90417 - Greek Civilization: Information and Communication Technology

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide an interdisciplinary knowledge on the Information and Communication Technologies in classical civilization (oral and written culture). The classical texts will be studied as model for a critical analysis of the contemporary scenario of digital culture.

Course contents

This is a specialistic, seminar-based course, focused on technology of communication (orality and literacy) between classical and contemporary world

Course topics:

A. Information and Communication Technology, Encyclopaedia, Hypertexts: definition, theory and praxis of information culture (in particular techologies of production, registration and trasmission in the ancient world).

C. Technology of writing: origins of literacy in Ancient Greece, myths, texts and evidences in the development from oral to literacy culture.

D. Documents, books and libraries: written texts, origins and developments of libraries, book-trade in the ancient world.

E. Communication theory in the contemporaneity: the post-modern condition (Lyotard) and the hyper-storia (Floridi)

Readings/Bibliography

• W.J. Ong, Oralità e scrittura. Le tecnologie della parola, trad. it. Bologna: Il Mulino, rist. 2014 (1982, 2nd ed. New York 2002).
• L. Casson, Le biblioteche nel mondo antico, trad. it. Milano: Sylvestre Bonnard, 2003;
• L. Floridi, La quarta rivoluzione. Come l'infosfera sta trasformando il mondo, Milano: Cortina, 2017 (Oxford 2014).
• Handouts, texts, critical essays and further teaching materials in the course website [https://iol.unibo.it/course/view.php?id=23496] .

Non-attending-students: F. Stok, I classici dal papiro a Internet, Roma: Carocci, 2012.

Teaching methods

A dedicated e-learning site [https://iol.unibo.it/course/view.php?id=23496] will offer hypertextual and digital resources, exercises and activities prepared by the lecturer, as well as cooperative tools (forum, chat, blog, wiki).

Assessment methods

The examination will consist of an oral exam that will include a discussion of the essay, as well as the course topics, a critical discussion of the suggested bibliography, texts, and other multimedia materials on the e-learning platform.

Marks will be evaluated according following criteria:

• pass (18/30-23/30): basic and mnemonic knowledge of the arguments;
• merit 24/30-27/30): good knowledege about sources and essays; competence on critical discussion about the contents of the course;
• distinction (28/30-30/30): excellent knowledege about all the arguments; evidence of remarkable skills in the critical evaluation of the course contents.

Teaching tools

On the e-learning site the student will find:

• Handouts, textual and multimedia materials;
• forum through which the students can communicate among them and with the lecturer (this tool is recommended over the e-mail); blog to update class notes and ideas.chat for short discussions, infromation, etc.

Office hours

See the website of Alessandro Iannucci