Corso di laurea in Scienze della Comunicazione

To provide conceptual tools useful to comprehend the key processes that have shaped communication and media in the contemporary and modern age. To provide students with the necessary knowledge to understand and practically apply key concepts in communication and media theory.

The module aims to improve the students' capacity to orient themselves practically, theoretically and historically in the modern universe of communication, and at the same time to comprehend the roots and origins of today's media system. It aims to improve students' capacity to understand ongoing changes and processes that are likely to inform the social and professional world in which they will operate.

The first part of the module will address key concepts in media theory, also providing a range of concrete examples of how these concepts can be applied. Concepts that will be addressed include tradition and modernity, technology and society, popular culture, media, stereotypes and representation, globalization, surveillance, information society, connection and disconnection. The second part of the mdoule will offer an overview on media history, with particular emphasis on how the history of media may help us understand the contemporary media configuration. A detailed programme of teaching sessions and topics will be provided to students at the beginning of the module.

Frontal lectures for a total of 72 hours (12 CFU), using Powerpoint presentations and including viewing of audiovisual materials, including 12 hours given by a Visiting Professor. The lecture slides will be made available by the lecturer electronically together with other teaching materials. A total of 12 hours of online tutorials are also offered during the course.

At the end of the course a test will be administered during teaching hours. Students who do not accept the mark of the in-class test or who have not participated in the test will need to take the oral exam.

The oral exam aims to verify that the student has improved their knowledge, skills, critical skills, autonomy of judgment, and writing skills in the field of media history. Marks will be comprised between 1 and 30.

For students/ae with disabilities, please review the University's arrangements for support (https://www.unito.it/servizi/lo-studio/studenti-con-disabilita) and accommodations (https://www.unito.it/accoglienza-studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa), and in particular the procedures required for exam support (https://www.unito.it/servizi/lo-studio/studenti-e-studentesse-con-disabilita/supporto-studenti-e-studentesse-con).

Whenever possible, video recordings of the lectures will be made available to the benefit of students who are unable to follow the lectures in class. To those who opt not to bring the contents of the lectures to the exam, an additional book will be assigned in substitution to the lectures' contents.

As an alternative to the book Il secolo dei media, students may choose to prepare Balbi e Magaudda, Media digitali. La storia, i contesti sociali, le narrazioni (Laterza, 2022), which is also available in English as A History of Digital Media: An Intermedia and Global Perspective (Routledge, 2018). All other assigned readings remain unchanged. 

Students who do not speak Italian as their mother tongue and Erasmus students will be able to give an oral examination in one of the following languages: English, French, Spanish, German.