This course explores the tourism industry in a semiotic and ethnosemiotic perspective, considering the ways in which places, territories and events are promoted, received and experienced in the West: the imagery behind them, their meanings and uses. We will focus on the euphoria of tourism, together with some practices that prolong it, from souvenirs to postcards to the social network sharing of the leisure travel.

The theoretical approach on the time of the tour, on the value of the tourist destination and on the tourist figure will always be explained through the empirical analysis of texts, objects and social practices that show how meanings circulate in this regard and how inveterate habits on the quality of the visit can change.

We will discuss in particular the tourist destinations of Rome and Venice, with proposals for improving the state of the art through forms of experiential tourism not necessarily in the luxury sector. In fact quality tourism can act as an alternative political model to travel practices and forms of life inspired by globalization.

This year we will put theory into practice through a workshop with the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice and the Doge's Palace, on the occasion of the exhibition 'Vittore Carpaccio. Paintings and Drawings'. Students will visit the two exhibition spaces in Venice and draw inspiration from Carpaccio's works to design 'experiential' and sustainable tourism packages in the Serenissima.

CLASS CONTENTS LESSON BY LESSON:

Knowledge and understanding - Students will have to demonstrate that they have understood the semiotic and ethnosemiotic approach to the study of tourism and  mastered the semiotic method for the analysis of visual texts that document the tourist experience.

Applying knowledge and understanding - Students will be able to analyze, by the semiotic method, texts, objects and practices of the tourist experience and to discover some constant semantic traits that belong to the  cultural memory of travelers.

Making judgements - Students will reflect critically on the communication strategies of tourism, identifying inconsistencies, traps and gaps. On the reception front they will be able to inquire phenomena of collective habituation and desires to be filled.

Communication - Students will learn to describe in an exhaustive way texts, objects and practices of tourism communication. They will use the technical language involved with semiotic analysis to unravel issues that appear confusing to the untrained eye.

Learning skills - At the end of the course, students will be able to correctly use concepts and tools of the semiotic and ethnosemiotic method to describe texts, objects and practices of the tourist experience. They will also grasp the intentionality that guides the touristic communication, evaluating the effectiveness of the results they obtain and formulating self-assessment questions.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Students will be required to follow a seminar (2 hours) organised by the CiSS, International Center of Semiotic Sciences Umberto Eco of the University of Urbino.

Teaching

Lectures. Oral and written exercises.

The course includes:

lectures
group work and written work
oral presentations
participatory lectures in which the work presented will be discussed.

Innovative teaching methods

The innovative teaching method will be enriched with individual and group exercises and insights. Some topics of the course will be treated following the practices of the debate and of the visual thinking.

Course books

Articles in English.

Handouts and slides provided during the course for each lesson.

Assessment

Oral exam aimed at ascertaining the mastery of knowledge relating to the authors and the theories of the discipline, the understanding of concepts and tools of the semiotics method and the procedural knowledge acquired by the students. The examination provides an assessment of thirty.

Grading:

Excellent grades will be given in presence of: a good critical perspective and in depth knowledge; the ability to link the main subjects addressed during the course; the expert use of appropriate language and terminology.

Good grades will be given in presence of: good mnemonic knowledge of the course content; a relatively good critical perspective and the ability to connect its themes; the use of an appropriate language.

Sufficient grades will be given in presence of: minimal knowledge of the course's themes and the presence of some gaps in understanding; the use of an inappropriate language.

Low grades will be given in presence of: difficulty in understanding the course's topics; notable gaps in knowledge; the use of a clearly inappropriate language.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Part-time students  are invited to write to the professor and to consult the teaching material (handouts, slides, examples of textual analysis, Dictionary of Semiotics) that will be uploaded on Moodle Platform during the course.

Course books

The set texts for part-time students – who are able to take the exam as non-attending students – are:

articles in English.

handouts and slides provided during the course for each lesson.

Assessment

Oral exam aimed at ascertaining the mastery of knowledge relating to the authors and the theories of the discipline, the understanding of concepts and tools of the semiotics method and the procedural knowledge acquired by the students. The examination provides an assessment of thirty.

Grading:

Excellent grades will be given in presence of: a good critical perspective and in depth knowledge; the ability to link the main subjects addressed during the course; the expert use of appropriate language and terminology.

Good grades will be given in presence of: good mnemonic knowledge of the course content; a relatively good critical perspective and the ability to connect its themes; the use of an appropriate language.

Sufficient grades will be given in presence of: minimal knowledge of the course's themes and the presence of some gaps in understanding; the use of an inappropriate language.

Low grades will be given in presence of: difficulty in understanding the course's topics; notable gaps in knowledge; the use of a clearly inappropriate language.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Attendance is obligatory for a minimum of 50% of the lessons. It is not possible to take the exam as a non-attending student, with the only exception of those students who are studying part-time.