The Interdisciplinary Image: an Aesthetic Approach

This course proposes an in-depth study whose objective is to shed light on some of the essential structures that underlie our experience and understanding of images. Specifically, it seeks to highlight how such structures operate at an interdisciplinary level, often implicitly and without adequate thematization, influencing research outcomes in significant ways.
To this end, the lectures will promote reflection that problematizes these aspects, showing how aesthetics can propose itself as a decisive interdisciplinary perspective capable of bringing out questions of method common to different disciplines and creating possibilities for a dialogue that goes beyond classical disciplinary boundaries.
In particular, this course will focus on the possible relationships between the performing arts, psychological sciences, and neuroscience. Five lectures (of two hours each) are proposed that will feature experts in the disciplines in question, in close dialogue with the course teacher: 1. What is an image? / 2. Image, sign, symbol / 3. Images and the performing arts / 4. Images and psychology / 5. Images and neuroscience.