B4887 - CELEBRITY CULTURE AND CONTEMPORARY MEDIA

Learning outcomes

At the end of the Course the student will have acquired skills pertaining to the role of celebrity in contemporary society and the media. They will be able to assess values, disvalues and contradictions of celebrity phenomena, with particular attention to the role of audiovisual media, pop culture and aesthetic production, fashion, film and television. They will know how to use these notions to shape the role of celebrity in the corporate and communications worlds, both in a promotional and creative sense, with a focus on the global and international value of public celebrity.

Readings/Bibliography

Roy Menarini, Ylenia Caputo, Simona Castellano (eds.), Celebrity and Post-Career - The Renegotiation of Celebrity Capital in the Post-Career Era between Media Narratives, Self-Representation Practices and Audience Perceptions, Mimesis International, 2026.

Antonella Mascio, Roy Menarini, Sara Pesce, Mario Tirino (eds.), Celebr-Age: Celebrity and Ageing in Media and Sports Contexts - Mediascapes Journal (open access online: https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/issue/view/1692)

Additional teaching materials will be uploaded on Virtuale

Teaching methods

The teaching approach for this course will be innovative.

The professor will deliver several foundational lectures on celebrity and stardom, then he will be joined by other experts and members of the Italian Research Network in Celebrity Culture - INC.

With this team, additional lectures, special lessons, screenings, discussions, and analyses will be conducted to offer a broad and detailed overview of the complex phenomenon of celebrity culture within the media system.

Assessment methods

Attending Students

Students will be required to participate in "in-progress" exercises and assignments using the Virtuale platform.

At the end of the course, there will be an opportunity to present group projects in class (no fewer than 3 and no more than 4 people). For those who prefer individual work, an essay of approximately 3,000 words on a contemporary celebrity case study must be submitted by the end of the course.

The final grade will be an average of the exercise results and the evaluation of the in-class projects (or the essay).

The texts in the bibliography are considered preparatory for the course and will be partially discussed during the exercises.

Non-Attending Students

Non-attending students will be required to discuss the assigned texts during an oral exam. Additionally, they must submit an essay of approximately 5,000 words related to the course themes, to be agreed upon with the teacher in advance. This work must be submitted no less than 5 days before the exam date they are registered for.

For All Students

The use of AI is permitted as a research tool, provided that the student's creative and personal re-elaboration is significant and evident.

 

Grades are assigned according to the following criteria:
18-20: There are no elements of excellence or originality in the student’s contribution, or deficiencies are just enough to balance the positive parts of the performance; (C- C)
20-24: The performance presents some good points but is not fully developed or it shows some serious deficiency, though having a good general standard; (C+ B- B)
24-28: The performance is good or very good, but some or several weak points prevent it from reaching a top grade. (B+ A-)
28-30: Very good, no flaws, some or several original elements (A)
30 cum laude: excellent under any aspect, original and outstanding (A+).

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

Lessons will be taught in presence and with multimedia tools

Office hours

See the website of Roy Menarini