The Bolognese University Center of Ethnosemiotics (CUBE) was established at the Department of Arts (DAR) of the University of Bologna with the aim of producing research and providing services in the field of investigations on daily behavior.
CUBE takes advantage of a new way of bringing together two consolidated traditions of research and description: on the one hand, the ethnographic observation of daily practices, read as symbolic practices as they are fully included in shared cultural processes, on the other semiotic analysis of significant processes, treated as texts in which the human way of giving meaning to the world is manifested. This convergence of perspectives produces a virtuous effect on both traditions, structuring the so-called observations on the field of ethnography more explicitly and at the same time widening the field of textual analysis of semiotics and thus requiring them to confront new and different problems.
Since its establishment, the Center has carried out several types of research in the field of social practices and has promoted and organized various discussions and in-depth initiatives on topics related to the meaning of artistic practices and the consumption of art. Last among these was the study day "An in the museum", held in December 2019.
The scientific responsible is Francesco Marsciani, who avails himself of the collaboration of numerous young scholars and researchers.