Dario Martinelli
Semiotics: challenges and opportunities in teaching, research and institutional affairs
Abstract
The goal of this presentation is to draw a picture of the current state of the art of semiotics within the academic environment, in relation to pedagogical activities, research and different forms of institution (private, governmental, funding sources, etc.). After the “golden age” of the 1960’s and 1970’s, semiotics has undergone a long period of transition – and occasionally crisis – which is still in process nowadays and which involves a number of theoretical-paradigmatic questions (e.g., the appearance of the zoo- and biosemiotics areas, which challenged the logocentric Saussurean approach), as well as diverse issues of practical-operative nature (e.g., the ever-difficult relation with funding institutions). The activities, the history and the institutional positioning of the International Semiotics Institute (Kaunas University of Technology) will be employed as a case-study.
Key-words: Semiotics, Pedagogy, Research, Academic institutions, Extra-academic institutions
Bionote
Prof. Dr. Dario Martinelli (1974) is Director of the International Semiotics Institute, Full Professor at Kaunas University of Technology, Adjunct Professor at the Universities of Helsinki and Lapland, and Editor-in-chief of the Springer series "Numanities - Arts and Humanities in Progress". As of 2017, he has published twelve monographs and about 120 among edited collections, studies and scientific articles. Besides his affiliations, he has been visiting professor in four academic institutions, and has been giving ca. eighty lecture courses in fourteen different academic institutions in Europe. He has been recipient of several prizes, including, in 2006, a knighthood from the Italian Republic for his contribution to Italian culture.
Abstract
The goal of this presentation is to draw a picture of the current state of the art of semiotics within the academic environment, in relation to pedagogical activities, research and different forms of institution (private, governmental, funding sources, etc.). After the “golden age” of the 1960’s and 1970’s, semiotics has undergone a long period of transition – and occasionally crisis – which is still in process nowadays and which involves a number of theoretical-paradigmatic questions (e.g., the appearance of the zoo- and biosemiotics areas, which challenged the logocentric Saussurean approach), as well as diverse issues of practical-operative nature (e.g., the ever-difficult relation with funding institutions). The activities, the history and the institutional positioning of the International Semiotics Institute (Kaunas University of Technology) will be employed as a case-study.
Key-words: Semiotics, Pedagogy, Research, Academic institutions, Extra-academic institutions
Bionote
Prof. Dr. Dario Martinelli (1974) is Director of the International Semiotics Institute, Full Professor at Kaunas University of Technology, Adjunct Professor at the Universities of Helsinki and Lapland, and Editor-in-chief of the Springer series "Numanities - Arts and Humanities in Progress". As of 2017, he has published twelve monographs and about 120 among edited collections, studies and scientific articles. Besides his affiliations, he has been visiting professor in four academic institutions, and has been giving ca. eighty lecture courses in fourteen different academic institutions in Europe. He has been recipient of several prizes, including, in 2006, a knighthood from the Italian Republic for his contribution to Italian culture.