Sociology of Cultural Processes
A.Y. 2023/2024
Learning objectives
This course aims to provide students with an overview on the symbolic and performative dimension of culture, focusing on the circular relationship between meanings and social actions, and between symbols and practices, so as to better understand social processes, starting from classification, categorisation and identification.
Expected learning outcomes
Students should be able to understand sociological texts, master the key topics of the sociological analysis of cultural processes, and apply them to social and real-life situations.
Lesson period: Second semester
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. In the first part, a path is proposed that moves from the construction of meaning as a constitutive object of inquiry in the sociology of culture, and dwells on the dynamics of learning, the formation of cognitive and classification categories, interpretive processes, the workings of common sense, the social construction of tastes, hierarchies, symbolic boundaries, and the link with corporeality (sex, gender, aging, birth, death), allowing for the study of culture in action in the different spheres of social life. In the second part, through a reference to classical and contemporary studies, we will focus on some temporal, spatial and bodily practices, touching on issues such as the construction of boundaries, the sense of dwelling, the relationship between social and subjective times, collective memory, the social meaning of age and generations, making use of examples from films and novels and the dynamics of specific social fields (sports, music, food and wine, etc.).
In summary, an attempt will be made to read from a sociological perspective the different connotations that the concept of culture takes on and its links to the multiple spheres of everyday reality. Students will therefore be required to develop the ability to read and understand sociological texts, master key concepts and themes of sociological reflection on cultural processes, and finally analyze content from newspaper articles and video excerpts from films in light of the concepts proposed during the course.
In summary, an attempt will be made to read from a sociological perspective the different connotations that the concept of culture takes on and its links to the multiple spheres of everyday reality. Students will therefore be required to develop the ability to read and understand sociological texts, master key concepts and themes of sociological reflection on cultural processes, and finally analyze content from newspaper articles and video excerpts from films in light of the concepts proposed during the course.
Prerequisites for admission
Good humanistic culture, curiosity and aptitude for observing and describing the world.
Teaching methods
The course will follow a flipped mode (the lecture takes place FOLLOWING individual readings done each week at home, answering questions and observations, clarifying difficult points, etc.), alternating between moments of individual study, group activities, face-to-face and more interactive lectures. The course page on the Moodle platform will be the main reference point for the course. During the classroom lectures, dialogue between students and lecturer will be solicited and encouraged - within the limits of the large numbers of students enrolled in the course - through moments of collective clarification on the readings carried out independently and in groups, through interactive (e.g. instant survey) and multimedia tools. It is necessary to attend the class with a device that allows connection to Moodle (cell phone, ipad, PC).
Those who intend to attend the course must then, each week, participate in the frontal lecture in the classroom, read the material indicated and/or made available by the lecturer; work in groups according to the modalities that will be indicated each week. The work groups will be defined at the beginning of the course and will remain the same for its entire duration. The amount of weekly readings will be about 70 pages, divided between parts of the textbooks and essays assigned by the lecturer lecture by lecture.
The reference platform, on which essays, exercises, tests and any teaching aids will be posted, will be Moodle (Corso A-K https://myariel.unimi.it/course/view.php?id=1494 visible when the course begins)
Students taking this course are expected to acquire three fundamental skills:
1. The ability to read and understand sociological texts
2. The ability to master key concepts and themes of sociological reflection on cultural processes
3. The ability to employ learned theoretical concepts in the analysis of everyday situations
Those who intend to attend the course must then, each week, participate in the frontal lecture in the classroom, read the material indicated and/or made available by the lecturer; work in groups according to the modalities that will be indicated each week. The work groups will be defined at the beginning of the course and will remain the same for its entire duration. The amount of weekly readings will be about 70 pages, divided between parts of the textbooks and essays assigned by the lecturer lecture by lecture.
The reference platform, on which essays, exercises, tests and any teaching aids will be posted, will be Moodle (Corso A-K https://myariel.unimi.it/course/view.php?id=1494 visible when the course begins)
Students taking this course are expected to acquire three fundamental skills:
1. The ability to read and understand sociological texts
2. The ability to master key concepts and themes of sociological reflection on cultural processes
3. The ability to employ learned theoretical concepts in the analysis of everyday situations
Teaching Resources
Mario de Benedittis, Sociologia della cultura, Laterza Editore.
Readings uploaded during the course within the Moodle platform, totaling about 40 pp. weekly
Readings uploaded during the course within the Moodle platform, totaling about 40 pp. weekly
Assessment methods and Criteria
Mode of testing for frequent attendees:
The assessment of those who choose to attend the course will be the outcome of a weighting of three tests, according to the percentage values expressed in parentheses:
- Test (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 pathway, the student must have an average of 18 or higher. If a student is found to be insufficient at this stage, he or she will have to take the entire exam according to the modalities provided for the non-attending pathway. Tests will be given on Moodle: two in the middle stages of the course, the dates of which will be announced at the beginning of class, and one at the end of the course.
- Group work on the literature material (20%): starting from the essays read and the lectures, a specific assignment will be assigned each week that will serve as an exercise to connect the concepts to current events and students' everyday life. The group will have to post the output of the delivery on the Moodle platform. At the end of the entire course two of these assignments will be evaluated for each group: one will be chosen by the group itself, the other will be drawn by the teacher from the remaining assignments
- Term paper (40%): individual paper (precise indications on number of pages, etc., will be given at the time of the assignment at the end of the course) to be submitted at least 15 days in advance of the examination call in which you intend to participate. The paper will focus on a sociologically oriented analysis of a personal situation of everyday life, through the use of the concepts examined in the course, making reference to the essays and materials previously analyzed.
- Individual contribution to classroom discussions (5%): The texts will be discussed each time in the classroom after reading at home: students will be able to ask questions and make observations pertaining to them through appropriate Wooclap activity.
Modes of verification for non-attending students
Non-attending students will be assessed on the same syllabus as attending students: the textbooks and essays indicated in the bibliography, which will be assigned weekly and uploaded-where permitted-on Moodle. The examination will consist of a two-part test. The first part will consist of a test consisting of 30 closed-ended questions designed to assess knowledge of the bibliographic material on the syllabus. This part of the exam is to be considered preparatory to the continuation of the test: a negative assessment, therefore, will result in failing the exam.
The second part of the exam will consist of two open-ended questions to be answered within an hour and a half. In the first, 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 consist of 40% of the result of the written closed-question paper, 30% of the answer to the first open-ended question, and 30% of the answer to the second.
The assessment of those who choose to attend the course will be the outcome of a weighting of three tests, according to the percentage values expressed in parentheses:
- Test (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 pathway, the student must have an average of 18 or higher. If a student is found to be insufficient at this stage, he or she will have to take the entire exam according to the modalities provided for the non-attending pathway. Tests will be given on Moodle: two in the middle stages of the course, the dates of which will be announced at the beginning of class, and one at the end of the course.
- Group work on the literature material (20%): starting from the essays read and the lectures, a specific assignment will be assigned each week that will serve as an exercise to connect the concepts to current events and students' everyday life. The group will have to post the output of the delivery on the Moodle platform. At the end of the entire course two of these assignments will be evaluated for each group: one will be chosen by the group itself, the other will be drawn by the teacher from the remaining assignments
- Term paper (40%): individual paper (precise indications on number of pages, etc., will be given at the time of the assignment at the end of the course) to be submitted at least 15 days in advance of the examination call in which you intend to participate. The paper will focus on a sociologically oriented analysis of a personal situation of everyday life, through the use of the concepts examined in the course, making reference to the essays and materials previously analyzed.
- Individual contribution to classroom discussions (5%): The texts will be discussed each time in the classroom after reading at home: students will be able to ask questions and make observations pertaining to them through appropriate Wooclap activity.
Modes of verification for non-attending students
Non-attending students will be assessed on the same syllabus as attending students: the textbooks and essays indicated in the bibliography, which will be assigned weekly and uploaded-where permitted-on Moodle. The examination will consist of a two-part test. The first part will consist of a test consisting of 30 closed-ended questions designed to assess knowledge of the bibliographic material on the syllabus. This part of the exam is to be considered preparatory to the continuation of the test: a negative assessment, therefore, will result in failing the exam.
The second part of the exam will consist of two open-ended questions to be answered within an hour and a half. In the first, 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 consist of 40% of the result of the written closed-question paper, 30% of the answer to the first open-ended question, and 30% of the answer to the second.
SPS/08 - SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Professor:
De Benedittis Mario
L-Z
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
The program is divided into two parts. In the first part, a path is proposed that moves from the construction of meaning as a constitutive object of inquiry in the sociology of culture, and dwells on the dynamics of learning, the formation of cognitive and classification categories, interpretive processes, the workings of common sense, the social construction of tastes, hierarchies, symbolic boundaries, and the link with corporeality (sex, gender, aging, birth, death), allowing for the study of culture in action in the different spheres of social life. In the second part, through a reference to classical and contemporary studies, we will focus on some temporal, spatial and bodily practices, touching on issues such as the construction of boundaries, the sense of dwelling, the relationship between social and subjective times, collective memory, the social meaning of age and generations, making use of examples from films and novels and the dynamics of specific social fields (sports, music, food and wine, etc.).
In summary, an attempt will be made to read from a sociological perspective the different connotations that the concept of culture takes on and its links to the multiple spheres of everyday reality. Students will therefore be required to develop the ability to read and understand sociological texts, master key concepts and themes of sociological reflection on cultural processes, and finally analyze content from newspaper articles and video excerpts from films in light of the concepts proposed during the course.
In summary, an attempt will be made to read from a sociological perspective the different connotations that the concept of culture takes on and its links to the multiple spheres of everyday reality. Students will therefore be required to develop the ability to read and understand sociological texts, master key concepts and themes of sociological reflection on cultural processes, and finally analyze content from newspaper articles and video excerpts from films in light of the concepts proposed during the course.
Prerequisites for admission
Good humanistic culture, curiosity and aptitude for observing and describing the world.
Teaching methods
The course will follow a flipped mode (the lecture takes place FOLLOWING individual readings done each week at home, answering questions and observations, clarifying difficult points, etc.), alternating between moments of individual study, group activities, face-to-face and more interactive lectures. The course page on the Moodle platform will be the main reference point for the course. During the classroom lectures, dialogue between students and lecturer will be solicited and encouraged - within the limits of the large numbers of students enrolled in the course - through moments of collective clarification on the readings carried out independently and in groups, through interactive (e.g. instant survey) and multimedia tools. It is necessary to attend the class with a device that allows connection to Moodle (cell phone, ipad, PC).
Those who intend to attend the course must then, each week, participate in the frontal lecture in the classroom, read the material indicated and/or made available by the lecturer; work in groups according to the modalities that will be indicated each week. The work groups will be defined at the beginning of the course and will remain the same for its entire duration. The amount of weekly readings will be about 70 pages, divided between parts of the textbooks and essays assigned by the lecturer lecture by lecture.
The reference platform, on which essays, exercises, tests and any teaching aids will be posted, will be Moodle (Corso L-Z https://myariel.unimi.it/course/view.php?id=1495 visible when the course begins )
Students taking this course are expected to acquire three fundamental skills:
1. The ability to read and understand sociological texts
2. The ability to master key concepts and themes of sociological reflection on cultural processes
3. The ability to employ learned theoretical concepts in the analysis of everyday situations
Those who intend to attend the course must then, each week, participate in the frontal lecture in the classroom, read the material indicated and/or made available by the lecturer; work in groups according to the modalities that will be indicated each week. The work groups will be defined at the beginning of the course and will remain the same for its entire duration. The amount of weekly readings will be about 70 pages, divided between parts of the textbooks and essays assigned by the lecturer lecture by lecture.
The reference platform, on which essays, exercises, tests and any teaching aids will be posted, will be Moodle (Corso L-Z https://myariel.unimi.it/course/view.php?id=1495 visible when the course begins )
Students taking this course are expected to acquire three fundamental skills:
1. The ability to read and understand sociological texts
2. The ability to master key concepts and themes of sociological reflection on cultural processes
3. The ability to employ learned theoretical concepts in the analysis of everyday situations
Teaching Resources
Mario de Benedittis, Sociologia della cultura, Laterza Editore.
Readings uploaded during the course within the Moodle platform, totaling about 40 pp. weekly
Readings uploaded during the course within the Moodle platform, totaling about 40 pp. weekly
Assessment methods and Criteria
Mode of testing for frequent attendees:
The assessment of those who choose to attend the course will be the outcome of a weighting of three tests, according to the percentage values expressed in parentheses:
- Test (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 pathway, the student must have an average of 18 or higher. If a student is found to be insufficient at this stage, he or she will have to take the entire exam according to the modalities provided for the non-attending pathway. Tests will be given on Moodle: two in the middle stages of the course, the dates of which will be announced at the beginning of class, and one at the end of the course.
- Group work on the literature material (20%): starting from the essays read and the lectures, a specific assignment will be assigned each week that will serve as an exercise to connect the concepts to current events and students' everyday life. The group will have to post the output of the delivery on the Moodle platform. At the end of the entire course two of these assignments will be evaluated for each group: one will be chosen by the group itself, the other will be drawn by the teacher from the remaining assignments
- Term paper (40%): individual paper (precise indications on number of pages, etc., will be given at the time of the assignment at the end of the course) to be submitted at least 15 days in advance of the examination call in which you intend to participate. The paper will focus on a sociologically oriented analysis of a personal situation of everyday life, through the use of the concepts examined in the course, making reference to the essays and materials previously analyzed.
- Individual contribution to classroom discussions (5%): The texts will be discussed each time in the classroom after reading at home: students will be able to ask questions and make observations pertaining to them through appropriate Wooclap activity.
Modes of verification for non-attending students
Non-attending students will be assessed on the same syllabus as attending students: the textbooks and essays indicated in the bibliography, which will be assigned weekly and uploaded-where permitted-on Moodle. The examination will consist of a two-part test. The first part will consist of a test consisting of 30 closed-ended questions designed to assess knowledge of the bibliographic material on the syllabus. This part of the exam is to be considered preparatory to the continuation of the test: a negative assessment, therefore, will result in failing the exam.
The second part of the exam will consist of two open-ended questions to be answered within an hour and a half. In the first, 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 consist of 40% of the result of the written closed-question paper, 30% of the answer to the first open-ended question, and 30% of the answer to the second.
The assessment of those who choose to attend the course will be the outcome of a weighting of three tests, according to the percentage values expressed in parentheses:
- Test (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 pathway, the student must have an average of 18 or higher. If a student is found to be insufficient at this stage, he or she will have to take the entire exam according to the modalities provided for the non-attending pathway. Tests will be given on Moodle: two in the middle stages of the course, the dates of which will be announced at the beginning of class, and one at the end of the course.
- Group work on the literature material (20%): starting from the essays read and the lectures, a specific assignment will be assigned each week that will serve as an exercise to connect the concepts to current events and students' everyday life. The group will have to post the output of the delivery on the Moodle platform. At the end of the entire course two of these assignments will be evaluated for each group: one will be chosen by the group itself, the other will be drawn by the teacher from the remaining assignments
- Term paper (40%): individual paper (precise indications on number of pages, etc., will be given at the time of the assignment at the end of the course) to be submitted at least 15 days in advance of the examination call in which you intend to participate. The paper will focus on a sociologically oriented analysis of a personal situation of everyday life, through the use of the concepts examined in the course, making reference to the essays and materials previously analyzed.
- Individual contribution to classroom discussions (5%): The texts will be discussed each time in the classroom after reading at home: students will be able to ask questions and make observations pertaining to them through appropriate Wooclap activity.
Modes of verification for non-attending students
Non-attending students will be assessed on the same syllabus as attending students: the textbooks and essays indicated in the bibliography, which will be assigned weekly and uploaded-where permitted-on Moodle. The examination will consist of a two-part test. The first part will consist of a test consisting of 30 closed-ended questions designed to assess knowledge of the bibliographic material on the syllabus. This part of the exam is to be considered preparatory to the continuation of the test: a negative assessment, therefore, will result in failing the exam.
The second part of the exam will consist of two open-ended questions to be answered within an hour and a half. In the first, 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 consist of 40% of the result of the written closed-question paper, 30% of the answer to the first open-ended question, and 30% of the answer to the second.
SPS/08 - SOCIOLOGY OF CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Professor:
De Benedittis Mario
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)