In an increasingly interconnected and globalized world, humanities studies must implement study and research paths aligned with the latest and most innovative trends in Digital Humanities and, more specifically, with the protocols and methods that have characterized the Visual (or Pictorial) Turn. Similarly, a progressive remodelling of communication and dissemination practices appears crucial in light of the latest trends in Digital Storytelling and the new audiences it attracts. In this scenario, rigorous and comprehensive training in traditional and established disciplines remains essential to ensure an approach that is aware of the complexity of current phenomena.

The PhD program in Art History, Cinema, Audiovisual Media, and Music aims to promote specialized research in the fields of art history (from the Middle Ages to the contemporary age), audiovisual media (cinema, TV, photography, new media), and musicology. It aims to train young scholars by providing them with a solid foundation of knowledge and methodological tools appropriate to the current reality.

The distinctive features of the proposed course relate to the specific nature of the knowledge and fields of investigation, the scientific laboratory facilities, and the basic methods (bibliographic research, documentary and archival research, analysis and criticism of sources, historiographical investigation, stylistic and iconographic reading), enhanced by a comprehensive network of skills concerning: the philological and historical-critical analysis of artistic, photographic, cinematographic, audiovisual, and musical works; the study of artistic, cinematographic, audiovisual, and musical institutions; the theories and techniques of production, dissemination, and reception; exhibition and museographic design; museum architecture; practices of protection, theoretical models, and protocols for the conservation and restoration of artistic, photographic, cinematographic, audiovisual, and musical heritage; media archaeology; the archiving of artistic, photographic, cinematographic, audiovisual, and musical works; the management, accessibility/dissemination, and sustainability of historical-artistic, photographic, cinematographic, audiovisual, and musical archives. Thanks to its extensive network of international relations, the doctoral program encourages and promotes experiences in foreign research centers and the international dissemination of research results.