Digital Society

We now live in a digital society. New digital technologies have had a profound influence on everyday life, social relations, government, work and the economy, the production and dissemination of knowledge. People's movements in space, their purchasing habits and their forms of communication with others are now monitored in detail by digital technologies. We are increasingly becoming digital data subjects, whether we like it or not, and whether we choose this or not. The course aims at enabling students to critically analyse and make sense of the main changes that, in the last few decades, have affected Western advanced societies and other areas of the world. Students will be equipped with the conceptual and empirical tools to understand the most salient features and the most relevant consequences of today's processes of digitalization in a number of significant social domains.

By the end of the course students will acquire the ability to critically evaluate and discuss the impact, development and use of digital technologies and their incorporation into social worlds and institutions. The final exam aims to verify the expected learning outcomes in relation to how digital technologies are shaping today's society; the most important theoretical debates around digital societies, culture and the economy, and the role of technology in everyday life.