IFCO 6045 - Digital and AI-related challenges at the crossroads of Culture, Economics and Politics
IFCO 6045 · Fall semester 2026-2027
- Language of tuition
- English
- Course type
- Cours magistral
- Number of hours
- 24
- Credits
- 4
Information
Description
Contemporary societies are increasingly mediated by digital and AI technologies that reshape affordances, attention, expectations, and behaviours. Digital transformations unfold across four intertwined levels: technological, societal, market, and (geo)political. This course equips students with the methods and sociotechnical savoir-faire needed to assess and govern multi-level digital challenges, including those related to online markets, social media, and generative AI. Students will examine how these transformations redefine human coordination and behaviour across cultural, economic, and political domains, learning to map complex digital and AI-related dynamics and to devise informed responses to the risks and challenges they pose.
Prerequisites
This is a fundamental course with no prerequisites.
Teaching format
The course will feature lectures with interactive sessions and open discussions, two methodological sessions with TAs. Experiential learning approaches, including role-playing exercises supported by generative AI on specific course-related issues, may also be incorporated into lectures and TA sessions. Students will be guided in the individual and group learning process through suggestions, teaching materials, codes, LLM prompts and analysis examples provided by the lecturer through the course page on Moodle, Miro dashboards, as well as GoogleColab notebooks.
Assessment
Group Research Project (30% of the final grade)
In groups of 4 to 5, students will investigate an issue related to a digital multi-domain transformation. Group project assessment will be based on research design notes (max. 2 A4 pages) and a digital output accompanied by a short report (max. 2 A4 pages).
Final on-site exam [2 hours]: Short essay (70% of the final grade)
For the final exam, students will be required to write a short essay (max. 2 A4 pages). The essay will consist of a critical discussion of a text or a digital content related to one or more issues covered in class.
Workload
The workload consists of participation in twelve lectures, readings and preparatory work, two methodological sessions with TAs, a group project involving research design notes and a digital final output accompanied by a report, and a final examination. Engagement with digital methods and course materials is expected.
Readings
Main readings 5
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Dąbrowska, J., Almpanopoulou, A., Brem, A., Chesbrough, H., Cucino, V., Di Minin, A., Giones, F., Hakala, H., Marullo, C., Mention, A.-L., Mortara, L., Nørskov, S., Nylund, P. A., Oddo, C. M., Radziwon, A., & Ritala, P. (2022). Digital transformation, for better or worse: a critical multi‐level research agenda. R&D Management, 52(5), 930-954.
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Endres, K., Panagopoulos, C., & Green, D. P. (2021). Elite messaging and partisan consumerism: An evaluation of President Trump’s Tweets and polarization of corporate brand images. Political Research Quarterly, 74(4), 834-851.
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Fernández-Castrillo, C. & Mantoan, D. (2024). An archaeology of media artivism: attempting to draft the history of digital culture for social change. Artnodes, 33, pp. 1-12.
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Meier, R. (2024). LLM-aided social media influence operations. In A. Kucharavy, O. Plancherel, V. Mulder, A. Mermoud, & V. Lenders (Eds.), Large language models in cybersecurity: Threats, exposure and mitigation (pp. 105–112). Springer.
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Watts, D. J., Rothschild, D. M., & Mobius, M. (2021). Measuring the news and its impact on democracy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(15), e1912443118.
Further readings 7
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Berners-Lee, T., Cailliau, R., Luotonen, A., Nielsen, H. F., & Secret, A. (1994). The world-wide web. Communications of the ACM, 37(8), 76-82.
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Cinelli, M., De Francisci Morales, G., Galeazzi, A., Quattrociocchi, W., & Starnini, M. (2021). The echo chamber effect on social media. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(9), e2023301118.
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Gorwa, R., Lechowski, G., & Schneiß, D. (2024). Platform lobbying: Policy influence strategies and the EU's Digital Services Act. Internet Policy Review, 13(2).
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Koshiyama, A., Kazim, E., Treleaven, P., Rai, P., Szpruch, L., Pavey, G., ... & Chatterjee, S. (2024). Towards algorithm auditing: managing legal, ethical and technological risks of AI, ML and associated algorithms. Royal Society Open Science, 11(5), 230859.
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Loewenstein, G. & Wojtowicz, Z. (2025). "The Economics of Attention." Journal of Economic Literature, 63(3): 1038–89.
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Milanez, A., Lemmens, A., & Ruggiu, C. (2025). Algorithmic management in the workplace. OECD Artificial Intelligence Papers.
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Nadeem, W., Juntunen, M., Hajli, N., & Tajvidi, M. (2021). The role of ethical perceptions in consumers’ participation and value co-creation on sharing economy platforms. Journal of Business Ethics, 169(3), 421-441.
Teaching units
| Unit no. | Unit type | Teaching units | Teachers | Number of hours | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19501 | Cours magistral | Digital and AI-related challenges at the crossroads of Culture, Economics and Politics | Carlo SANTAGIUSTINA, Cecilia GRAIFF | 24 | 4 |
| 20922 | Teaching assistant | TA Digital and AI-related chal | Cecilia GRAIFF | 16 | — |
Teachers
- Carlo SANTAGIUSTINA
- Cecilia GRAIFF
In the curricula
- Formation Académique Commune (FAC) - Semestre d'automne 2026-2027FORMATION ACADEMIQUE COMMUNE (MASTERS)
Contacts and resources
- Contact
- IODICE Marina