EDUCATION
After my degree in Philosophy, I took a Ph.D. in
Semiotics under the supervision of Umberto Eco at the
University of Bologna, where I carried on my studies thanks to a
post-doctoral fellowship.
ACADEMIC CAREER
I began my academic career as a permanent Researcher at the University of Bologna, where I subsequently served as Associate Professor until January 2016.
Since February 2016, I have been Full Professor of Philosophy and Theory of Languages (Scientific-Disciplinary Sector M-FIL/05, now PHIL-04/B). From then until 3 June 2021, I was a member of the Department of Philosophy of the University of Bologna. Since 4 June 2021, I have been affiliated with the Department of the Arts – DAR, University of Bologna.
INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES AND ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
From November 2009 to October 2012, I was the President of the postgraduate programme in Semiotics at the University of Bologna.
From November 2012 to September 2018, I was the Coordinator of the undergraduate programme in Communication Studies at the University of Bologna.
From June 2018 to March 2021 I was the Vice Director of the Department of Communication and Philosophy at the University of Bologna.
Since 2010, I have been the Director of the Master in Communication, Management and New Media at the University of San Marino (which has been a double title from the University of Bologna and the University of San Marino since 2016).
Since October 2018, I have been the Director of the undergraduate programme in Communication and Digital Media at the University of San Marino and the University of Boloogna (double title).
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
Undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, University of Bologna
See the list of courses published in the Didactic section of this web site .
Master programmes, Bologna Business School
Until 2014, I held several core teaching appointments in various Master’s programmes at the Alma Graduate School of the University of Bologna, now Bologna Business School.
In particular:
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I was responsible for the core course Multimedia Writing and Editing (60 hours) in the Master in Communication and Information Technologies at the Alma Graduate School of the University of Bologna, now the Bologna Business School.
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I taught the course Effective Communication and Writing (60 hours), which was a core subject for three Master’s programmes: the Master in Communication Management, the Master in Information Technology Management, and the Master in Web Technologies for Business.
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For the first-level Master in Marketing and Communication, I was responsible for the core course Text Analysis (30 hours). In the same programme, I also taught a 30-hour module within the course Effective Communication, coordinated by Professor Paolo Leonardi.
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For the first-level Master in Marketing and Communication, I was responsible for the core course Effective Communication (48 hours).
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I taught the core course Strategic Positioning and Online/Offline Reputation (40 hours) in English for the International Master in Marketing, Communication and New Media of the Bologna Business School, now Digital Marketing and Communication.
Sum, Italian Institute of Human Sciences
For several years, I held various monographic courses and
worked as a tutor for the Ph.D.
in Semiotic Disciplines of the SUM, Italian
Institute of Human Sciences.
Collegio Superiore
For several years, I was a tutor at the Collegio Superiore of
the University of Bologna.
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Over the last 15 years, I have been carrying out my research along these main
lines:
(1) I continued my previous research in the field of digital
media, and expanded it to the analysis of social media and online viral phenomena. The results of this research will be published in the volume Semiotics of Digital Innovation (Laterza, Rome–Bari), scheduled for publication in February 2026.
(2) I carried out additional research activities on the Italian and international political
communication. The results appeared in the
monograph Semiotica e comunicazione politica, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2018.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
From 2013 to 2018, I was the President of Co.Re.Com Emilia-Romagna, which is the Region’s consulting and management body for communications, and it is also a functional body of the National Communications Guarantee Authority (AGCOM), for whom Co.Re.Com exercises a number of local mandates regarding important issues. Among these, of particular relevance are those regarding disputes between users and telephone companies (reconciliation) as well as protection of minors in the television field.
I have also been doing freelance consulting and vocational training activities – all officially authorized by the University of Bologna – in the area of strategic communication for various small, medium and big-sized companies, for public institutions, and for centres of vocational training.
