Teaching Communication Theory at the Politecnico di Milano - an Experience

In the academic year 1999-2000 the Politecnico di Milano (Como campus) introduced a new course called “Sociology of Communication (Theory of Communication)”. The course was offered, as an elective one, to engineering students in their 4th or 5th year, in the curricula of “Information Technology” and “Management”, and intended to present the complex phenomenon of human communication. The goal was to complement technological aspects of communication (dealt with in several other courses of both curricula), with the humanistic ones. Namely, the contents of the course were semiotics, theory of languages and texts, history and sociology of communication, public speaking. Space was given also to the theories studying the diffusion of a technological innovation in a given community, and to communicative aspects of computer mediated communication, training and education. The course was evaluated through a specific questionnaire intended to assess students’ satisfaction not only just at the end of the course, but also after some months and/or when they had left the university and entered the job market. Responses from the students – their participation to the course as well as their responses to questionnaire – have been very encouraging, so that a complete curriculum for a “Laurea Specialistica” (equivalent to a Master in anglosaxon countries) in Informatics Engineering with a special emphasis on communication is currently under development and will start in October 2003.