SOCIOLOGY OF ART CONSUMPTION

The course offers an overview of the changing practices of arts consumption in the West from late Modernity to the present, considering the visual arts and following the cultural turn of sociology’s appeal to merge the sociological and the aesthetic “to bring the arts back in”. The course is composed of two parts: the first presents the state of the art of the field, and the second foregrounds the collapse of production and consumption enhanced by contemporary social and media changes, with a focus on museum visitors and their practices.

- To know the relevant approaches and key issues of the sociology of the arts and the debate on arts consumption.
- To contextualize the artistic processes, practices and products without losing sight of the specificity of the aesthetic dimension.
- To question the evidence of both social facts and artefacts by way of acquired knowledge.
- To adopt a self-reflexive and “diffractive” stance to make the aesthetic and the social reciprocally resonate.
- To sociologically situate artistic phenomena according to intersecting webs of relations and categories, with a focus on specificities and differences.

This course is taught in English and the final exam will be in English. Thus, a good language proficiency in both spoken and written English (C1/C2) is highly recommended.
A basic knowledge of the contemporary art and media world is preferable.

- Introduction: sociology meets aesthetics.
- The definitions of art consumption, key issues and debates.
- From the consumer to the prosumer.
- Consumers and the contemporay museum space: networks and mediations.

The program with the assigned texts will be specified in class and available on the moodle platform.

For attending students: individual seminars and group works, if possible, plus a final written test (open-ended questions).
For non attending students: written test (open-ended questions).

Power Point presentations, videos, books and single essays analyses.

English

Students must read each assigned text before class according to the provided schedule. Students will not be able to participate in class discussion without a hard or digital copy of the texts from the assigned syllabus (see: moodle). Laptops are allowed only for class activities. Any other electronic device is strictly not allowed in class (exceptions can be discussed with the instructor).
Please remind that participation in class for attending students is considered for the final evaluation.

Class members listen to and respect one another. This class promotes responsibility, equality, openness, collaboration and sharing. No harassment or discrimination of any kind will be condoned. Reciprocal respect is required towards different beliefs, orientations and experiences. Feel free to discuss with me privately if you have any special requirements or needs, or whenever you experience something that negatively interferes with your learning.

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