91658 - Sociology Of Tourism And Territory Development

Learning outcomes

The student acquires theoretical and empirical elements for the sociological analysis of the rise, diffusion and change of tourism, as well as on the relation between tourism and local development. In particular, the student acquires theories and techniques for the analysis of the tourist: his motivations, his attitudes, and his behaviors. He also acquires elements about the models of use of territorial resources, services and tourist products.

Course contents

The following topics will be considered:

• Some definitions and data sources on tourism.
• The birth and development of modern tourism, the changes in the relation between individual and society, and in the social representation of spare time (in particular, the transition from pre-industrial to industrial and post-industrial society).
• Sociologial interpretations of tourist behaviour.
• Travel motivations and holiday images today.
  
• Research methods and tools for the sociology of tourism.
• Tourism in Romagna: trends and sociological studies. 

Readings/Bibliography

F. Corbisiero, Manuale di ricerca sociale sul turismo. Concetti, metodi e fonti, Utet, Milano, 2022.

Further material uploaded on Virtuale.

Teaching methods

The course is based on lectures and seminars with guests. It also includes the use of Powerpoint slides as well as videos that will be discussed at class.

Assessment methods

As regards students who attended the lessons, the assessment method consists on an written exam in the last lesson of the course about the material mentioned in the "Readings/Bibliography" section (three-four open questions, 60 minutes).

The written exam is based on the topics presented at class. Therefore, any aspect of the textbooks not considered at class will not be asked and, vice versa, examples or other contents presented at class and not mentioned in the textbooks may be requested.

Students who do not take the written exam will have an oral interview on the same program in one of the sessions after the end of the course. If they have attended the lessons, please the info above as regards the contents of the exam.

Students can also present team works in groups of 3-5 people during the course, on topics related to the course and agreed with the teacher. This part will receive an evaluation from 0 to 2 points, which will be added to the mark obtained in the exam.

A lesson by the end of February 2024 will be focused on team works. The groups must be formed directly by the students and communicated to the teacher by March 10 by e-mail, together with an abstract (min 1.500, max 2.500 characters including spaces) on the topic, the aim, the specifici link with course contents/concepts, the eventual research tools and three bibliographical/web references. The work will be presented in one of the lessons by the first half of April (20 minutes for each per group). All the students of a group are requested to be present the scheduled day and make a part of the presentation. The Powerpoint slides used for the presentation will be given to the teacher who will upload them on Virtuale to make them available to all the students.

NB: If the average note results with decimals, it is rounded upwards (Example: 27.5 becomes 28).

Office hours

See the website of Gabriele Manella