Doctor in Visual and Media Studies

Program Overview

The PhD in Visual and Media Studies at IULM University of Milan is a 3-year interdisciplinary program that draws inspiration from renowned institutions worldwide. Its three curricula—Visual Arts, Film and Media Studies, and Literature and Transmedia Studies—investigate the theoretical and practical aspects of media, visual languages, and literature. Through a blend of lectures, seminars, and research, the program cultivates transferable skills, offers an annual conference and associated editorial series, and fosters international collaborations.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The PhD in Visual and Media Studies at IULM University of Milan is a 3-year program designed as a convergence point for theoretical knowledge and practical strategies related to the study of media, visual languages, and literature. Its research activities focus on innovative areas of shared and strategic international interest. The objective is to deepen the study of media and visual culture through an interdisciplinary lens.

Outline:

The PhD program offers three curricula:

• Visual Arts:
This curriculum falls under the umbrella of visual studies, employing the same perspective and methodology as the overall program but focusing specifically on the visual arts system. Research areas covered include Visual Culture; History of Medieval Byzantine Art; History of Modern Art; History of Contemporary Art; Art and Cinema; Art and Media; Photography; Video Art; Art and Television; Museology; History of Collecting; Exhibition Curatorship, Iconography and Iconology; and Aesthetics. The curriculum investigates languages through in-depth study of individual disciplines or from an intermedia perspective, highlighting links between disciplines and tracing their cultural and social effects.
• Film and Media Studies:
This curriculum, within a Visual Culture perspective, emphasizes the historical, cultural, and social dimensions of images. Research lines include media archaeology; the relationship between image and memory; visual memory in cinema and the arts; amateur practices and non-theatrical production; relationships between cinema and photography; visual aesthetics of the contemporary; aesthetics and narratives of digital; forms and techniques of television serial productions; practices of television and media consumption; analysis of media narratives; the history of the media (applying models of economic history, long-term historiography, and social construction of technologies); and the history of the cultural industry (analyzing cultural markets, models of quantitative history, production, and distribution cycles). Digital Humanities (with a focus on critical theory of the Internet, the political economy of the Web, and the relationship between online and offline behavior) and Game Studies (including their art-related dimensions) are also included.
• Literature and Transmedia Studies:
This curriculum focuses on the evolution of literary polysystems within various historical, geographical, media, and cultural contexts. It explores the changing boundaries between artistic communication tools, the technological potential of media, and their correlations, particularly the hybridization of languages and devices. Research methodologies draw from literary historiography, narratology, and comparative literature, integrating them into an interdisciplinary approach to writing. Research areas include infra- and intersemiotic translation, adaptation policies, theories of rewriting, and intermediality.

Teaching:

The program features a teaching board composed of numerous professors (a full list is provided in the text but too extensive to reproduce here). The program also includes visiting professors from various universities and institutions internationally, whose lectures and seminars cover a wide range of topics within visual and media studies. A list of visiting professors and their seminar topics for several academic years (2016/2017-2022/2023) is provided in the text but too extensive to reproduce here. The program also includes common teachings in doctoral courses focusing on transferable skills such as academic writing in English, copyright, European design for cultural and creative enterprises, and teaching methodologies.

Other:

The PhD program organizes an annual conference to share research findings among doctoral students and lecturers, featuring discussions with prominent scholars. The program also has an associated editorial series, "Visual and Media Studies Notebooks," which publishes the best theses from PhD students. The program also offers interdisciplinary courses aimed at developing skills for researchers, encouraging careers beyond academia. The program's curricula are influenced by international collaborations and perspectives.