SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURAL AND COMMUNICATION PROCESSES

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.

The program aims to provide the analytical skills for reading the functions of verbal and non-verbal communication; an outline of the main trends that characterize the literature relating to theories on the effects of the media; the acquisition of the theoretical knowledge essential for understanding the news genre; the analysis of the impact of electronic media on social behavior; risk communication.

The program aims to provide:

- 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.

- 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;

- 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;

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

- An indepth study on the media system as a powerful agent of definition of reality that acts on social perception. The social representation of risks is, in fact, influenced by the media that affect them, reconstructing the symbolic universe for their evaluation. In this context, a central dimension for effective risk management will be investigated: communication in emergencies in situations of risk by referring to the case study of the Costa Concordia shipwreck.

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, Il naufragio della Costa Concordia, Bonanno, Acireale-Roma, 2021