SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURAL AND COMMUNICATION PROCESSES

SPS/08 - 6 CFU - 1° Semester

Teaching Staff

FRANCESCA CARUSO


Learning Objectives

The course aims to outline a general theoretical framework within which communication is articulated both interactive micro-and macro levels in modern social systems, deepening the analysis of the meanings it assumes part of the broader relationship between the individual, society and culture.


Course Structure

The program aims to provide:

the analytical skills to read the functions of verbal communication. In this area will be taken into consideration: the axioms, the code, the structure and nature of the sign, (De Saussure and Peirce), the pattern of communication according to Shannon and Weaver, the aberrant decoding; communication functions according to Jakobson; the circuit seductive communication and the application of the circuit seductive fashion and advertising; paralinguistic traits;

the analytical skills for reading body language, deepening the analysis of non-verbal communication. In this area will be taken into consideration: the logical symbols, signs analog, the unconscious contents of nonverbal communication on self and interpersonal relations; proxemics, the spatial behavior; encoding and decoding of emotions;

∙ an outline of the main trends that characterize the literature on theories of media effects also investigating the problem of the influence of these on their users;

∙ the acquisition of theoretical knowledge essential to the understanding of the general news media as an original contribution to the cultural forms of expression and as a central activity of legitimacy of the journalistic profession, deepening the criteria that influence the selection of events that become news;

∙ an overview of the genesis and expansion of the means of mass communication in the light of technological and socio-cultural changes, also investigating the structure, organization and content of the media;

∙ the analysis of the impact of electronic media on social behavior, examining how electronic media have led to a fundamental change in social behavior.



Detailed Course Content

Mass communication theories, main authors and concepts of the Sociology of cultural and communication processes.



Textbook Information

U. Volli, Il libro della comunicazione, Il saggiatore, Milano, 1994 CAP. 1: Par. 1.2 - 1.2.1 - 1.3 - 1.4 - 1.4.1 - 1.4.2 - 1.5 - 1.5.1 - 1.6 - 1.7 - 1.7.1 - -1.8 - 1.8.1; CAP. 10 - Par. 10.1 - 10.1.1 - 10.2 - 10.3 - 10.3.1 - 10.4 - 10.4.1 - 10.4.2

M. Argyle, Il corpo e il suo linguaggio. Zanichelli, 1992 CAP. 5 L’espressione dell’emozione. CAP. 6 Atteggiamenti interpersonali CAP. 8 L’espressione del volto. CAP. 12 Gesti e movimenti del corpo. Cap.13 la postura

D. McQuail: Sociologia dei media, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2007, CAP. 1 - 3 - 4 – 5 – 12 – 14 – 15 – 16 -17 -18

F.A.M. Caruso, Riflessioni sui mass media tra masticazione informativa e funzione civica, Annali 2010” Facoltà di Scienze della Formazione, Università di Catania 2011. pp. 154-169 http://ojs.unict.it/ojs/index.php/annali-sdf/article/view/103/91 pp. 1-17

F.A.M. Caruso, Teoria Sociale e Teatro. Struttura e azione sociale in Marx, Durkheim, Gurvitch, Goffman, Bonanno, Acireale-Roma, 2018




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