Sociology of Cultural Processes
A.Y. 2021/2022
Learning objectives
To offer an understanding of the main fundamental concepts of sociology, with special reference to the sociology of culture.
Expected learning outcomes
Master the basic concepts of sociology, acquire the main analytical frameworks for socio-cultural analysis and obtain relevant insights as to their deployment for socio-cultural analysis as related to key empirical phenomena in contemporary society.
Lesson period: Activity scheduled over several sessions (see Course syllabus and organization section for more detailed information).
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
A-K
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
The program is divided into two parts. The first part proposes a reflection that moves from the notion of culture and focuses on its incorporation, the formation of classification categories, the work of common sense, the social construction of tastes, hierarchies, symbolic boundaries, the relationship with sexuality and the construction of gender and body techniques, allowing to study the culture in action in the different areas of social life. In the second part, through a reference to classical and contemporary studies, the coruse will focus on temporal, spatial and bodily practices and on issues such as the construction of boundaries, the sense of living, the relationship between social times and subjective times, collective memory, the social meaning of age and generations, the social processes that regulate birth and death, using examples from films and novels and dynamics of specific social fields such as : the artistic's, leisure's and consumption's fields. In summary, we will try to read in a sociological key the different connotations that the concept of culture assumes and its links with the multiple spheres of everyday reality. Students will therefore be required to develop the ability to read and understand texts of a sociological nature, to master concepts and key themes of sociological reflection on cultural processes and finally to analyze contents from newspaper articles and video excerpts from movies in the light of the concepts proposed during the course.
Prerequisites for admission
Good knowledge in the humanities, curiosity and aptitude to observe and describe the world.
Teaching methods
The course will follow a flipped mode, alternating moments of individual study, frontal lessons and laboratories. The course page on the Moodle platform will be the main reference point of the course. During classroom lessons, dialogue between students and teachers will be encouraged - within the limits of the large number of students enrolled in the course - through moments of collective clarification of the readings carried out independently and in groups, using interactive tools (e.g. instant poll) and multimedia.
Those who intend to attend the course must therefore, every week, participate in the frontal classroom lesson; read the material made available by the teacher; work in groups according to the methods that will be indicated. The working groups will be defined at the beginning of the course and will remain the same for the entire duration of the course. The amount of weekly readings will be about 70/75 pages, divided between parts of the manuals and essays assigned by the teacher lesson by lesson.
The general structure of the lessons will be as follows:
- Wednesday: the Tuesday lesson will focus on the clarification of doubts and reflections that emerged from the reading of the texts assigned the previous week, starting with short papers produced by the students. There will also be the use of interactive software to collect questions and requests for further study from each group, which will guide the reflection in the classroom.
- Thursday: frontal lesson usable in the classroom or in streaming, in which the new contents of the week will be presented.
Those who intend to attend the course must therefore, every week, participate in the frontal classroom lesson; read the material made available by the teacher; work in groups according to the methods that will be indicated. The working groups will be defined at the beginning of the course and will remain the same for the entire duration of the course. The amount of weekly readings will be about 70/75 pages, divided between parts of the manuals and essays assigned by the teacher lesson by lesson.
The general structure of the lessons will be as follows:
- Wednesday: the Tuesday lesson will focus on the clarification of doubts and reflections that emerged from the reading of the texts assigned the previous week, starting with short papers produced by the students. There will also be the use of interactive software to collect questions and requests for further study from each group, which will guide the reflection in the classroom.
- Thursday: frontal lesson usable in the classroom or in streaming, in which the new contents of the week will be presented.
Teaching Resources
Handouts will be loaded during the course inside the Moodle platform
Assessment methods and Criteria
The evaluation of those who choose to take the course will be the outcome of a weighting of three tests, according to the percentage values expressed in parentheses:
- Tests (35%): students will take three closed-ended tests. The final grade will consist of the average of the three tests. In order to access the evaluation of the subsequent tests of the attending course, the student must have an average equal to or greater than 18, and obtain a sufficiency in at least two tests out of the three total. If a student is insufficient in this phase, he/she will have to take the entire exam according to the procedures provided by the non-attending course.
- Team work on the bibliographical material (25%): before the lesson on Wednesday of each week, starting from the essays read, from the manual and from the lessons, the group will have to post on the Moodle platform a short and schematic output, in which they will indicate: the main points touched by the authors, connections with what was presented in the asynchronous lessons, with relevant topical examples and with the other texts read during the course. Besides serving as a basis for the classroom discussion of the Wednesday lesson, at the end of the entire course, two of these works will be evaluated for each group: one will be chosen by the group itself, the other will be drawn by the teacher among the remaining works (with the exception of the one of the first week, which will serve essentially as a "gym" for the following works)
- Thesis (40%): individual work (precise indications on the number of pages, etc., will be provided at the time of the assignment, at the end of the course) to be submitted at least 15 days in advance of the exam in which you intend to participate. The paper will focus on the sociologically oriented analysis of a personal situation of daily life, through the use of concepts examined during the course, referring to the essays and materials previously analyzed.
Modalità di verifica per non frequentanti (english version)
Non-attending students will be evaluated on the same syllabus as the attending students: the manuals and essays indicated in the bibliography, which will be assigned weekly and published - where allowed - on Moodle. The exam will consist of a two-part test. The first part will consist of a test composed of closed-ended questions, aimed at assessing the knowledge of the bibliographic material in the program. This part of the exam is to be considered preparatory to the continuation of the test: a negative evaluation, therefore, will result in failing the exam. The second part of the exam will consist of two open-ended questions to be completed in two hours. In the first one, students will be given a text to comment on. In the second, they will be asked to analyze an everyday life situation employing the concepts learned in the course. The final grade will be made up of 40% from the result of the written closed-ended question, 30% from the answer to the first open-ended question, and 30% from the answer to the second open-ended question.
- Tests (35%): students will take three closed-ended tests. The final grade will consist of the average of the three tests. In order to access the evaluation of the subsequent tests of the attending course, the student must have an average equal to or greater than 18, and obtain a sufficiency in at least two tests out of the three total. If a student is insufficient in this phase, he/she will have to take the entire exam according to the procedures provided by the non-attending course.
- Team work on the bibliographical material (25%): before the lesson on Wednesday of each week, starting from the essays read, from the manual and from the lessons, the group will have to post on the Moodle platform a short and schematic output, in which they will indicate: the main points touched by the authors, connections with what was presented in the asynchronous lessons, with relevant topical examples and with the other texts read during the course. Besides serving as a basis for the classroom discussion of the Wednesday lesson, at the end of the entire course, two of these works will be evaluated for each group: one will be chosen by the group itself, the other will be drawn by the teacher among the remaining works (with the exception of the one of the first week, which will serve essentially as a "gym" for the following works)
- Thesis (40%): individual work (precise indications on the number of pages, etc., will be provided at the time of the assignment, at the end of the course) to be submitted at least 15 days in advance of the exam in which you intend to participate. The paper will focus on the sociologically oriented analysis of a personal situation of daily life, through the use of concepts examined during the course, referring to the essays and materials previously analyzed.
Modalità di verifica per non frequentanti (english version)
Non-attending students will be evaluated on the same syllabus as the attending students: the manuals and essays indicated in the bibliography, which will be assigned weekly and published - where allowed - on Moodle. The exam will consist of a two-part test. The first part will consist of a test composed of closed-ended questions, aimed at assessing the knowledge of the bibliographic material in the program. This part of the exam is to be considered preparatory to the continuation of the test: a negative evaluation, therefore, will result in failing the exam. The second part of the exam will consist of two open-ended questions to be completed in two hours. In the first one, students will be given a text to comment on. In the second, they will be asked to analyze an everyday life situation employing the concepts learned in the course. The final grade will be made up of 40% from the result of the written closed-ended question, 30% from the answer to the first open-ended question, and 30% from the answer to the second open-ended question.
SPS/08 - SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Professor:
De Benedittis Mario
L-Z
Lesson period
First semester
The course will be held by online synchronous online lectures using Teams
Course syllabus
The first part of the course will propose a general framework on the main theories on sociology of culture. More specifically we will analyse: the meaning of culture from a sociological point of view, the social construction of taste, the symbolic conflicts.
In the second part we will focus on the cultural aspects of the digital mediascape.
In the second part we will focus on the cultural aspects of the digital mediascape.
Prerequisites for admission
None
Teaching methods
Lectures, powerpoint presentations
Teaching Resources
- Mario de Benedittis, Sociologia della cultura, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2013
- Oscar Ricci, Costruire conoscenza. Sociologia di Wikipedia, Forthcoming, Ledizioni
- Alessandro Lolli, La guerra dei meme, Effequ, 2017
- Filippo Domaneschi, Insultare gli altri, Einaudi, 2020
- Oscar Ricci, Costruire conoscenza. Sociologia di Wikipedia, Forthcoming, Ledizioni
- Alessandro Lolli, La guerra dei meme, Effequ, 2017
- Filippo Domaneschi, Insultare gli altri, Einaudi, 2020
Assessment methods and Criteria
Final written exam. For those attending the lessons there will be the option, at the first session, to do a presentation arranged with the teacher. In this case both the presentation and the written exam will contribute to the final grade.
SPS/08 - SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Professor:
Ricci Oscar
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)
Reception:
Tuesday 14.30-16.30 and wednesday 14.30-15.30 by appointment via email
1st floor, room 1044 (Sesto)