Public Communication of Science and Circulation of Scientific Knowledge
With my doctoral research Il Contagio dell'Incertezza. L'articolazione del paesaggio pandemico e il discorso degli esperti (University of Bologna, PhD in PSCS, Cycle XXXVI), I analyzed the public communication of scientific experts through an interdisciplinary approach that integrates semiotics, the philosophy of science and medicine, the sociology of science, and conversation analysis.
This methodological choice stems from the systemic approach that guided the entire research project. Since the Covid-19 pandemic represented a systemic and structural emergency, it required a method capable of drawing on the languages of the domains involved in managing and articulating meaning in such a process. The underlying idea was that these languages, and the practices that regulate their functioning, constitute functional instances for the self-regulation of domains such as science, politics, and the media.
This is the function, for example, of the interpretative criteria of biomedical sciences in establishing the conditions for theories of causality or causal explanation, or of the standards and timelines for evaluating scientific contributions. These instances were, in turn, influenced by the public discourse of experts, translated through the grammars, stereotypes, and language practices of mainstream television — devices regulating the media domain.
The research thus analyzed these instances and the network of actions and feedback through which these domains determined the acquisition, evaluation, circulation, and communication of scientific knowledge, within a condition of uncertainty and instability that these relationships both fostered and sought to continually manage.
Autism Spectrum Disorders and Interaction
Through the lens of cognitive semiotics, this part of my research considers the specific features of autistic conditions, particularly their esthesic-perceptual components, within the social domain and the broader experience of sense-making.
Particular attention is given to the role of rhythm as an instance that regulates interactional dynamics and that is often impaired in autistic conditions. The that informs this research — which adopts an embodied, extended, and enactive view of cognition — analyzes rhythm as a structural instance capable of associating, at an explanatory level, the esthesic-perceptual dimension and the intersubjective dimension of autistic experience.
From here stems the investigation of therapies and forms of intervention based on the use of devices and artifacts designed to take autistic sensitivity into account, promoting the development of coordinated interactional dynamics and an experience that is manageable and enjoyable.
