XXXIX CYCLE OF DOCTORAL PROGRAMME IN LINGUISTIC, PHILOLOGICAL-LITERARY AND POLITICAL-SOCIAL SCIENCES

 

The curriculum focuses on language in its various articulations, and aims to offer a specific training program in the areas of theoretical, descriptive, applied, typological, historical, and Italian linguistics, as well as glottodidactics, and language teaching methods. In these areas, the curriculum provides the skills necessary for research through a critical and interdisciplinary approach to linguistic analysis, from theoretical, descriptive, educational, acquisitional, social, computational, and historical perspectives. The potential reference of the curriculum is to the different languages of the world, although its location within the University for Foreigners of Perugia implies a focused attention to Italian and its varieties. In fact, the curriculum is complemented by the presence of Italian linguistics, which deals specifically with Italian and its varieties, dialects, and minority languages with reference to written, oral, and media-transmitted texts. Some research topics included in the curriculum are: the study of graphical, phonological, morphosyntactic, typological, lexicological and lexicographical, grammatical, psycholinguistic, textual, pragmatic, and discursive aspects; the in-depth study of sociolinguistic aspects and related to linguistic variation, multilingualism, and language contact; linguistic-educational policies; linguistic and Italian diaspora in the world; the study of L1 and L2/LS acquisition; linguistic analysis across different textual genres (academic, political, media discourse, etc. ); corpus linguistics; analysis of aspects related to didactics, assessment and language education; empirical evaluation of the effects that different pedagogical approaches produce on learning; modern language teaching through glottotechnologies.

 

The curriculum focuses on the Italian linguistic, textual and literary tradition from its origins to contemporary times, with a special emphasis on Italian outside Italy, the connection with the arts and the educational domain, which pertain to the mission of the University and the Department. Privileged areas of research are the following: - the area of historical and critical research on Italian literature, with a focus on the diffusion of Italian literature, language and cultural models in the Peninsula and outside Italy, through the study of the historical, social and editorial modes of this diffusion, and the textuality of artistic and multimedia forms of expression; - the area of research in the history of language, which privileges, in constant dialogue with philological research, the linguistic and textual analysis of written, literary and non-literary testimonies produced inside or outside the borders of Italy, in the ancient or modern varieties of the Italian repertoire, with attention to the relationship between linguistic data and textual typologies, on the one hand, and the historical-cultural and social context of their evolution, on the other; - the area of philological research, which aims to develop high methodological skills for the study of textual traditions, aimed at the ascertained or critical edition of Italian texts and their commentary, through the study of the history of the works from the ecdotic point of view and author philology. To complement the philological, linguistic and literary fields, the curriculum includes an attention to the various forms of Italian art as a privileged means of spreading the Italian language and culture over time. Also of particular importance are the digital processing of texts to constitute databases and diachronic corpora of texts for annotation, as well as the construction and experimentation of useful tools for educational innovation.

 

The curriculum is characterized by an interdisciplinary approach that integrates political and social analysis with historical and international legal analysis to offer an analysis and explanation of the role of states and supra- and sub-national actors from both historical and topical perspectives. The curriculum identifies a number of specific areas for in-depth study: diplomacy and intercultural dialogue, trans-national relations, rights protection and environmental advocacy, analysis and management of humanitarian crises, human security, and policies promoting development. The doctoral program gives priority to the following research topics: the study of the international role of states, both those of Europe and non-European countries; the study of the problems of international politics and human security; the analysis of the phenomena of global interdependence, with particular attention to Africa and Latin America and, more generally, to South-South dynamics; the deepening of relations between countries, with a special focus on the interaction between political regimes with different social structures and on the dialogue between cultures; and the study of humanitarian crises.