Paolo Piccirillo is currently a Semiotics PhD Student (cycle XL), in the PhD course Philosophy, Science, Cognition and Semiotics (PSCS) at the Department of Philosophy, University of Bologna.
He is also a member of the International PhD College (I-PhD), a 3rd cycle academic and research track organised by the Collegio Superiore of the University of Bologna, complementary to the University's PhD programmes.
Education
- 2024 - ongoing: PhD Student in Philosophy, Science, Cognition and Semiotics (Department of Philosophy, curriculum Semiotics (M-FIL/05), Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna). Title: The creativity of human and machinic instances. Around the enunciation of aesthetic artifices between plastic and digital.
- 2022 - 2024: Master's Degree in Semiotics, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, thesis in Media Semiotics. Title: The Pornographic Discourse. Medial vectors of meaning between experience, dress and enunciation. Final grade: 110/110 cum laude
- 2019 - 2022: Master's Degree in Philosophical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, thesis in History of Philosophy. Title: Beyond the Renaissance Subject. The awakening of the perceived world. Final grade: 110/110 cum laude
- 2016 - 2019: Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, thesis in Semiotics. Title: Aesthetic Experience in the Contemporary. Generative paths in the performance of Marina Abramović. Final evaluation: 110/110 cum laude
- 2011 - 2016: Classical High School Diploma, Liceo Ginnasio “G. Asproni”, Nuoro
Participation in conferences
- Conference: Seeing with Machines. Aesthetics, Education and Semiotics of AI Images. Reggio Emilia, Italy, 7-8 May 2026. Communication title: Between Material Manipulation and Algorithmic Syntax: Pictorial Enunciation in the Contemporary Era.
- Conference: LIII AISS (Italian Association of Semiotic Studies) – Cattivi. Palermo, Italy, 11-13 December 2025. Communication title: Conceded malice. Pathemic reversals in the erotic ludus.
- Conference: XXX SFL (Italian Society for the Philosophy of Language) – I linguaggi della crisi. Clima, conflitto, antropocene. Bologna, Italy, 18-20 September 2025. Communication title: Surreal enunciation in times of crisis: two quarter-centuries compared.
- International conference: Cognitive Futures in The Arts and Humanities – Cognitive Tools in Action. Messina, Italy, 28-30 May 2025. Communication title: Cognitive scaffolding and artistic creation. Interfacing material enaction and digital generativity.
- Conference: LII AISS (Italian Association of Semiotic Studies) – Forme del silenzio. Bologna, Italy, 7-9 November 2024. Communication title: A particular case of machinic enunciation. Performing silence in the world of noise.
- International conference: XI Jungcusaner Tagung 2024: Nicholas of Cusa and the Metaphor(s) of Light (Academy of Sciences of Bologna Institute, Italian Cusanian Society, Kueser Akademie für Europäische Geistesgeschichte). Bologna, Italy, 11-13 September. Communication title: Light as a narrative actant. Towards a semiotic interpretation of Cusanus between visible and intelligible.
- International conference: L’umanesimo del quadrivio attraverso la più recente generazione di studiosi(Academy of Sciences of Bologna Institute). Bologna, Italy, 14 march 2022. Communication title: Beyond rational sensibility: the medietas of chiaroscuro in Plato and Cusanus.
Academic and instructional activities
- 2026: Co-supervisor of a Master’s Degree thesis in Philosophical Sciences, University of Bologna (Course: Interpretive Semiotics – Supervisor: prof. Claudio Paolucci). Thesis title: “When the machine creates. Beyond anthropocentric exceptionalism: toward a machinic reconsideration of creativity”, defended on march 26.
- 2025 - ongoing: Exam support for the course Interpretative Semiotics (MA, M-FIL/05), Master’s Degree Programme in Semiotics and in Philosophical Sciences, University of Bologna
Academic and Institutional Roles
- 2025 - ongoing: PhD Student Representative on the Department Council (Department of Philosophy, University of Bologna)
Memberships
- 2025 - ongoing: Member of Society for the Philosophy of Language (SFL)
- 2024 - ongoing: Member of Collegio Superiore, University of Bologna (I-PhD)
- 2019 - 2020; 2024 - ongoing: Member of the Italian Association of Semiotic Studies (AISS)
