Ricerc@Sapienza

My primary research interests focus on two main areas: 1) publishing and journalism, with an emphasis on digital technologies, the role of platforms, and Artificial Intelligence; 2) higher education and digital transformation, with particular reference to educational innovation, technology-mediated teaching and learning processes, educational policies, and university evaluation.

The first research strand addresses publishing and journalism. It investigates digital publishing and online information, focusing on socio-cultural transformations in journalism and the role of the internet, mobile devices, digital platforms, and Artificial Intelligence. Within this framework, my work explores the relationship between knowledge and digital communication technologies. My study of digital technologies draws on theoretical and analytical approaches grounded in continuity—examining the link between past processes and current trends through a socio-historical lens—as well as an intermedial approach that accounts for cross-media interactions within the publishing landscape. More recently, my studies have focused on the role of digital platforms and Artificial Intelligence, the consequences of algorithmic mediation in news production and consumption, and the processes of strategic disconnection that publishers and journalists enact from digital platforms and AI.

The second strand focuses on the higher education system and its evolutionary processes, drawing on the sociology of education. This line of research addresses e-learning and pedagogical innovation (both technology-mediated and otherwise), alongside policy frameworks, institutional governance, and the socio-cultural context of university reforms. Within this scope, I have paid particular attention to the institutionalisation of Communication Studies in Italy and its underlying cultural framework. In recent years, this work has expanded to examine instructional communication beyond purely technological applications, highlighting the central role of interaction and active participation in reforming university teaching. Furthermore, research on higher education reform investigates university evaluation—both institutional quality assessment and internal evaluation practices—with particular regard to their socio-cultural impacts on the academic system and its stakeholders. Recent research in this area has been exploring innovative pedagogy, its integration with the university's third mission (public engagement), and the digital transformation process in higher education.