of the public sphere and of the processes by which digital media shape the dynamics of publicity, the circulation and sharing of public discourses, namely those public representations that express a collective feeling and have relevance for politics and democracy. The course will provide interpretive and critical tools to understand 1) what a public discourse is, what are its peculiarities and what makes it relevant for democracy 2) how public discourses take shape in social media and are shaped by their communicative cultures. At the end of the course, students will have acquired the basic conceptual tools useful for understanding the processes of the digital public sphere.
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Teaching will be based on traditional lectures, paying particular attention to comparison and direct dialogue with students, who will be able, during the lessons, to formulate proposals for in-depth studies or debate.
The evaluation of the course aims at verifying the knowledge of the topics covered during the course and presented in the bibliography. The exam is written and lasts one hour and consists of open questions
The evaluation will take into account the following criteria:
- relevance of the answers;
- argumentative ability;
- use of correct terminology;
- reasoned and coherent structuring of the discourse.
Students can choose between two lists of questions: one based on the texts marked with the letter A and one on the texts marked with the letter B in the "Reading section".
Each answer is attributed a mark expressed in thirtieths; to pass it all questions must obtain a mark of at least 18/30.
For those whose syllabus includes the exam THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION AND DIGITAL MEDIA code 92169 (12 CFU), the module SOCIOLOGY OF DIGITAL MEDIA [92169-MOD2] is combined with the module THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA [92169-MOD1].
The exam of the two modules - lasting two hours - must be taken on the same day and the final grade will be given by the average of the marks obtained in each individual module. Positive evaluations in both assignments are required to pass the exam (12 CFU).
The course is divided into two parts. The first will be dedicated to the presentation and analysis of the main theories and concepts used to describe the public sphere and to the conceptual tools useful for the analysis of audience formation and public discourses. The second part will be dedicated to the discussion of empirical research carried out in the field of sociology of communication and media and that show some specific types of public discourse in social media platforms.
The program is valid for both attending and non-attending students. Erasmus students and students with PDP or PEI are invited to contact the teacher at the beginning of the courses.
