Communication, technologies and digital culture

Objectives The course aims to make students understand, through a critical and interdisciplinary perspective, the functioning of the production processes of cultural forms and the influence of the former on the latter, highlighting both the specificities of different sectors and their convergences, supported by digitization and organizational integration. Knowledge and Understanding In particular, the course will pursue the general objective through the following more specific objectives: (1) the learning of conceptual and theoretical references, drawn from different disciplines (i. e. sociology of culture, media studies, cultural studies, industrial economics), useful for understanding the historical development and current functioning of cultural production systems (2) the understanding of the specificities of cultural products and of the regulatory principles of intellectual property, which condition the activities and economic relations articulating the systems of cultural production (3) knowledge of the possible coordinates of critical analysis of the relationship between processes and outputs of cultural production, as well as of the topics most debated by scientific research in this area (4) learning about the factors to be considered in the analysis of both the dynamics of transformation and innovation of cultural production systems and of their implications on cultural products Ability to apply knowledge and understanding, critical and judgmental skills, ability to communicate and continue learning autonomously. At the end of the course the students will have acquired (1) the theoretical and methodological skills useful for autonomously reconstructing and analyzing both the supply chain relationships that articulate a particular sector of cultural production, and the factors that influence the specific ways of relating and collaborating ( or conflict) between the players in the sector; (2) the ability to recognize both the asymmetries of power between different players, and their influence on the processes and outputs of cultural production; (3) the ability to critically discuss production processes, considering: degree of democratization of different aspects and processes; gatekeeping of creative inputs; classification, differentiated management and symbolic mediation of cultural outputs; conditioning of consumption practices and influence on the levels of differentiation and pluralism of cultural markets.