Learning objectives
At the end of the course students are expected to be able to:
- understand the importance of animating a public space for communication and discussion on issues of social interest; to recognize the multiple subjects involved in social communication and the different forms of communication used (events, billboards, advertising in newspapers, TV, radio, New media, sponsorships, unconventional marketing, etc.); to remember the main changes in the evolution of social communication.
- to be able to apply the learned contents and carry out a complete analysis of different textual and visual materials in relation to utterances and contents, narrative styles, emotional dimensions and reference values.
- be in a position to interpret, evaluate and criticize the various forms of social communication with autonomy, reflexivity and rigor.
- knowing how to communicate and compare social values and demands in the public space, recognizing the complexity of the different recipients and the different communication methods, styles and tools.
- be able to relate to possible public actors to design social communication paths with more awareness.
Prerequisites
The course does not require special prerequisites.
Course unit content
The course aims to deepen the theme of social communication from a critical and cultural point of view, rather than a technical one. The purpose of the course is mainly to raise awareness of the conscious and unconscious messages conveyed through social campaigns, to strengthen the critical tools to understand the presence of frames, stereotypes, canons and communication codes also incorporated in "ethical" or "socially sensitive" communications.
The path begins with an analysis of what social communication is, what elements characterize it and distinguish it from other forms of communication. We proceed by reasoning about the actors involved in the production of social communication (institutions and administrations, associations and non-profit organizations, NGOs, humanitarian agencies, private companies), about the mission and objectives of this type of communication, as well as about the production phases of a campaign advertising.
Subsequently, the campaigns themselves will be examined starting from different thematic areas, analyzing them as texts to be deciphered and interpreted, discussing their contribution and the result in terms of ideas, representations, visions of the world, and practical and performative effects.
Full programme
-What is social communication;
-Short history of social communication;
-The actors of social communication;
- Social advertising campaigns and production phases;
-The technical elements and the language of social communication;
-Gender campaigns (men, women, maternity and paternity, family, etc.);
- Campaigns against violence (violence, rape, femicide, stalking, homophobia, gender equality, empowerment);
-Humanitarian campaigns (solidarity, aid and cooperation);
- Campaigns on migrants and refugees (reception, rights, discrimination, recognition);
-The ecological and environmental campaigns (sustainability, green energy and technologies, biodiversity, pollution, climate);
-Other examples of social campaigns;
- Concluding reflections and tools for in-depth analysis.
Bibliography
During the course we recommend this volume as an accompanying reading:
Francesca Romana Puggelli e Rossella Sobrero, La comunicazione sociale, Carocci, Roma, 2010.
Teaching methods
The course will be delivered in mixed mode: the teacher will carry out the lessons in the classroom with the students and at the same time the lesson will be broadcast in streaming for those who could not be present.
The course will use and integrate different teaching methods: frontal lessons; viewing, commenting and discussing images and videos; dialectical and interactive lessons with solicitations and moments of discussion; group work for analysis and production of texts.
Assessment methods and criteria
For attending students: the exam consists in working around the materials dealt with during the course and in the realization and presentation (during the exam) of a prototype of a social advertising campaign according to the methods and tools that will be presented and agreed during the course. Or alternatively in the presentation (during the examination) of a comparative analysis powerpoint between at least 6 different advertising campaigns on the same theme.
For non-attending students: the exam consists in the study of the text indicated in the bibliography (Francesca Romana Puggelli and Rossella Sobrero, Social communication, Carocci, Rome, 2010) and in the presentation (during the exam) of a comparative analysis powerpoint between at least 6 different advertising campaigns on the same theme.
The exam consists of an interactive discussion around the campaign or the powerpoint presented.
The student who has not created the campaign prototype or the comparative analysis powerpoint or who does not demonstrate an adequate understanding of the problem analyzed or the underlying themes of the course will be deemed insufficient. The following will be assessed: sufficient or discreet the student who has diligently carried out the communication campaign prototype or the comparative comparison and who proves capable of handling the concepts and terms of the discipline with property; discrete or good who in the same products will show a greater capacity for processing and critical analysis; very good or excellent those who have explored the subject in a more in-depth and autonomous way, producing a prototype of a social communication campaign or a comparative analysis work in a complete and convincing way, demonstrating that they have critically elaborated the themes and underlying issues of social problems correspondents. The votes will be expressed out of thirty.
Other information
The slides and other course materials will be uploaded to the Elly 2022 platform at the end of the course by entering the teaching page of "Communication and social advertising" (Course: Journalism, editorial culture and multimedia communication), http: //elly2022.dusic.unipr.it from where they can be downloaded.
