The relationship between science and society seems to have acquired a renewed centrality in the current academic and scientific debate (Bucchi, Trench 2014; Tipaldo, Scamuzzi 2017). In the age of new media, increasingly characterized by the spread of fake news (AGCOM 2018), new communication “places”, such as institutional sites, blogs and social media, are becoming real reference points, not only in the collecting and diffusion of technical-scientific information for specialists (Martinelli et al. 2017), but also for those who previously had not come into direct contact with specific topics and are faced now with an excessive volume of data (Pellegrini, Rubin 2017). As a result, in the so-called "Dr. Google Era" the issue of public communication of science and health news becomes crucial, especially in a context characterized by a growing attention to the reliability of sources and the truthfulness of information. In this scenario, public authorities, in the broadest sense of the term, are called upon to face one of the most difficult challenges they have had to face so far:Public Engagement with Science and Technology (Greco, Pitrelli 2009; Scamuzzi, De Bortoli 2012). In the academic context, this approach recalls the two "classic" missions of the University as a social actor, namely education and research, and more immediately refers to the so-called "Third Mission" (ANVUR 2014). It is interesting to pay attention on two fundamental elements: (i) the role played by the medical faculties in these processes, as public bodies responsible for education and research in the field of biomedical studies par excellence; (ii) the implementation practices with which these educational institutions carry out the third mission and, therefore, can find legitimacy and be easily recognized by users. For these reasons, we will first analyse the Public Engagement activities carried out by the Italian medical faculties. Secondly, through a comparative analysis with the best practices, we will proceed to identify the set of specific measures in a perspective of future evaluation of quality and academic research, in order to build a possible model of Public Engagement for the medical faculties. AGCOM (2018), News vs. fake nel sistema dell’informazione, novembre, Roma. ANVUR (2014), Rapporto sullo Stato del Sistema Universitario e della Ricerca 2013, Roma. Bucchi M. e Trench B. (a cura di) (2014), Routledge Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology, London and New York, Routledge. Greco P. e Pitrelli N. (2009), Scienza e media ai tempi della globalizzazione, Codice Edizioni, Torino. Martinelli L. et al. (2017), "Comunicazione digitale e riproduzione umana: opportunità e insidie fra scienza, diritti e bisogni sociali", in Problemi dell'informazione, n. 3, pp. 529-544. Pellegrini G. e Rubin, A. (2017), "Comunicare la ricerca. Uno studio sul ruolo dei ricercatori nello spazio pubblico della comunicazione", in Problemi dell'informazione, n. 3, pp. 375-400. Scamuzzi S. e De Bortoli A. (a cura di) (2012), Come cambia la comunicazione della scienza. Nuovi media e terza missione dell’Università, il Mulino, Bologna. Tipaldo G. e Scamuzzi S. (2017), “Introduzione”, in Problemi dell’informazione, n. 3, pp. 367-373
The (social) role of the medical faculties in the Dr. Google Era / Brancato, Giovanni. - (2019). (Intervento presentato al convegno 1st International Conference of the Journal «Scuola Democratica» - Education and Post-Democracy tenutosi a Cagliari; Italy).
The (social) role of the medical faculties in the Dr. Google Era
Giovanni Brancato
2019
Abstract
The relationship between science and society seems to have acquired a renewed centrality in the current academic and scientific debate (Bucchi, Trench 2014; Tipaldo, Scamuzzi 2017). In the age of new media, increasingly characterized by the spread of fake news (AGCOM 2018), new communication “places”, such as institutional sites, blogs and social media, are becoming real reference points, not only in the collecting and diffusion of technical-scientific information for specialists (Martinelli et al. 2017), but also for those who previously had not come into direct contact with specific topics and are faced now with an excessive volume of data (Pellegrini, Rubin 2017). As a result, in the so-called "Dr. Google Era" the issue of public communication of science and health news becomes crucial, especially in a context characterized by a growing attention to the reliability of sources and the truthfulness of information. In this scenario, public authorities, in the broadest sense of the term, are called upon to face one of the most difficult challenges they have had to face so far:Public Engagement with Science and Technology (Greco, Pitrelli 2009; Scamuzzi, De Bortoli 2012). In the academic context, this approach recalls the two "classic" missions of the University as a social actor, namely education and research, and more immediately refers to the so-called "Third Mission" (ANVUR 2014). It is interesting to pay attention on two fundamental elements: (i) the role played by the medical faculties in these processes, as public bodies responsible for education and research in the field of biomedical studies par excellence; (ii) the implementation practices with which these educational institutions carry out the third mission and, therefore, can find legitimacy and be easily recognized by users. For these reasons, we will first analyse the Public Engagement activities carried out by the Italian medical faculties. Secondly, through a comparative analysis with the best practices, we will proceed to identify the set of specific measures in a perspective of future evaluation of quality and academic research, in order to build a possible model of Public Engagement for the medical faculties. AGCOM (2018), News vs. fake nel sistema dell’informazione, novembre, Roma. ANVUR (2014), Rapporto sullo Stato del Sistema Universitario e della Ricerca 2013, Roma. Bucchi M. e Trench B. (a cura di) (2014), Routledge Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology, London and New York, Routledge. Greco P. e Pitrelli N. (2009), Scienza e media ai tempi della globalizzazione, Codice Edizioni, Torino. Martinelli L. et al. (2017), "Comunicazione digitale e riproduzione umana: opportunità e insidie fra scienza, diritti e bisogni sociali", in Problemi dell'informazione, n. 3, pp. 529-544. Pellegrini G. e Rubin, A. (2017), "Comunicare la ricerca. Uno studio sul ruolo dei ricercatori nello spazio pubblico della comunicazione", in Problemi dell'informazione, n. 3, pp. 375-400. Scamuzzi S. e De Bortoli A. (a cura di) (2012), Come cambia la comunicazione della scienza. Nuovi media e terza missione dell’Università, il Mulino, Bologna. Tipaldo G. e Scamuzzi S. (2017), “Introduzione”, in Problemi dell’informazione, n. 3, pp. 367-373I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.