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
From 2000 to 2005, I was an Assistant Professor at the University of Bologna.
From October 2005 to January 2016, I was an Associate Professor at the University of Bologna.
In 2013 I obtained the National Scientific Qualification as a Full professor in the subject area 11/C4.
From 1st February 2016 to 3rd June 2021, I was a Full Professor at the
Department of Philosophy and Communication of the
University of Bologna. Since 4th June 2021 I have been working as a Full Professor at the Department of the Arts of the 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 2005, 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 (from 2004-2005 academic year to the present) published in the Didactic section of this web site .
Master programmes, Bologna Business School
From 2001 to 2014, I held several fundamental courses within
various Master programmes at the Alma Graduate
School of the University of Bologna, now called Bologna Business School.
In particular:
From 2001 to 2003, I held the fundamental course of Writing and Multimedia Editing (60 hours) within the Master programme in Communication and Information Technologies.
In 2003-2004 academic year, I held the course of Effective Communication (60 hours), which was fundamental for three Master programmes: Master in Communication Management, Master in Management and Information Technologies, Master in Web Technologies for Businesses.
From 2004 to 2006, I held the fundamental course of Text Analysis (30 hours) within the Master programme in Marketing and Communication.
From 2006 to 2010, I held the fundamental course of Effective Communication (48 hours) within the Master programme in Marketing and Communication.
From 2011 to 2014 I taught the fundamental course of Strategic
Positioning and Online/Offline Reputation (40 hours) within the international
Master programme in
Marketing, Communication and New Media, now called Master in New Media and Marketing Communication.
Sum, Italian Institute of Human Sciences
From 2007 to 2012, 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
Since 2003, I have been a tutor at the Collegio Superiore of
the University of Bologna.
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Over the last several 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 led to the monograph
Introduzione alla semiotica dei nuovi media, Laterza,
Roma-Bari, 2014.
(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 July 2013 to July 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.
