SOCIOLOGY OF ART CONSUMPTION

The course offers an overview of the changing practices of art production, distribution and consumption in the West from late Modernity to the present, considering especially the visual and performative 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, with a subsequent focus on cultural studies and feminist intersectional approaches.

- To know the relevant approaches and key issues of the sociology of the arts.
- To contextualize the artistic processes, practices and products without losing sight of their aesthetic specificity.
- To question the evidence of both social facts and artefacts by way of acquired knowledge.
- To adopt a self-reflexive 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.
- Authors, themes and theories of art sociology.
- Forms of art consumption, key issues and debates.
- Cultural studies and its different approach to cultural phenomena
- Feminism, representations and forms of identification, intersectional approaches.

The program with the assigned texts is available in the moodle soace of the course.

Students can choose whether to take a single written final exam with open-ended questions or some in-progress tests to be defined (specified in the syllabus) to earn a partial grade and take the final exam by choosing half of the proposed questions.

written

The maximum score obtainable is 30 cum laude. The score can be distrubuted between partial and final test (see above).

Lectures, screenings, seminars, discussions on mandatory texts.

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).


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.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development