Philosophies of communication

Course objectives

A) Knowledge and understanding: students will be able to present the contemporary debate in semiotics and on the relationships between signs, world and society. B) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course the students will demonstrate the ability to tackle the study of themes and problems in semiotics with a rigorous method that leads to a critical analysis and the ability to outline the state of the art in relation to the study of signs and theories of the relationship between signs, world and society. C) Autonomy of judgment: the student will be able to adequately and scientifically evaluate central epistemological issues in the discussion concerning the study of linguistic signs. D) Communication skills: the student will be able to explain and communicate the fundamental aspects of the discipline, participating critically in the discussion on the nature of languages; E) Learning skills: the student will have the necessary tools to independently study the philosophical reflection on the meaning of signs.

Channel 1
Chiara Bonsignori Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
The course provides the student with an introduction to semiotics focusing on what a semiotic framework implies for sign language studies, from a theoretical and methodological point of view. The course’s main topics are the biological and cognitive ground of language, the fundamental semiotic properties (e.g. arbitrariness, iconicity, types of creativity) in signed and spoken languages, iconicity and metaphors in signed and spoken languages, and theories and models of communication.
Books
Syllabus : 1. Stefano Gensini, "Elementi di semiotica", Carocci, Roma 2002; 2. "Filosofie della comunicazione", a c. di S. Gensini con la collab. di L. Forgione, Carocci, 2012, Roma (chapter 1,3,4,11,12). 3. Tommaso Russo, Virginia Volterra, "Le lingue dei segni. Storia e semiotica", Carocci, Roma 2007.
Exam mode
The exam includes a written test covering the basic knowledge of the course (texts 1 and 2 of the syllabus), passing this test (i.e., 18/30) gives access to the oral test. In the oral test, the written text (texts 1 and 2) and specific topics in the syllabus (text 3) will be discussed.
  • Lesson code10607395
  • Academic year2024/2025
  • CourseCommunication and Interpretation in Italian Sign Language (LIS and LISt)
  • CurriculumSingle curriculum
  • Year1st year
  • Semester1st semester
  • SSDM-FIL/05
  • CFU6
  • Subject areaDiscipline filologiche