Programme

The course is divided in two parts: the first one is a general introduction on the basic concepts of public communication. The included topics are: the Forms and Devices of Public Communication, the Relationship between Power and Communication, the Features of the Public Space as a space of discussion articulated on Global Communication Networks. The first part will mainly include frontal lessons supported by PowerPoint presentations.
The second part of the course explores the relationship between public communication and the media. The media will be approached as spaces of negotiation between civil society and the institutions, in which public knowledge is created and reproduced. In particular, the role of the ecosystem of digital platforms and social media will be addressed. Interested students can take part in laboratory activities focused on case studies on how old and new media platforms contribute to the narration of public and political phenomena.

Core Documentation

Below are the exam texts presented in the suggested order of reading:

1) M. Castells (2017), Comunicazione e potere. UBE Paperback, Milano 2017 (nuova edizione). The following chapters:
- Le reti digitali e la cultura dell’autonomia;
- Il potere nella società in rete
- La comunicazione nell'età digitale
- Intervenire sulle reti di comunicazione: politica mediatica, politica dello scandalo e crisi della democrazia (up to paragraph “L’impatto politico della politica dello scandalo” INCLUDED)
- Riprogrammare le reti di comunicazione: movimenti sociali, politica insorgente e nuovo spazio pubblico (up to paragraph “Scaldarsi per il riscaldamento globale: il movimento ecologista e la nuova cultura della natura INCLUDED).

2) José van Dijck and Thomas Poell (2013), Understanding Social Media Logic, in Media and Communication, Volume 1, Issue 1, pp. 2–14
3) José van Dijck (2012), Facebook and the engineering of connectivity: A multi-layered approach to social media platforms, in Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 19(2), pp. 141-155
4) José Van Dijck, Thomas Poell, Martijn De Waal (2019), Il sistema dell’informazione (capitolo terzo) in “Platform Society. Valori pubblici e società connessa”, Edizione Italiana a cura di Giovanni Boccia Artieri e Alberto Marinelli, Guerini, Milano, pp. 103-142.
5) Thomas Poell, José van Dijck (2018), Social Media and new protest movements. In The SAGE Handbook of Social Media, 546-561, edited by Jean Burgess, Alice Marwick & Thomas Poell, London, Sage.

Type of delivery of the course

The first part mainly consists of lectures supported by Power Point presentations. Some classes will be hosted by guest lecturers who are leading in this field. The second part consists of a laboratory work based on a case study on the difference between old and new media platforms and how they create and contribute to the political and public narratives. In case of an extension of the COVID-19 health emergency, all the procedures that regulate the teaching activities will be applied. In particular, the Professor will communicate and upload the teaching material through the Moodle platform available at the University website and the lessons will be carried out on the Microsoft Teams platform.

Type of evaluation

Both attending and non-attending students must pass a written test. This will consist of three open questions, each of them is awarded a mark from one to ten. During the course, attending students have the opportunity to use the research lab. These students will then present the results of their laboratory work in the classroom. This activity will be awarded a score of one to three in addition to the exam grade. In case of an extension of the COVID-19 health emergency, all the regulations on the assessment methods will be applied. In this case, the exam will be oral at a distance through the Microsoft Teams platform. The oral exam consists of three questions on the exam texts. The students who participated in the laboratory teaching courses will add the score (from 1 to 3) obtained from the presentation of a project to the mark of the oral exam.