Doctoral School in Sociology and Social Research

School's website

School coordinator: prof. Mario Diani

Curricula:

• Sociology and Social Research
• Information Systems and Organizations
• Methodology and Epistemology of Social Sciences
• Comparative Social Work

Sociology and Social Research

This curriculum focuses on training researchers in order to enable them to integrate theoretic, classic and contemporary reflections with empirical research, through both quantitative and qualitative analytical methods. Students are encouraged to pursue either empirical projects that are explicitly theory-driven, or theoretical projects which explicitly relate to substantive social or political problems. To reach this aim, the training process helps the student to study in depth sociological theory through a direct and extended reading of classical texts and contemporary debates. It also provides the student with a professional expertise on the relevant methodologies and techniques for data collection and analysis. Among the professors, there are experts in the main techniques of empirical research for social sciences.

The PhD program in Sociology which researches have been carried on, covers the following main areas:
- the analyses of social change;
- the analyses of social stratification and social inequality trends; gender, class, education, cohorts;
- the analyses of social stratification and social capital;
- studies concerning economic sociology, macro, meso and micro comparative sociology, social networks analysis etc.
- studies concerning welfare regimes and its evolution;
- studies on sociology of contemporary migrations.
All this topics have been addressed in comparative perspective within European and international research networks.
 

Information Systems and Organizations
The course identifies and selects an area of study for interdisciplinary theoretical observation and empirical research. This area is constituted by the same working and organizational contexts used by ICT technologies (Information and communication technologies). 

The main issues studied during the Doctoral programme are: 
1. social processes of organizational change and new technologies; 
2. social studies about the development and use of information systems; 
3. pratice-based studies about organizational learning; 
4. aesthetics and organization of communication through computers; 
5. gender studies and technological innovation. 

Methodology and epistemology of social sciences
The course is oriented towards an international Doctoral project in collaboration with the University of Paris IV. The main topics studied are: 
1. sociology of knowledge; 
2. sociology of action; 
3. paradigms and models in sociological theory; 
4. sociology of value and social change; 
5. sociology of science; 
6. comparative analysis two. 
The curricula is organized on two different levels. During the first year students will mainly concentrate on the course’s didactic activities and on planning their research, whereas during the following years they will mainly concentrate on their research and Doctoral dissertation. 
First year courses are held at the University of Paris IV. 

Comparative Social Work
The main goal of the program isto train researchers and academics in the area of social work. They should be able to rely on a solid theoretical and methodological base in sociology as well as showing the professional capacity to analyze adequately the dynamics of welfare systems in a comparative framework, particularly in reference to the European area. They should also be able to study adequately the changes in the methodologies and the professional cultures of social workers. The main research areas are: 
1. contemporary theories of social work; 
2. professional cultures of social work; 
3. social work in the transformation of welfare systems; 
4. social services and social participation. 

The training program consists of three different types of courses: basic courses, that all doctoral students are required to attend; qualifying courses, compulsory for specific curricula; supplementary courses. Training activities are the dominant element of the first year, while in the following years students’ work increasingly focuses on the dissertation. Some of the basic, qualifying and supplementary courses are taught in English.

More information are available on the Doctoral School where applicants can find also the syllabus (Manifesto degli Studi) for the specific courses.

Mandatory attendance to the courses and activities scheduled for the track-specific training is specified by each curriculum.

Specific crash-and-pre-courses (f.e. in statistics and/or methods) can be organized by the Doctoral School during October. Each student therefore can be required to attend such courses after an individual evaluation.

Scientific Areas:
Sociology
Sociology of cultural and communication processes
Sociology of economic, labour and organizational processes
Urban and environmental sociology
Information science
Organization theory
Psychology
Philosophy and Theory of Language

Duration: 3 years