Strategies and Languages of Media Communication (with Module on Forms
of Advertising)
PROF. MARIAGRAZIA FANCHI; PROF. MARIA LUISA BIONDA
COURSE AIMS
Modern-day technological changes (digitisation, the rapid take-up of mobile
devices, etc.), textual changes (more complex languages and media discourses) and
anthropological changes (transformation of the user’s role and its progressive
growth and relative responsibilities) have reshaped the relations between
institutional subjects (the media) and audience. The course explores and studies
that change, providing the student with the theoretical categories and
methodological toolkit to understand the changes underway and to forecast future
developments.
COURSE CONTENT
The course sets out to reconstruct the coordinates of modern media
communication, with special emphasis on how it shapes the media-audience
relationship. In particular, we will focus on the notion of participation, intended as
the key point of reference for redefining modern communication practices,
including those of advertising. The course will reflect on the reasons for the
emergence of the participative model; the forms it takes in both the theoretical
debate and communication practice; the effects it has on the form and the
effectiveness of the communication and its cultural, political and social
implications, developing that reflection by intertwining theoretical contributions
and case studies and seeking to highlight the model’s strengths and limitations.
The course is organised into two semester modules.
The first module (held by Prof. Mariagrazia Fanchi) will study media
communication in all its forms and study the many different guises that the
participative model takes. The dialogue between theorisation and practical
application and the comparison of the diverse communication arenas (from
information to creative writing, from politics to art, from social communication to
advertising) will enable the student to grasp the complexity and the ambivalence of
the participative model and acquire the cognitive and practical tools needed for its
more aware and productive use in creative industries.
The second module (held by Prof. Maria Luisa Bionda) will focus specifically on
advertising communication. In particular, it will analyse modern advertising forms
and provide an overview of the strategies adopted by the different media
environments, highlighting novel elements but also the rich legacy (practices,
expressive forms and communicative strategies) of advertising communication
prior to convergence. After we have completed this initial and fundamental work
of reconstruction, we will examine the forms taken by the participative model and
attempt to evaluate their extent and effectiveness.
READING LIST
Information on the reading list will be indicated at the start of the course.
TEACHING METHOD
Lectures accompanied by theoretical reflection and the analysis of applications and case
studies.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Oral exam. The final grade will take account of the student’s rate of attendance and the
quality of their participation in class.
NOTES
Any student who, for justified reasons, is unable to attend classes must get in touch with
the tutor at the start of the academic year to agree an alternative or substitute course of
study.
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage
http://www2.unicatt.it/unicattolica/docenti/index.html or on the Faculty notice board.
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