93238 - Seminar: Management of Cultural Events (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the seminar (activity strictly related to the objectives of the degree course) students acquire specific skills and notions to deal with linguistic and/or philological and/or literary and/or historical and/or artistic issues and problems. The seminar aims to provide tools and skills necessary for the design, management and implementation of international cultural events  focused on the promotion of Japanese culture in Italy and vice versa of Italian culture in Japan.

Course contents

NipPop 2027 – Genre & Gender: Masculinities in Contemporary Japan and Beyond

The seminar aims to equip students with the skills necessary to plan, manage, and promote international cultural events. Participation in the activities of the NipPop event—totaling 30 hours—serves as the practical context through which these skills are developed, with a particular focus on: designing the event’s structure; managing the event’s social media and website. Students will also have the opportunity to actively participate during the festival (welcoming guests, managing the audience, social media coverage, and supporting guests).

The activities will be divided into a training component (approximately 10 hours), dedicated to acquiring the necessary skills through workshops (social media and website management; basic SEO concepts; drafting a project proposal), and a component focused on the design and creation of event-related content (approximately 20 hours). For this second part, working groups will be created using the Virtuale and Google Drive platforms, supervised by the course instructor and tutors. The objectives fall within the scope of transferable skills: organizing cultural events, communication, teamwork, and problem-solving.

The event focuses on contemporary Japan and the cultural products that spread internationally from Japan, reaching a variety of countries, including Italy. The 17th edition, scheduled for June 11–13, 2027, at DAMSLab, is dedicated to masculinities. Through manga, anime, film, video games, and performances, the festival explores the diversity of contemporary Japanese masculinities—from hegemonic and toxic masculinities to intimacy and social withdrawal, to performed masculinity (dansō) and that generated by design and algorithms—placing them in dialogue with the Italian debate on gender, patriarchy, and new forms of fatherhood. The comprehensive program includes opportunities for critical reflection, featuring presentations by guest scholars and artists, as well as spaces for dialogue with the public: roundtable discussions, author talks, workshops, performances, and screenings.

Students who are unable to attend should contact the teacher in advance.

Note: proficiency in Japanese language is not required for attending the seminar.

Readings/Bibliography

Texts and materials will be available online, on the Virtuale platform, at the beginning of the course.

Teaching methods

The seminar takes the form of a workshop, alternating between lecture-style sessions and hands-on workshops. Students are organized into working groups grouped into thematic teams (desks), each dedicated to one of the core themes of this year’s festival. Within each group, specific roles are assigned—coordination, copywriting, social media and graphic design, and source research and verification—with the option to rotate roles throughout the seminar, allowing students to try out different functions.

The work follows a shared editorial calendar and includes a peer-review phase: within each desk, groups review each other’s drafts according to a common set of criteria before final submission. Faculty supervision takes place at the desk level. There is also the opportunity for hands-on field experience during the festival.

Active participation in group work, whether in person and/or online, is essential for achieving the educational objectives. Activities are managed through the Virtuale and Padlet platforms and tools shared on Google Drive.

Assessment methods

Course completion (3 CFU) is achieved by completing a series of tasks spread out over the course of the seminar, linked to the activities of the working groups and designed to allow for ongoing assessment. The tasks follow the progression of the editorial work:
• content proposal: abstract (max 300 words) and annotated bibliography (at least 5 sources);
• communication plan for the content across the festival’s channels;
• development of the main content in the format assigned to the group (in-depth article, review, or social media campaign);
• peer review of another group’s draft within the desk;
• final presentation of the work.

Tasks are evaluated as “acceptable” or “unacceptable” based on criteria announced at the beginning of the seminar. Non-attending students must contact the instructor before the seminar begins to arrange equivalent tasks. Participation in the festival days, where possible, constitutes a learning experience that is valued within the course.

AI can be a useful tool to support individual learning through in-depth analysis, summaries, and self-assessment exercises. With regard to the suitability assessment, informed, limited, declared, and non-substantial use of AI is permitted for support activities related to the group work completed during the course (summaries, rephrasing). Substantial use of AI to complete parts of the assigned tasks is not permitted.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is suggested that they get in touch as soon as possible with the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and with the lecturer in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination.

Teaching tools

Slides, videos, and multimedia files shared and managed through Virtuale (UniBo), and tools managed through Google Drive.

Links to further information

https://nippop-eventi.it/

Office hours

See the website of Paola Scrolavezza