Presentation

The Department of the Arts (DAR) was born in 2012, when the Department of Visual Arts and the Department of Drama and Music Studies were merged. Most of the faculty members specializing in artistic disciplines work within this department, as well as a number of other teachers who mainly focus on other subjects, so as to create a wider scientific and didactic project. This more open approach has allowed the Department to continue to ensure a full scientific and didactic development of the artistic domain, which has obtained full recognition within the Italian university system also thanks to the boost given by the University of Bologna almost fifty years ago, with the inauguration of the Degree in Drama, Art and Music Studies in 1970 / 1971. 

DAR offers the whole spectrum of artistic studies: Medieval, Modern and Contemporary History of Art (L-ART/01), (LART/02), (L-ART/03), History of Architecture (ICAR/18); Museology, Criticism and Psicology of Art (L-ART/04). It also presents a complete range of courses focusing the history and theory of dance and theatre (L-ART/05), as well as on the history and theory of cinematography, photography, television and media (L-ART/06), on historic, systematic, and theoretical musicology, on the pedagogy of music (L-ART/07) and on ethnomusicology (L-ART/08). Moreover, the Department also offers courses on: Semiotics and Philosophy of Language (M-FIL/05), Pedagogy (M-PED/01), Political Philosophy (SPS/01), Political Sciences and History of Political Doctrines (SPS/02), General Sociology (SPS/07) and Sociology of Cultural and Communicative Processes (SPS/08), as well as Contemporary History (M-STO/04).

The Department of the Arts designs and promotes events related to various artistic, cultural and social expressions through DAMSLab, Centro La Soffitta, and CUBE. Its two specialized libraries, the labs spread across the buildings, the PhD course in Performative, Media and Visual Arts and the Specialization School in Historic and Artistic Heritage make DAR one of the most important institutions devoted to the study of arts on an international level, valuing a cultural policy aimed at promoting research and dialogue with civil society.