This class will explore the notion of social representations in contemporary communication and cultural studies. Social representations circulate in discourses, are carried by words, conveyed in messages and media images, manifested in behaviors and in the material or spatial world. They are composed of various elements that have long been studied in isolation: attitudes, opinions, beliefs, values, ideologies, etc. That all-encompassing “Grand theory” (Doise, 1993) carries with it a conceptual and methodological opening, and is viewed by many as a new direction in the study of knowledge construction. Since its original elaboration, the theory of social representations has undergone interesting developments that provide several perspectives on representations. Its various disciplinary and theoretical approaches and methodological implications will be outlined, with particular emphasis on empirical research on social issues such as illness, madness, human rights, politics, race, “otherness”, gender studies etc.

Course objectives:

• to familiarise the students with the major approaches in social representation studies
• to understand and apply the concept of social representation to the analysis of societal issues, making the link between representations and practices.
• to develop appropriate strategies to investigate cultural phenomena though the lense of the theory, with an emphasis of the anthropological approach.
• to describe and interpret the results of a scientific study on social representations in line with relevant theoretical considerations.

 Course content: Definition of the concept of social representation. Tools and methods of analysis. Structure and transformation of a social representation. Related constructs, concepts and theories. Culture and social change.

Farr, R. (1987). Social Representations: A French Tradition of Research. Journal for the theory of social behaviour, 17(4), 343-365.

Howarth, C. (2006). A social representation is not a quiet thing: Exploring the critical potential of social representations theory. British journal of social psychology, 45(1), 65-86.

Moscovici, S. (1981). On social representations. Social cognition: Perspectives on everyday understanding, 8(12), 181-209.

Moscovici, S. (1984). The myth of the lonely paradigm: A rejoinder. Social research, 939-967.

Moscovici, S. (1998). 14 The history and actuality of social representations. The psychology of the social, 209-247.

Moscovici, S., & Hewstone, M. (1983). Social representations and social explanations: From the “naive” to the “amateur” scientist. Attribution theory: Social and functional extensions, 98-125.

Moscovici, S., & Marková, I. (1998). Presenting social representations: A conversation. Culture & psychology, 4(3), 371-410.

Abric, J. C. (1993). Central system, peripheral system: their functions and roles in the dynamics of social representations. Papers on social representations, 2, 75-78.

Bangerter, A. (1995). Rethinking the relation between science and common sense: A comment on the current state of social representation theory. Papers on social representations, 4, 61-78.

Beattie, P. (2019). Information: Evolution, psychology, and politics. In Social Evolution, Political Psychology, and the Media in Democracy (pp. 17-61). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Breakwell, G. (1993). Social representations and social identity. Papers on social representations, 2, 198-217.

Doise, W. (1993). Debating social representations. Empirical approaches to social representations, 157-170.

Duveen, G., & Lloyd, B. (1988). Gender as an influence in the development of scripted pretend play. British journal of developmental psychology, 6(1), 89-95.

Farr, R. (1984). Social representations: Their role in the design and execution of laboratory experiments. Social representations, 125-147.

Jost, J. T. (1992). Social representations and the philosophy of science: Belief in ontological realism as objectification. Papers on Social Representations, 1, 116-124.

Jovchelovitch, S. (2008). The rehabilitation of common sense: Social representations, science and cognitive polyphasia. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 38(4), 431-448.

Liu, J. H., & Hilton, D. J. (2005). How the past weighs on the present: Social representations of history and their role in identity politics. British Journal of Social Psychology, 44(4), 537-556.

Markova, I. (2008). The epistemological significance of the theory of social representations. Journal for the theory of social behaviour, 38(4), 461-487.

Nichter, M., 2008. Global health: Why cultural perceptions, social representations, and biopolitics matter. University of Arizona Press (320 pages)

Voelklein, C., & Howarth, C. (2005). A review of controversies about social representations theory: A British debate. Culture & psychology, 11(4), 431-454.

Wachowski, L., & Wachowski, L. (1999). The Matrix. Warner Bros. (2 hrs 16 min)

1. Class Attendance: mandatory 70% attendance is required;
2. Seminar Assignments: in-class presentation and seminar paper;

      A minimum of 35% of the grade should be acquired through regular course activities: seminar assignments and two midterm exams

1. Course activities: seminar assignments; Midterm Exam 1 (written), Midterm Exam 2 (written)

Final Exam (written)

Grading Scale:

Failure (1) – 0 do 49,9%

Satisfactory (2) – 50 do 64,9%

Good (3) – 65 do 79,9%

Very Good (4) – 80 do 89,9%

Excellent (5) – 90 do 100%

Final Grade Calculation:

1. a) In-class Activities – 70%

     1) Seminar Assignments – 20%

     2) Mid term 1 – 25%

     3) Mid term 2 – 25%

1. b) Final Exam – 30%