GSSPS – Phd Program in Sociology, 2010-11
THEORIES OF FRAMING
(EC) (20 hrs, 3 credits)
Prof. Mauro Barisione
mauro.barisione@unimi.it
The concept of ‘framing’ has become one of the most widely used in contemporary social sciences.
The course will introduce students to the diverse uses and applications of this powerful concept in
various scholarly subfields, including the sociology of culture (from micro-interaction frames to
dominant cultural frames), communication and journalism studies (media frames and news frames),
social psychology (decision frames and framing effects), political sociology (collective action
frames and framing in deliberation) and political communication (campaign frames and spin). The
course is thus intended as an introduction to framing theories and practices in social life,
particularly those concerning communication processes. To this end, various uses and
understandings of the concept will be compared, especially in the works of those authors who have
been most influential in the evolution of framing theory, such as Gregory Bateson, Erving Goffman,
William Gamson, Robert Entman, Amos Tverksy, Daniel Kahneman, George Lakoff, David Snow
and Robert Benford.
Readings: Bateson, G., "A theory of Play and Fantasy", in Steps to an Ecology of Mind, Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1972, 177-193; Goffman, E., "Introduction" and "Keys and Keyings",
in Frame analysis: an Essay on the Organization of Experience, Boston: Northeastern University
Press, 1986, pp. 1-20, 40-82.
Additional readings will be suggested during the course. which is open to students of all PhD
programs of the GSSEPS.
Starting on April 12th - 2011: Tuesdays (12:30 -15:30) - Aula A, via Pace 11