Representation and Image Theories

The course aims to provide students with a historical-critical in-depth investigation of the main representation and image theories. The proposed path will address the fundamental questions and authors of this specific disciplinary field, which belongs to the wider domain of the aesthetic discipline (intended both as a theory of sensibility and as a theory of art), also taking into consideration its interdisciplinary connections with other domains such as: semiotics, art history, history of literature, media history and theory, psychology, anthropology, cognitive neurosciences. The students will be able to critically analyse and employ the acquired notions particularly in the professional areas of teaching in the secondary school, operators in the field of education and popularization, editor in chief of texts and images, coordinator of cultural projects in the public and private domain.

Knowledge and understanding:
The students will acquire an in-depth knowledge and critical awareness of the main representation and image theories (both of continental and analytic tradition) developed throughout the history of aesthetics, with a particular emphasis on the contemporary debate. Along this path, the students will be invited to a critical confrontation with the fundamental authors and concepts of this disciplinary domain, to its methods and to its specific terminology.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
The students will acquire the skills necessary to apply the conceptual framework of the main representation and image theories to situations pertaining to the strategies of representation in the widest sense of the term and to the experience of the image (both artistic and non-artistic), having recourse to an adequate specific lexicon. They will be able to critically discuss the main theoretical models (both of continental and analytic tradition) and the corresponding literature. They will apply the acquired competences to the reading and critical comment of fundamental texts of the history of aesthetics devoted to questions of representation and image theory. They will be encouraged to propose autonomous and original solutions to problems arising from the common discussion.