72522 - Cultures of Entertainment (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to investigate the concept of entertainment in its complexity, focusing on the many implications that this notion contains. At the end of the course students: - know the concept of entertainment and its historical evolution; - are able to relate the concept of entertainment to the consumption habits of individuals and communities; - know how to relate the concept of entertainment to different cultures of taste.

Course contents

I part

• Definition of entertainment
• Historical background
• The media system and the digital revolution
  
• Converging culture and transmedia storytelling
  
• Narrative ecosystems: definitions and properties
  
  

II part (with exercises)

• The modeling of cultural products
  
• Evolutionary, evaluation and forecasting models
  
• introduction to quality models: Loop Analysis
  
• Coding and validation

Readings/Bibliography

Fundamental will be the use of the material selected by the teacher and made available through the Virtuale platform(reachable through the link "Activities and contents in e-learning" in the Teaching tab on the right).

- Guglielmo Pescatore, Ecosistemi narrativi, Carocci, 2018

- additional materials on the Virtuale platform (accessible through the link "Teaching resources on Virtuale" in the teaching sheet on the right).

- we recommend reading Enrico Menduni, Entertainment, il Mulino, Bologna 2013 (introductory text to be read preferably before the beginning of the lessons, it is not an integral part of the exam program).

It is recommended for students who intend to attend the course to be present at the first lesson. However, the exam program is the same for all students.

Teaching methods

Frontal instruction with support materials. Interaction in the classroom with dedicated app.

The attendance and the active participation during the course, measured by a dedicated app (which will be discussed during the presentation meeting), will contribute to the determination of the final grade in measure of 2 points that can be used in the first two exam sessions after the end of the course.

Assessment methods

The final exam aims to evaluate the achievement of the educational purposes pointed out in the program. To this end, the student is required to write a paper which will be subsequently discussed during the oral exam. The topic of the paper must be agreed upon with the professor through the appropriate forum on the e-learning platform or during office hours and it should preferably take into consideration a case study, which will be analysed through the analytical tools and knowledge provided during the course. The paper should not exceed 3200 words, excluding bibliography. It must be delivered exclusively in digital form through the appropriate section that will be available on the Virtuale platform), at least one week before the oral exam.

The paper will then be discussed during the exam, which will also verify the competences on the course themes and textbooks. The final grade will evaluate the paper (50%), the knowledge and understanding of the exam bibliography (50%) and, for attending students, the classroom activity (max 2 points to be added to the exam grade).

All of the students must sign up to the exam through AlmaEsami; it won't be possible to test students who can't sign up because of delays in the submission of the study plan, in the tax payments, etc. Students who won't be able to take the exam must sign off the list. It is mandatory to bring a valid photo ID the day of the exam, along with the student's Unibo credentials.

Teaching tools

A prezi presentation will be made available to students at the end of every class.

Audiovisual material will be shown to support the case studies.

Streaming video and study material related to each lesson through the Virtuale platform.

Interaction in the classroom and attendance detection through Acadly app.

Office hours

See the website of Guglielmo Pescatore