A new research area in which DISPI intends to invest in the coming years for strategic planning is that of sociology, and more specifically the Sociology of Cultural and Communicative Processes, a disciplinary sector that includes a series of fields of competence concerning the sociological interpretation of cultural and communication phenomena at micro, meso, and macro-social levels.
Since its origins, the Sociology of Cultural and Communicative Processes has had intersections with various neighboring disciplinary fields, including cultural anthropology, social psychology, semiotics, epistemology, the history and philosophy of science, thus assuming a marked interdisciplinary character that emerges both in the objects of study and in the methods of investigation. Indeed, the research activity of this sector spans multiple and varied areas ranging from the sociology of communication to the dynamics of media/cultural industry, from the analysis of the socio-cultural influence of media (journalism, fiction, entertainment, propaganda, advertising) to the analysis of cultural processes (socialization/enculturation, education, religion, science) and the social agencies institutionally involved in these processes.
Within this framework, particular attention will be paid to themes such as: the social role of the media with particular reference to journalism; socio-cultural change with particular reference to both the evolution of values and lifestyles and the evolution of scientific paradigms; the change in communicative-relational modalities with particular reference to conflict prevention and management. In all the aforementioned areas, numerous researches have been carried out and published, including international ones, and collaborations with Italian and foreign universities and research centers are active or can be activated. Furthermore, with regard to the last of the areas indicated above (conflict prevention and management), a past experience of excellence at the national level is highlighted, represented by the PhD program in "Studies for Peace and Conflict Resolution," which was the first (and still the only) higher education structure on these issues in Italy, and in which various professors currently affiliated with DISPI participated at the time, including the reference professor of the sociological area who was its promoter and Director.