Gender studies, cultures and policies for media and communication

Educational objectives

The course enables students to achieve the following learning objectives:

Knowledge and Understanding:

Understand the main sociological approaches to the study of gender, reconstructing their theoretical, historical, and interdisciplinary developments.
Analyse gender as a social construction, a relational category, and a principle through which inequalities are organised.
Understand the relationship between gender, socialisation processes, institutions, cultural norms, power relations, and forms of subjectivation.
Understand how gender differences intersect with social class, sexual orientation, racialisation, age, disability, and other dimensions of inequality.
Become familiar with the main sociological debates concerning sexist stereotypes, gender-based violence, the gendered division of labour, gender gaps, representation, social participation, and gender justice.
Understand the role of major social institutions, including family, education, work, and politics, in reproducing and transforming gender relations.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding:

Apply concepts and tools from the sociology of gender to the analysis of social, communicative, cultural, and institutional contexts.
Use case studies and workshop-based activities to identify stereotypes, power asymmetries, forms of marginalisation, and mechanisms through which inequalities are reproduced.
Analyse data, documents, and empirical materials concerning gender gaps, the division of labour, participation, and social inequalities.
Apply an intersectional perspective to the interpretation of social phenomena, avoiding homogenising accounts of experiences and inequalities.
Identify sociological research topics and problems related to gender, developing analytical pathways consistent with the main theoretical and methodological perspectives in the field.

Making Judgements:

Develop independent critical judgement regarding the social, cultural, and institutional processes through which gender differences and inequalities are produced and transformed.
Assess the social impact of initiatives, campaigns, and policies aimed at combating gender-based violence, overcoming sexist stereotypes, reducing gender gaps, and promoting equal participation.
Recognise the limitations, ambivalences, and potential of contemporary public discourses on equality, inclusion, empowerment, and gender justice.
Develop critical interpretations grounded in scientific literature, data, audiovisual materials, concrete cases, and current social phenomena.
Distinguish between explanations based on sociological evidence and essentialist, naturalising, or stereotypical interpretations of gender differences.
Critically assess the gap between formal principles of equality and actual social conditions.

Communication Skills:

Present concepts, theories, and analyses related to the sociology of gender clearly, coherently, and using scientifically appropriate language.
Use informed and respectful language in the analysis and discussion of gender issues.
Communicate analyses and proposals effectively in relation to media content, campaigns, policies, and initiatives aimed at promoting gender equity.
Develop critical arguments, both orally and in writing, by connecting theoretical references, empirical examples, and independent evaluations.
Present and discuss data and case studies, distinguishing between the description of phenomena, sociological interpretation, and normative evaluation.
Adapt the communication of analyses to academic, institutional, and professional contexts while maintaining conceptual rigour and clarity.

Learning Skills:

Develop tools for independently exploring the sociological literature on gender and on the relationship between gender, society, institutions, and inequalities.
Strengthen the capacity for critical updating with regard to the social, cultural, political, and communicative transformations that affect gender relations.
Acquire skills useful for pursuing independent research, analysis, and project work in social, communicative, and institutional contexts.
Integrate diverse sources, theoretical tools, and concrete cases in order to produce sociologically grounded analyses of gender-related phenomena.
Find, select, and critically assess scientific literature, statistical data, institutional reports, and relevant empirical materials.
Integrate theoretical perspectives, empirical evidence, and intersectional approaches when developing independent pathways of further study.

Educational objectives

The course, structured into a theoretical component and a workshop-based component, enables students to achieve the following learning objectives:

Knowledge and Understanding:

Understand the main sociological and political theories concerning the relationship between gender, power, political cultures, and democratic systems.
Analyse gender inequalities in decision-making processes, political participation, and forms of representation from a historical and comparative perspective.
Understand gender as a structural dimension of power relations and processes of citizenship construction.
Become familiar with the main debates concerning political representation, leadership, participation, the division of political labour, and policies aimed at promoting gender equity.
Understand gender-based violence as a structural phenomenon rooted in socio-cultural dynamics, power relations, and political and institutional responsibilities.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding:

Apply theoretical and conceptual tools from political sociology to the analysis of the relationship between gender, power, and democracy.
Situate authors, theories, and schools of thought within a historical perspective, recognising their contribution to the analysis of gender inequalities.
Identify and deconstruct gender biases, stereotypes, and prejudices within political systems, institutional language, and decision-making processes.
Analyse data, case studies, and documents concerning political participation, representation, leadership, and the presence of different genders within institutions.
Apply the concepts studied to the interpretation of public policies and interventions aimed at countering gender inequalities.

Making Judgements:

Develop independent critical judgement regarding the ways in which gender affects the exercise of power and the democratic quality of political systems.
Assess actors, institutions, policies, and decision-making processes in light of the principle of gender equity.
Recognise the formal and informal mechanisms that may facilitate or hinder access to power, representation, and political participation.
Critically assess the limitations, potential, and consequences of policies and measures adopted to promote gender balance in decision-making processes.
Recognise distortions, discrimination, and oversimplifications in the social, media, and institutional representation of gender-based violence.

Communication Skills:

Use the scientific vocabulary of political sociology appropriately to describe and analyse the relationship between gender and power.
Clearly present, both orally and in writing, concepts, theories, and cases concerning gender inequalities in contemporary political systems.
Develop critical arguments on participation, representation, leadership, and gender policies by connecting theoretical references with empirical evidence.
Contribute to public debate on gender-based violence using appropriate linguistic and interpretative tools, avoiding stereotypes, victim-blaming, and reductive representations of the phenomenon.

Learning Skills:

Develop the ability to independently engage with the scientific literature on the relationship between gender, power, democracy, and gender-based violence.
Strengthen the capacity for critical updating on contributions from political sociology and gender studies.
Find, select, and critically interpret scientific literature, data, institutional documents, and sources concerning political participation and representation.
Identify useful, partial, or problematic contributions in public debate and the media to the understanding of the relationship between gender and power.
Integrate theoretical perspectives and empirical materials when developing independent analyses of the relationship between gender, institutions, and democratic processes.

Educational objectives

The course, structured into a theoretical component and a workshop-based component, enables students to achieve the following learning objectives:

Knowledge and Understanding:

Become familiar with the key concepts of the discipline, its specific terminology, and the main theoretical approaches to the relationship between language, discourse, and gender.
Understand the main historical, cultural, and political issues related to the use and evolution of language in relation to gender.
Understand the role of language and discursive practices in constructing, reproducing, and transforming gender identities, relationships, and inequalities.
Become familiar with the main debates concerning linguistic sexism, the linguistic representation of gender, and the different proposals for inclusive language use.
Recognise the relationship between linguistic norms, social uses, language change, and power relations.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding:

Critically use the theoretical tools acquired to analyse texts, discursive practices, and linguistic representations in different communicative contexts.
Apply the knowledge acquired to the interpretation of bibliographic materials, documents, and case studies.
Identify forms of linguistic sexism, erasure, markedness, asymmetry, and stereotyping in language use.
Analyse the lexical, grammatical, and discursive choices through which people, identities, and relationships are named, represented, or made less visible.
Compare different linguistic solutions, assessing their correctness, communicative effectiveness, and social and cultural implications.

Making Judgements:

Develop the ability to independently and critically reflect on the issues addressed, including contemporary debates on inclusive language and linguistic sexism.
Develop awareness of the social, cultural, and political implications of linguistic choices.
Distinguish between the description of language use, normative prescription, and the critical assessment of its social consequences.
Assess the different positions within public and scholarly debates on the relationship between language and gender in a reasoned manner.
Recognise the ambivalences and possible unintended effects of linguistic solutions adopted to promote inclusion and visibility.

Communication Skills:

Present the knowledge acquired clearly and accurately, using the specialised terminology of the discipline correctly.
Participate in academic and public discussions on language and gender in an informed and well-argued manner.
Justify linguistic choices with reference to theoretical categories, contexts of use, audiences, and communicative purposes.
Present linguistic analyses orally and in writing, supporting interpretations with relevant examples.
Use informed and respectful language appropriate to different communicative contexts and to the people involved.

Learning Skills:

Develop independent study skills through the consultation of specialised texts and bibliographic resources, with particular attention to theoretical and critical sources.
Develop individual pathways of further study capable of connecting the course topics with other fields of study and research.
Find, select, and critically assess linguistic studies, institutional documents, and materials relevant to the analysis of the relationship between language and gender.
Independently keep up to date with changes in language use and with scholarly and public debates concerning gender, inclusion, and representation.
Integrate theoretical knowledge and the analysis of concrete cases when developing independent pathways of further study.

Educational objectives

The course, structured into a theoretical component and a workshop-based component devoted respectively to the main perspectives of Gender and Media Studies and to the analysis of media content and audiences, enables students to achieve the following learning objectives:

Knowledge and Understanding:

Understand the main theoretical approaches in Gender and Media Studies, with attention to the development of the field, feminisms, queer theory, postfeminism, intersectionality, and critical algorithm studies.
Analyse the role of media in the construction of gendered subjectivities, regimes of visibility, cultural imaginaries, and the relationships between identity, power, and representation.
Understand the role of production processes, professional cultures, and organisational logics within cultural industries in shaping gender representations.
Become familiar with the main approaches to the study of audiences and practices of reception, interpretation, and appropriation of media content.
Understand the role of platforms, digital infrastructures, and algorithmic systems in the production, distribution, and visibility of content and in the formation of publics.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding:

Apply concepts and tools from Gender and Media Studies to the critical analysis of media products, discourses, and practices across traditional and digital media.
Analyse representations, platform affordances, algorithmic dynamics, and media consumption practices with reference to phenomena such as dating apps, hate speech, online activism, networked feminism, and LGBTQIA+ activism.
Apply an intersectional perspective to the analysis of media content and practices, considering the intersections of gender, sexual orientation, class, racialisation, age, disability, and other dimensions of social differentiation.
Use practical analytical tools, including in workshop-based activities, to examine media content and communication practices from a gender perspective, selecting methods appropriate to the objects and aims of the analysis.
Analyse data and materials concerning audiences, media consumption practices, and processes of meaning negotiation.

Making Judgements:

Develop independent critical judgement regarding the ways in which media represent, produce, and hierarchise gendered subjectivities.
Identify and critically address stereotypes, processes of marginalisation, asymmetries of visibility, and forms of discrimination in media and digital environments.
Critically assess the relationship between gender, digital technologies, algorithms, and symbolic power.
Assess the role of production routines, professional cultures, and economic and technological logics in shaping representations and publics.
Critically interpret data and research findings, recognising methodological limitations, ethical implications, and possible analytical distortions.

Communication Skills:

Communicate concepts, analyses, and research findings related to gender and media clearly and in a theoretically grounded manner, both orally and in writing.
Develop gender-sensitive communication skills relevant to the analysis and production of textual, audiovisual, and digital content.
Reflect critically on language, representational practices, and the ethical implications of media and digital communication.
Present the results of content and audience analyses, adapting language and formats to academic and professional contexts.
Explain and justify the theoretical and methodological choices adopted, distinguishing between data, interpretations, and critical evaluations.

Learning Skills:

Develop the tools needed to independently engage with scientific literature, empirical data, and case studies concerning the relationship between gender and media.
Strengthen the ability to keep up to date with media, technological, and cultural transformations that affect gender representations and practices.
Acquire skills useful for developing independent paths of research, analysis, and critical reflection in Gender and Media Studies.
Find, select, and critically assess scientific sources, audience data, and media and digital materials.
Integrate theoretical perspectives, methodological tools, and empirical evidence in the analysis of content, production processes, and audience practices.

Educational objectives

The course, structured into a theoretical component and a workshop-based component, enables students to achieve the following learning objectives:

Knowledge and Understanding:

Understand the role of journalism in constructing, reproducing, or challenging gender inequalities.
Become familiar with the scientific literature on the relationship between women, gender, and the journalistic profession.
Understand the historical contribution of women to journalism and to transformations in the professional cultures of news production.
Analyse how images, narratives, production routines, and news values may contribute to stereotypical or non-stereotypical representations of women and LGBTQI+ communities.
Understand the relationship between professional cultures, the organisation of journalistic work, access to sources, and news construction from a gender perspective.
Become familiar with the main ethical principles and professional guidelines concerning the representation of gender issues, violence, and people exposed to discrimination.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding:

Apply theoretical, conceptual, and analytical tools to the critical analysis of journalistic content from a gender perspective.
Use source research methods, databases, press office relations, and digital resources relevant to producing accurate information and supporting gender equality.
Apply fact-checking techniques in the context of disinformation, post-truth, and the digital circulation of news.
Produce journalistic texts, audiovisual content, and multimedia materials adopting a gender-sensitive approach.
Analyse headlines, texts, images, sources, and narrative frames in order to identify stereotypes, omissions, victim-blaming, and asymmetries of representation.
Apply criteria of accuracy, contextualisation, inclusion, and responsibility to the rewriting and production of journalistic content during workshop-based activities.
Select relevant and diverse sources, assessing their reliability, authority, and relevance to the gender issues addressed.

Making Judgements:

Develop independent critical judgement in assessing forms of journalistic representation related to gender.
Identify stereotypes, omissions, distortions, and forms of marginalisation in journalistic narratives concerning women, LGBTQI+ subjectivities, and gender-related issues.
Assess news production routines in light of the principles of accuracy, responsibility, inclusion, and the reduction of gender inequalities.
Distinguish between documented and contextualised journalistic representations and sensationalist, oversimplified, or discriminatory narratives.
Critically assess the ethical and social implications of choices concerning language, images, sources, headlines, and the hierarchisation of news.
Formulate well-argued judgements on the quality of information by connecting theoretical categories, ethical standards, and content analysis.

Communication Skills:

Use clear, accurate, and gender-sensitive journalistic language in verbal, audiovisual, and multimedia communication.
Produce news content suited to broadcast, digital, editorial, and institutional contexts, with attention to the accuracy of gender representations and narratives.
Develop communication skills relevant to designing campaigns, content, and informational materials aimed at promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Explain and justify the linguistic, narrative, and visual choices adopted in the production and rewriting of journalistic content.
Present and discuss analyses and outputs produced during workshop-based activities, distinguishing between facts, sources, interpretations, and evaluations.
Adapt language and formats to different journalistic contexts while maintaining accuracy, clarity, and sensitivity to gender issues.

Learning Skills:

Develop the tools needed to keep up to date independently with the literature, professional practices, and public debates on gender, journalism, and information.
Strengthen the ability to find, select, and verify reliable sources on gender equality issues.
Acquire skills useful for independently pursuing professional pathways in journalism, press offices, and communication roles within organisations working on gender equality policies.
Find and critically assess relevant studies, professional guidelines, ethical codes, and journalistic case studies.
Integrate theoretical knowledge, critical analysis, and workshop-based skills in the production and assessment of informational content.
Develop the ability to keep up to date with changes in journalistic practices and professional standards concerning the representation of gender issues.

Educational objectives

The course enables students to achieve the following learning objectives:

Knowledge and Understanding:

Consolidate knowledge of the English language structures required to understand and produce specialised texts, building on language proficiency at least at B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
Acquire the vocabulary, terminology, and main discursive conventions used in Gender Studies, with particular reference to academic and professional contexts.
Understand the lexical, syntactic, and textual features of essays, academic articles, reports, institutional documents, and other specialised materials in English.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding:

Apply the language knowledge acquired to the understanding and analysis of specialised texts, essays, articles, and multimedia materials.
Use English in written and oral production activities related to the topics addressed in the course.
Identify key concepts, arguments, main information, and relationships between different parts of the discourse in specialised texts.
Produce short academic and professional texts, such as summaries, abstracts, presentations, and argumentative comments, using appropriate terminology.

Making Judgements:

Develop a critical approach to the content presented, with particular attention to the linguistic and discursive ways in which gender issues are addressed.
Independently recognise and assess styles, registers, and linguistic choices in the texts analysed, including from an intercultural perspective.
Recognise stereotypical, discriminatory, or non-inclusive formulations and assess their communicative implications.
Select the most appropriate linguistic solutions in relation to the context, purpose, and intended audience.

Communication Skills:

Strengthen the ability to communicate effectively in English, both orally and in writing, on topics related to Gender Studies.
Participate in discussions, presentations, and collaborative activities using appropriate and informed language.
Present and discuss specialised content clearly, coherently, and using appropriate terminology.
Reformulate and summarise complex texts and arguments, adapting them to different academic and professional communication contexts.

Learning Skills:

Develop tools and strategies to continue learning specialised English independently.
Use dictionaries, glossaries, corpora, and other linguistic resources to independently expand disciplinary vocabulary and terminology.
Engage with complex specialised texts and adapt the skills acquired to different academic and professional contexts.
Strengthen the ability to independently update language skills through the reading and listening of specialised English-language sources.

Educational objectives

The course, structured into a theoretical component and a workshop-based component, enables students to achieve the following learning objectives:

Knowledge and Understanding:

Understand the main theoretical and empirical approaches in the sociology of digital media.
Analyse the relationship between web cultures, communication practices, and digital environments, with particular attention to social networking platforms.
Understand the formation of digital publics and specific social aggregates, such as networked publics and affective publics, and how they differ from traditional media audiences.
Become familiar with the main mechanisms that shape digital environments, including datafication, commodification, algorithmic selection, engagement, virality, and content circulation.
Understand the role of platforms, user practices, and algorithmic logics in the formation of echo chambers, filter bubbles, and processes of public opinion formation.
Become familiar with the main approaches to media activism, with particular reference to gender and intersectional perspectives, such as data feminism, hashtag feminism, and digital self-defence.
Understand the role of affordances, platform architectures, and economic models in shaping communication practices and forms of participation.
Analyse the relationship between visibility, power, data, and inequalities in digital environments.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding:

Apply theoretical frameworks from the sociology of digital media to the analysis of case studies and publicly relevant phenomena.
Critically analyse communication practices, participatory dynamics, and forms of activist mobilisation in digital environments.
Recognise the role of gendered affordances and platform design in fostering or countering discrimination, marginalisation, and invisibilisation.
Analyse examples of media activism aimed at countering gender discrimination and other forms of inequality.
Use theoretical and practical tools to design, in groups, communication interventions and media activism initiatives on issues related to gender and intersectionality.
Analyse content, user practices, and circulation dynamics using categories relevant to the sociology of digital media.
Relate technological features, social practices, and the cultural and political consequences of platforms.

Making Judgements:

Develop independent critical judgement of digital media as social, cultural, economic, and political environments.
Assess the role of platforms in producing, selecting, and hierarchising public visibility.
Recognise the social, political, and ethical implications of algorithmic logics, datafication, and the viral circulation of content.
Critically assess the potential, limitations, and ambivalences of media activism in struggles against discrimination, stereotypes, and gender inequalities.
Develop critical interpretations grounded in scientific literature, empirical cases, digital materials, and participatory practices.
Distinguish between interpretations grounded in empirical evidence and deterministic or oversimplified accounts of the relationship between technology and society.
Critically assess the tensions between participation, surveillance, commodification, and individual autonomy in digital environments.

Communication Skills:

Present concepts, theories, and analyses related to the sociology of digital media clearly and using scientifically appropriate language.
Critically discuss cases of media activism, digital campaigns, and online mobilisation practices, using terminology appropriate to digital media studies and Gender Studies.
Work in groups to design and present content, campaigns, or media activism initiatives aimed at countering discrimination.
Communicate effectively, consciously, and responsibly on issues related to gender, digital platforms, online activism, and social justice.
Present analyses of digital phenomena by connecting theoretical references, empirical materials, and independent interpretations.
Explain and justify the project choices developed during the workshop-based component, making their objectives, target audiences, and social implications explicit.

Learning Skills:

Develop tools for independently engaging with the scientific literature on the sociology of digital media, platforms, and media activism.
Strengthen the capacity for critical updating in relation to technological, communicative, and cultural transformations in digital environments.
Acquire skills useful for pursuing independent research, analysis, and project work on digital media, gender, and activism.
Integrate theoretical knowledge, empirical analysis, and project-based skills in the critical interpretation of contemporary digital phenomena.
Find, select, and critically assess relevant scientific sources, data, and digital materials.
Develop independent pathways of further study capable of integrating technological transformations, social practices, and inequalities.

Educational objectives

Elective activities, amounting to a total of 12 ECTS, allow students to personalise their study pathway by selecting courses consistent with their academic and research interests, professional goals, and the skills they wish to develop. They may be chosen from among the courses offered within the Master’s Degree Programme or by other degree programmes at the University, provided that they are consistent with the cultural and professional profile of the programme.

Elective activities contribute to the achievement of the following learning objectives:

Knowledge and Understanding:

Broaden or deepen theoretical, methodological, and applied knowledge in one or more areas consistent with the study programme, including Gender Studies, social sciences, media, communication, law, public policy, literature, languages, and visual cultures.
Explore topics, perspectives, or objects of study that are not addressed, or are addressed only partially, in compulsory courses.
Integrate knowledge from different disciplinary fields, relating it to Gender Studies perspectives and, where relevant, to an intersectional approach.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding:

Apply the concepts, tools, and methodologies acquired to the analysis of phenomena, case studies, and issues consistent with the educational profile of the programme.
Connect theories, methods, and applied contexts while recognising the complexity of social, cultural, communicative, and institutional phenomena.
Use knowledge and tools from different disciplinary fields to address specific or emerging topics.

Making Judgements:

Develop autonomy in defining one’s study pathway by assessing the consistency between the selected activities, individual interests, and the overall profile of the degree programme.
Identify possible areas of further study or specialisation in relation to the final dissertation, further education, or potential professional fields.
Critically assess theoretical perspectives, sources, methods, and interpretations from different disciplines.

Communication Skills:

Strengthen the ability to present, discuss, and argue knowledge and analytical findings using language appropriate to different disciplinary fields.
Develop communication skills adaptable to academic, institutional, professional, and organisational contexts.
Integrate different disciplinary vocabularies and perspectives when presenting complex topics and issues.

Learning Skills:

Develop the ability to find, select, and critically use knowledge, sources, and tools from different disciplinary fields.
Build independent pathways of further study consistent with individual academic, research, and professional development interests.
Strengthen the ability to keep up to date and adapt to emerging topics, new objects of study, and changing professional contexts.

Educational objectives

The internship experience aims to achieve the following learning objectives:

Knowledge and understanding:

- Acquire concrete knowledge of organizational, cultural, and communicative dynamics within professional environments in the public, private, or non-profit sectors.
- Understand how theoretical skills acquired in gender studies and communication are applied in real-world work settings.
- Deepen understanding of how institutions, organizations, and companies operate in relation to gender equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Applying knowledge and understanding:

- Apply analytical and operational tools learned during the academic programme to contribute to projects, activities, or assessments in host organizations.
- Collaborate on initiatives related to institutional or social communication, gender policies, event organization, or content production, adopting a perspective attentive to differences and inequalities.
- Use media, communication, and cultural studies skills to interpret and act within complex professional contexts.

Making judgments:

- Strengthen the ability to critically assess work environments, relational dynamics, and communication practices through a gender lens.
- Develop awareness of one's own skills, attitudes, and areas for improvement in relation to professional development.
- Formulate proposals, observations, or operational suggestions grounded in principles of equity, inclusion, and social responsibility.

Communication skills:

- Communicate effectively in diverse professional contexts, both in written and oral form, adapting the communicative register to different interlocutors.
- Write reports, summaries, or outreach materials in a clear, consistent, and professional manner.
- Actively participate in teamwork, demonstrating interpersonal and collaborative skills.

Learning skills:

- Develop autonomy in experiential learning, gaining insights from observation, practice, and interaction with professionals.
- Recognize and enhance transversal skills acquired during the internship, in preparation for entering the workforce or pursuing further academic development.

Educational objectives

The course enables students to achieve the following learning objectives:

Knowledge and Understanding:

Understand the main elements of integrated communication, with reference to commercial, social, and institutional communication, its actors, languages, and operating logics.
Understand how languages, formats, channels, and content contribute to constructing coherent or contradictory representations of gender and sexual orientations.
Understand the functions and social effects of advertising and other forms of communication, with particular attention to how they contribute to the construction of imaginaries, desires, norms, identities, and symbolic hierarchies.
Understand the role of commercial, social, and institutional communication in constructing, reproducing, or transforming imaginaries related to gender and sexual orientations.
Become familiar with the main theoretical approaches to the study of representations of gender and sexual orientations in advertising, social communication and visual content.
Analyse stereotypes, gender roles, sexualisation, objectification, empowerment, inclusion, invisibilisation, and marginalisation in communication campaigns, with attention also to representations of non-heteronormative identities and relationships.
Become familiar with phenomena such as femvertising, diversity branding, brand activism, gender washing, pinkwashing, and rainbow washing, assessing them in relation to representational quality, symbolic coherence, and the correspondence between inclusive claims and the content actually produced.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding:

Apply tools of critical and visual analysis to the study of advertising, social, institutional, and digital campaigns.
Analyse the continuity or discontinuity of representations of gender and sexual orientations across the different languages, formats, and content of a campaign.
Deconstruct texts, images, videos, social media formats, narrative choices, and visual strategies in order to identify stereotypes, biases, symbolic hierarchies, and asymmetries of representation.
Analyse how bodies, identities, relationships, family roles, desirability, power, care, work, and leadership are represented in campaigns, also identifying implicit models of masculinity, femininity, heterosexuality, and gender normativity.
Assess the presence or absence of intersectional perspectives, with attention to gender, sexual orientation, age, class, racialisation, ability, embodiment, and cultural background.
Design rewritings of existing campaigns by working on copy, headlines, visuals, tone of voice, narrative, casting, and calls to action, including through the coherent adaptation of content to different communication formats.
Develop gender-sensitive communication alternatives capable of overcoming stereotypes and reductive representations without losing communicative effectiveness.
Translate critical analysis into rewriting proposals capable of modifying the representational assumptions of a campaign, rather than merely introducing formal or superficially inclusive changes.

Making Judgements:

Develop independent critical judgement in assessing representations of gender and sexual orientations in commercial, social, and institutional communication.
Recognise when a campaign produces substantive inclusion and when, instead, it relies on superficial, tokenistic, or opportunistic representations.
Distinguish between transformative representations, ambivalent representations, and representations that reproduce stereotypes or power relations.
Assess the coherence between inclusive claims, linguistic choices, visual constructions, narratives, casting, and representations of social relationships.
Formulate critical judgements grounded in theoretical categories, content analysis, audience data, and knowledge of the socio-cultural context.
Assess the social and ethical implications of representations, identifying forms of sexism, heteronormativity, marginalisation, symbolic appropriation, and apparent inclusion.

Communication Skills:

Communicate critical analyses of campaigns and media content from a gender perspective clearly and rigorously.
Explain and justify deconstruction and rewriting choices, clarifying why a representation is problematic and how it can be modified.
Use specialised, informed, and respectful vocabulary when assessing and designing communication content.
Present campaign rewriting proposals, both orally and in writing, explaining the concept, target, insight, tone of voice, visual choices, and narrative solutions.
Make explicit the relationship between the critical issues identified and the solutions proposed, showing how the rewriting addresses stereotypes, hierarchies, and normative models.
Adapt rewriting proposals to the different languages and formats of commercial, social, institutional, and digital communication, while maintaining representational coherence.

Learning Skills:

Develop tools for independently keeping up to date with studies on gender, media representations, advertising, social communication, and visual cultures.
Strengthen the ability to critically observe campaigns, public cases, and communication controversies related to gender, inclusion, and discrimination.
Acquire skills useful for pursuing independent pathways of analysis, research, and design of gender-sensitive content.
Integrate scientific literature, professional case studies, audience data, and rewriting practices in order to produce more informed communication analyses and interventions.
Consolidate a critical and reflexive approach useful in professional contexts where it is necessary to assess, revise, or design representations of gender and sexual orientations.
Integrate theoretical knowledge, visual and discourse analysis skills, and rewriting competencies in the assessment and transformation of communication content.

Educational objectives

The course enables students to achieve the following learning objectives:

Knowledge and Understanding:

Become familiar with the main theoretical frameworks concerning the concepts of group, social identity, self, and participation, with particular reference to ethnomethodological, socio-cultural, and discursive perspectives.
Understand the relationship between language, social action, and identity construction, with attention to the situated and discursive processes through which gender identity is constructed.
Understand gender identity as a relational, negotiated, and continuously produced process within social interactions.
Analyse the role of social norms, linguistic categories, and power relations in the definition and recognition of identities.
Understand the epistemological foundations of qualitative methods of observation, discourse analysis, and reflexive self-observation.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding:

Apply tools of ethnographic observation and discourse analysis to the study of social interactions, discursive practices, and identities in action.
Analyse how language contributes to the construction of social realities and identities across different contexts of participation.
Identify practices of categorisation, identity attribution, inclusion, exclusion, and gender negotiation within interactional contexts.
Use reflexive practices, including autoethnography, to connect personal experiences, identity processes, and research practices.
Apply qualitative tools consciously to the collection, organisation, and interpretation of empirical materials.

Making Judgements:

Develop critical skills in assessing the processes through which individual and social identities are negotiated in interaction.
Evaluate the use of the qualitative methodologies learned in a reflexive and responsible manner.
Recognise the role of historical and cultural factors, social practices, and discursive devices in the construction of gender identities.
Recognise the theoretical assumptions and interpretative choices that guide qualitative analysis.
Assess the ethical implications connected with observing, representing, and interpreting identity experiences.

Communication Skills:

Present concepts, methods, and analytical findings clearly and effectively through collaborative activities, discussions, and written reports.
Use different communication tools and media in relation to research, observation, and reporting activities.
Develop inclusive, informed, and appropriate language for analysing social practices and identities.
Present and support interpretations of empirical materials, distinguishing between observations, analytical categories, and personal evaluations.
Report analytical findings while respecting the complexity of the experiences and positions of the people involved.

Learning Skills:

Develop the skills needed to independently continue studying the main theoretical, methodological, and applied approaches to groups, interactions, and the social construction of identities.
Strengthen the ability to critically discuss the literature, qualitative methods, and group-based devices presented during the course.
Acquire tools useful for independently pursuing observation, analysis, and research on discursive practices and identity processes.
Independently find and select scientific literature and empirical materials relevant to the study of interactions and gender identities.
Integrate theoretical perspectives, reflexive practices, and qualitative tools when developing independent pathways of further study.

Educational objectives

The final examination enables students to achieve the following learning objectives:

Knowledge and Understanding:

Gain in-depth knowledge of the scientific literature related to the topic chosen for the thesis.
Understand the main theoretical, methodological, and applied approaches relevant to the subject of the final dissertation.
Situate their work within the educational objectives of the degree programme.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding:
Critically process and analyse the available scientific literature, producing an accurate, up-to-date, and coherent literature review.
Apply research methods appropriate to the type of thesis chosen, whether theoretical, literature-based, or experimental.
In the case of an experimental thesis, progressively use scientifically sound methods for the collection, analysis, and presentation of original laboratory or clinical data.
Organise the thesis according to criteria of argumentative coherence, methodological rigour, and clarity of presentation.

Making Judgements:

Develop the ability to critically analyse the scientific literature related to the thesis topic.
Independently assess the relevance, reliability, and quality of the sources used.
Develop a research pathway based on informed theoretical and methodological choices.
Formulate final considerations that are consistent with the objectives of the study and the results achieved.

Communication Skills:

Present the contents of the final dissertation clearly, concisely, and using scientifically appropriate language.
Present the topic, objectives, theoretical framework, methodology, results, and conclusions in a well-structured manner.
In the case of an experimental thesis, accurately illustrate the aims of the study, the materials and methods used, the results obtained, and the final considerations.
Defend the final dissertation using language appropriate to the scientific and academic context.

Learning Skills:

Develop the ability to work independently.
Strengthen organisational skills, research aptitude, and the ability to plan and manage work.
Acquire tools useful for independently continuing study, scientific updating, and any further educational or professional pathway.