The 2021 'Future Media' lecture series is brought to you by the B.A in Communication & Digital Media at The American University of Rome. Professor Lorenzo Coretti, Director of the Communication and Digital Media program, will be sitting down with some of Europe's leading thinkers on the future of work, politics, and society in an effort to understand the promises (and the threats) that the future holds in store for all of us.
This series of lectures is free and available to any participant however you will need to register your attendance in advance using the form at the foot of this page.
THE FUTURE OF WORK
24 March at 7:00 pm (CET)
A conversation with Prof. Lorenzo Coretti (AUR) and Prof. Carsten Sorensen (LSE)
Technological innovation is affecting most aspects of our daily lives, from the way we communicate to the way we work. Automation, Big Data, and Artificial Intelligence are reshaping the world of jobs, entrepreneurship, and freelancing, generating new tensions among those who celebrate these changes and those who see them as a threat to our future. We will discuss these crucial issues with Prof. Carsten Sorensen, Associate Professor of Information Systems and Innovation at the London School of Economics and Political Science (London, UK) and author of the book ‘Enterprise Mobility’ (Palgrave, 2011).
THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL ACTIVISM
7 April at 7:00 pm (CET)
A conversation with Prof. Lorenzo Coretti (AUR) and Dr. Emiliano Treré (Cardiff University)
The Internet plays a controversial role in terms of social and political change. On the one hand, it promotes the rise and growth of grassroots activism through social media; on the other one, it can act as a powerful tool of surveillance and oppression by political regimes and police forces. This role is complicated further by the profit-oriented nature of social media and their algorithmic filters. We will discuss the future of digital activism with Dr. Emiliano Treré, Senior Lecturer at Cardiff University (UK) and author of the book ‘Hybrid Media Activism’ (Routledge, 2018).
THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING
20 April at 7:00 pm (CET)
A conversation with Prof. Lorenzo Coretti (AUR) and Dr. Alessandro D’Arma (University of Westminster)
Technological development and commercial logics are increasingly posing new challenges for Public Service Broadcasters such as the BBC in the United Kingdom and RAI in Italy. In a media ecology constantly expanding in size and concentrating in terms of ownership, is the future of public broadcasters at risk? We will talk about this with Dr. Alessandro D’Arma, Reader in Media and Communication at the University of Westminster (London, UK) and author of the book ‘Media and Politics in Contemporary Italy’ (Lexington, 2015).
THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL POLITICS
28 April at 7:00 pm (CET)
A conversation with Prof. Lorenzo Coretti (AUR) and Dr. Paolo Gerbaudo (King’s College).
In the last decade, old and new political formations have tapped into the potential of digital media and participatory platforms, with significant repercussions on how parties communicate with citizens and how they involve the base in decision-making processes. These patterns have generated new practices of political involvement but also novel forms of populism. We will discuss the future of digital politics with Dr. Paolo Gerbaudo, Reader in Digital Culture and Society at King’s College, London (UK), and author of the book ‘The Digital Party’ (Pluto Press, 2018).