The DSCS is a research community composed of professors and researchers from different backgrounds, as well as independent professionals and researchers who participate through the DSCS in the scientific and educational life of the University.

The scientific activity of the DSCS is characterized by its strong interdisciplinarity. This implies on the one hand the establishment of autonomous working groups and on the other hand the construction of research lines and projects transversal to them. Research activities funded by external bodies (Prin, Marie Curie, Cariplo Projects, etc.) and third mission activities are also supported.

The scientific-disciplinary sectors involved are: Performing Arts (PEMM-01/A);  Cinema, 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).

The DSCS collaborates with the University Publisher Vita e Pensiero on two projects: the quarterly scientific journal Comunicazioni Sociali. Journal of Media, Perfoming Arts and Cultural Studies (included by Anvur among the Class A journals for sectors 10-PEMM/01 and 14/GSPS-06); and the series of volumes Media, spettacolo e processi culturali with the two sections "Research" and "Treatises and manuals".

Within this series has been published the collective work in three volumes History of communication and entertainment in Italy (2015-2018) and the abridged version in English edited by Fausto Colombo Media and communication in Italy: historical and theoretical perspectives (2019)

The DSCS integrates the activities of individual doctorates or university or national doctoral schools with cross-cutting training in the specific methodologies of study of media, communication and entertainment, with particular attention to the ethical and scientific "style of the house" of Università Cattolica. 

The doctoral courses involved are:

The Department's professors carry out teaching activities in the Faculties of Arts and Philosophy, Linguistic Sciences and Foreign Literatures, Education Sciences, Political and Social Sciences. In particular, the "school of communication" of Università Cattolica has created an educational offer divided into numerous courses for both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

The activity of the DSCS is connected to that of a broader university ecosystem dedicated to media, communication and entertainment, which includes a Graduate School and four research centres.

The DSCS is linked, directly or through its members, to the main international scientific associations in the media, communication and entertainment sectors.