The Department of Communication and Performing Arts (DSCS) coordinates interdisciplinary research in media, new media, theatre, performance, and, more broadly, communication. This research is carried out using a range of methodologies by academics affiliated with various Faculties across the University. Similarly, the DSCS oversees the interdisciplinary training of doctoral candidates in the fields of communication and performing arts, who are enrolled in different doctoral schools within the University.

The DSCS was established in November 1999, building upon the experience of the former Institute of the same name. That Institute, in turn, embodied the teaching and research legacy of the Scuola superiore di Giornalismo e Mezzi Audiovisivi (poi Scuola di specializzazione in Comunicazioni Sociali, oggi Alta Scuola in Media, Comunicazione e Spettacolo), founded by Mario Apollonio in 1961–1962.

The Department has been led by Gianfranco Bettetini, Francesco Casetti, Annamaria Cascetta, and Fausto Colombo. The current Director is Ruggero Eugeni.

The DSCS is a research community comprising academic staff and researchers at various career stages, as well as professionals and independent scholars who contribute to the scientific and educational life of the University through their involvement with the Department.

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The research activity of the Department of Communication and Performing Arts (DSCS) is distinguished by its strong interdisciplinary approach. This involves, on one hand, the establishment of independent research groups and, on the other, the development of cross-cutting research themes and projects.

The Department also supports research initiatives funded by external bodies (such as PRIN, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Fondazione Cariplo projects, among others), as well as third mission activities.

The academic disciplines involved include: Performing Arts Studies (PEMM-01/A); Film, Photography, Radio, Television and Digital Media (PEMM-01/B); Sociology of Cultural and Communicative Processes (GSPS-06/A); Theoretical Philosophy (PHIL-01/A); Aesthetics (PHIL-04/A)

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The DSCS collaborates with the University publisher Vita e Pensiero on two major projects: the peer-reviewed journal Comunicazioni Sociali. Journal of Media, Performing Arts and Cultural Studies, published three times a year and recognised by ANVUR as a Class A journal for sectors 10-PEMM/01 and 14-GSPS/06; and the book series Media, Performing Arts and Cultural Processes, which is structured into two sections: "Research" and "Treatises and Textbooks".

Among the publications in this series is the collective three-volume work Storia della comunicazione e dello spettacolo in Italia (A History of Communication and Performing Arts in Italy, 2015–2018), along with its abridged English-language edition edited by Fausto Colombo, entitled Media and Communication in Italy: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives (2019).

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The DSCS includes the activities of individual doctoral programmes and national or University-based doctoral schools by providing cross-disciplinary training in the specific methodologies used in media, communication, and performing arts studies. Particular emphasis is placed on upholding the ethical and scholarly “house style” of Università Cattolica.

The doctoral programmes involved include:

• Humanistic Studies: Tradition and Innovation
• Sociology, Organisations and Cultures
• Linguistic and Literary Sciences

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The academic staff of the Department are engaged in teaching activities across the Faculties of Arts and Philosophy, Linguistic Sciences and Foreign Literatures, Education, and Political and Social Sciences. In particular, the “School of Communication” at Università Cattolica has developed a comprehensive educational offering, comprising numerous undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes.

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The DSCS operates within a broader University ecosystem dedicated to media, communication, and the performing arts, which includes a Graduate School and four Research Centres.

The Department is also connected—either directly or through its affiliated members—to the leading international scholarly associations in the fields of media, communication, and performance studies.

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Mariagrazia Fanchi, Director of Almed - Alta Scuola in Media e Comunicazione - and Full Professor of Film, Photography and Television, has been appointed as the new President of the Lombardia Film Commission Foundation.

Read the official statement from Regione Lombardia.

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Comunicazioni Sociali. Journal of Media, Performing Arts and Cultural Studies is an academic journal founded by Mario Apollonio in 1966, originally under the title "Annali della Scuola Superiore di Giornalismo e mezzi audiovisivi". Over the decades, the journal has evolved into its current form as a triannual publication.

Comunicazioni Sociali (CS) addresses key issues in theatre, cinema, radio, television, journalism, advertising, and new technologies, publishing both monographic issues and miscellaneous volumes. The journal has always promoted a rigorous scholarly approach to the theory, history, and critical analysis of media, while also engaging with current and controversial debates in the field of communication—particularly those concerning ethics and anthropological design.

The journal is currently edited by Chiara Giaccardi. Since 2023, Comunicazioni Sociali has adopted a fully Open Access model. All articles are published under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence and are freely available for download without registration.

Comunicazioni Sociali 3/2024 "Italian Cinemas and Moviegoing. Venues, People, Management", a cura di Paola Dalla Torre, Maria Grazia Fanchi, Elena Mosconi

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Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore ranks among the top 101–150 universities worldwide out of a total of 26,000 institutions in the subject area of Communication & Media Studies.

Storia della comunicazione e dello spettacolo in Italia (A History of Communication and Performing Arts in Italy) is a three-volume work edited by the Department of Communication and Performing Arts.