University of Bologna,
Alma Mater Studiorum
The University of Bologna (Unibo), founded in 1088, is the oldest university in Western Europe. Nowadays, it remains one of the most important institutions of higher education across Europe with 5 Campuses (Bologna, Cesena, Forli, Ravenna, Rimini), 11 Schools, 33 Departments and about 84,200 students. The presence throughout the territory, the international outlook, the research, the programme catalogue, the information services: in these and many other areas, today Alma Mater paves the way for innovation. Among the several European and national projects in which researchers from the University of Bologna are involved, Unibo for Refugees is a significant project promoted by Unibo together with the Municipality of Bologna, which intends to facilitate the integration process of refugee students into the university system.
The Department of Sociology and Business Law (SDE) of the University of Bologna moves from a long tradition of sociological, law and economic studies at national and international level. In this tradition, with a look to the future, the SDE Department plays an important role in the national and international academic debate. SDE carries out functions related to research and teaching about social change and society, with particular attention to European and international comparative perspectives about: analysis of policies, services and measures for the well-being of population, in the different areas of intervention and territorial levels; analysis of the innovative tools of social development; social integration, social inclusion and sustainability; political participation, governance and development; cultural and media studies.
Within SDE, our team is part of the Ces.Co.Com (Center for Advanced Studies on Consumption and Communication), which aims at analysing and promoting the culture of sustainability and responsible consumption, social integration, new media, social and environmental communication and cooperation, participatory processes and urban regeneration, social innovation issues, and migration studies, working on theoretical frames, innovative analysis tools and methods. Ces.Co.Com proposes an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to social research. Concerning cultural processes, the focus is based on the study of cultural institutions, cultural production and consumption, audiences and publics. Social innovation and social integration are the crossing topics of Ces.Co.Com, with a focus on innovative practices able to generate value for society, in order to examine and understand ‘new’ community’s needs. One of the main research issue that Ces.co.com analyses through a social innovation approach concerns social integration of migrants, refugees and marginalized social groups through participatory processes and inclusive dynamics.
RESEARCH TEAM
Pierluigi Musarò, Ph.D in Sociology
Pierluigi Musarò is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Bologna as well as a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University.
His research is transdisciplinary in nature and comprises interlinked areas such as social theory, media and communication, migration and NGOs, public art and participatory processes. Since 2009, he is Director of ITACA’_migrants and travellers, Festival of Sustainable Tourism. Finally, together with with Laura Iannelli, he is director of the book series Social Science/Sociology, Mimesis International.
Relevant publications
Musarò, P. and Iannelli, L. (2017), Performative Citizenship. Public Art, Urban Design, and Political Participation. Roma: Mimesis International.
Musarò, M. and Chouliaraki, L. (2017). The mediatized border. Technologies and affects of migrant reception in the Greek and Italian borders, Feminist Media Studies, Routledge, 26-52.
Musarò, M. (2016). Mare Nostrum: the visual politics of a military-humanitarian operation in the Mediterranean Sea. Media, Culture and Society, 6, 1-18.
Roberta Paltrinieri, Ph.D in Sociology
Roberta Paltrinieri is Full Professor of Sociology at the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna where she teaches ‘Sociology of cultural and communication processes’ and ‘Sociology of Consumption’. She is Scientific Director of the Ces.co.com (Centre for Advanced Studies on consumption and communication of the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna). Main research issues are: Sustainability, Participatory processes, Social Capital and Civic Engagement. She is also Director of Second Cycle Degree of Sociology and Social Work
Relevant publications
Paltrinieri, R. and Parmiggiani, P. (2016). Il pubblico della lirica: consumo di cultura o cultura di consumo?. Sociologia della Comunicazione, 51, 29 – 42.
Paltrinieri, R. (2014). Consumi, pratiche e stili di vita, in Sociologia. Problemi, teorie, intrecci storici, Roma: Carocci, 205 – 220.
Paltrinieri, R. (2012). Felicità responsabile. Il consumo oltre la società dei consumi. Milano: Franco Angeli.
Paola Parmiggiani, Ph.D in Sociology
Paola Parmiggiani is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Bologna. She is a member of the Ces.Co.Com. the Study Center on Communication and Sustainable Consumption at the University of Bologna. Her main research interests are: practices of consumption and cultural studies, with particular reference to the practices for responsible consumption, the processes of civic engagement, the humanitarian communication and the communication of sustainability.
Relevant publications
Parmiggiani, P. and Paltrinieri, R. (2016). Consumption, Communication, Futures: Conseptual and Practical Sociological Challenges. Sociologia della Comunicazione, 52.
Parmiggiani, P. and Musarò, P. (2017). Beyond Black and White: The Role of Media in Portraying and Policing Migration and Asylum in Italy, Revue Internationale de Sociologie, 27.
Parmiggiani, P. and Paltrinieri, R. (2016). Il pubblico della lirica: consumo di cultura o cultura di consumo?. Sociologia della Comunicazione, 51.
Melissa Moralli is Research Fellow and Teaching Tutor in Sociology at the University of Bologna. Her current research interests are: social innovation, local and regional development, urban studies, tourism, sustainable consumption, interculturalism and social integration. She has been Visiting Scholar at CRISES (Centre de Recherche sur les Innovations Sociales) at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Canada.
Relevant publications
Moralli, M., Alberio, M. and Klein, J.-L. (2017). L’innovazione sociale tra sviluppo territoriale e trasformazione sociale: il caso del Québec. Sociologia Urbana e Rurale, 113, 30 – 46.
Moralli, M. (2016). Fostering Interculturality in Urban Ethnic Neighbourhoods: Opportunities and Limits of the Responsible Tourism Approach. Journal of Mediterranean Knowledge, 1, 165 – 183.
Musarò, P. and Moralli, M. (2016). Innovazione sociale e turismo responsabile a Bologna: pratiche empiriche e prospettive teoriche. Sociologia della Comunicazione, 52, 50 – 69.
Team’s role in the research project
– Taking contact and coordinating the research network in partner countries;
– Coordinating the collaborative action-research and the surveys;
– Establishing a joint working plan at national level and a plan for a collaborative research at transnational level;
– Scheduling meetings and communication among researchers also using virtual instrument as Skype;
– Coordinating meetings among researchers in the framework of international artistic method exchange workshops;
– Undertaking action-research in collaboration with theaters (workshops, artistic activities, laboratories, etc.);
– Co-constructing and reflecting upon performances and artistic production;
– Co-organizing the international festivals;
– Developing and carrying-out the surveys (festivals and workshops);
– Co-organizing the Summer School and the non-conference;
– Producing contents for the web platform;
– Organizing the dissemination of results.
Università
di Bologna