Dipartimento di Lettere e Culture moderne

PhD Program in Documentation Studies, Linguistics and Literature

The Ph.D. Program is focused on language, texts and documents, considering all their implications and aspects (linguistic, philological, material, etc.). The program includes specific curricula covering Archive, Library and Information Science, theory of Language, general linguistics and language education, Russian linguistics and culture, historical and philological literary studies, geography and gender studies. The PhD program aims to provide graduate students with in-depth and up-to-date knowledge on the major issues related to language and documents (written as well as audiovisual and digital) and to material and immaterial heritage and is characterized by the attention to interdisciplinarity, to the most innovative areas of research in the various fields and to internationalization. The PhD program is recognized as a leader program in various fields and involved in international cooperation, as shown by the provenance of applications from several Italian universities and from many other countries, as well as from qualified public servants.

Areas of interest:

Archive, Library and Information Science
The curriculum in Archive, Library and Information Science is meant to offer a wide theoretical and experimental knowledge on the disciplinary domain related to the various kind of documentary expressions starting from manuscripts, to printed books, and digital resources. Archivistic Sciences, Bibliography, Library and Information Science, all concur to study - each one from its own disciplinary point of view- the various moments from the creation to the publication, and then to the selection, the cataloguing and the classification, indexing and dissemination of 'documents'. The curricula for doctoral students are then chosen in order to offer an appropriate historical and epistemological education in the history of 'documents': ranging from the history of the main public and private institutions; to the social impact of the book commerce; and to the analysis of more specific topics as 'access' and 'implementation of new technologies'. A special interest will be devoted to the international dimension, and especially to European topics and problems: foreign professors are currently invited to give lectures, and may also be selected as 'tutor' or 'co-tutor' for the final written dissertation. Stages in archives, libraries and documentation centers, but also in publisher houses or research institutions (in Italy and in Europe), are expected to complete the curriculum of each doctoral student.

Theory of Language and Linguistic Education
The curriculun “Theory of Language and Linguistic Education” aims, on one side, at a development of PhD students’ professional capabilities from both a philosophical-linguistic, a theoretical-linguistic and an educational linguistic vantage point;, on the other side, at the achievement of highly specialized, individual paths of research, focusing on a plurality of possible subjects, such as: classical authors from the philosophical-linguistic tradition, topics or trends in contemporary linguistic studies, textual corpora, as well as “cases” that are relevant to educational and/or politico-linguistic ends, paying particular attention to Europe and the Mediterranean area.  Special issues cultivated by the teaching staff include also: Saussure and the structuralism, History of the Italian linguistic thought, Computational linguistics, German linguistics, Semantics, Social theories of language and communication, Theory and practice in Educational linguistics.

Russian Linguistics and Culture
The curriculum Russian Linguistics and Culture is a subject area that in Italy and especially at “Sapienza” University has a glorious tradition: the studies on Russian language, literature and the comparative studies of Slavonic and Romance cultures in the widest sense. The curriculum is well interfaced with other PhD curricula. Thanks to Russian Linguistics discipline represented at "Sapienza" University, it broadens the spectrum of linguistic disciplines in the PhD and, therefore, in its training. The curriculum is also connected organically with the areas of cultural studies and philology. Remarkable achievements in these fields are easily verifiable especially on the side of internationalization, with stays and missions of graduate students, exchange of lectures, reports in international conferences, publications both in Italy and in Russia,and so on.

Studies in Literature, History and Gender
Continuing the tradition of the Doctoral Program in the History of Women’s Writing (1995-2008) and the International Doctoral Program in Gender Studies (2008-2013), the curriculum in Literature, History and Gender Studies focuses on the cultural history of modernity and contemporaneity, investigated from the theoretical perspectives of Gender Studies.
In this wide-ranging and diversified field of research, the academic activities embraced by the curriculum include literature, linguistics, philology, history, philosophy, and the intersection of these disciplines with the social sciences.
Adopting an intersectional perspective, the curriculum has as its scientific and educational objective the study of gender and sexuality as social constructions from a perspective that valorizes diverse cultural traditions, the plurality of subjective and collective identities, their historical memory, and their forms of expression.

Geography
The curriculum in geographic studies sets out to give detailed theoretical-methodological knowledge and ad hoc application skills for the analysis of phenomena and problems characterising different contexts at various scales of investigation. The curriculum makes it possible to experiment an interdisciplinary and innovative course in numerous fields of social utility: from the demographic-migratory context to the social-healthcare one, focussing on the aspects pertaining to the quality of life; from the urban context to that of natural risks, where multi-temporal study and strategic planning play an important role; from touristic context to the capitalisation of environmental and historical-cultural heritage, also highlighting territorial identity and participative processes; from local development, by means of the valorisation of resources, to conflict, as a possible outcome of the policies implemented. Specific attention is given to the use of GIS, in order to carry out detailed analyses, with a combined viewpoint and in the perspective of fostering a synergy between qualitative and qualitative data, historical cartography and satellite images, textual and visual information, with specially set up digital platforms. This is also aimed at promoting the recovery and valorisation of documentary and iconographic heritage preparatory to the diffusion of geographic thought and its forms of knowledge.