Phd in COMMUNICATION, SOCIAL RESEARCH AND MARKETING

email: francesca.comunello@uniroma1.it
phone:
building: Via Salaria 113
room: 229

Current position

September 2021 -: Full Professor, Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Communication. She is responsible for teaching Internet and social media studies and Public sector communication

2019 - Member of the Teaching College Board for the PhD in Communication, Marketing and Social Research, Sapienza University, where she is also coordinator for Communication and media studies.


Previous positions

September 2019 – August 2021: Associate Professor, Sapienza University of Rome

October 2014 – August 2019: Associate Professor, Lumsa University (Rome, Italy). She has been responsible for teaching Internet studies (both in Italian and in English), and Globalization and new media.

2017 – : member of the Teaching College Board for the PhD “Lo sviluppo e il benessere dell’individuo e delle organizzazioni” (Lumsa University)

October 2017 – September 2019: she has been the President of the Degree in Communication (Lumsa).

2007 - 2014: Dr. Comunello has been an Assistant Professor of Sociology of Culture and Communication in the Department of Communication and Social Research (CORIS), Sapienza University of Rome.

2008 - 2017: she has been a member of the Teaching College Board for the PhD in Communication at the Sapienza University of Rome, CORIS Department.

She has been the scientific coordinator of the master's degree programs (“Master Universitari”) at CORIS Department, Sapienza University of Rome.

Dr. Comunello has taught Internet studies and social media management, online journalism, interactive system design, fundraising, computer-mediated communication and sociology of communication.

Education

PhD in Communication, Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Communication (2001-2004)

Degree, Laurea (110/110, cum laude), Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Communication (1997-2001)


Research and young scholars supervision

Dr. Comunello’s research and publications focus on the intersections between digital technology and society. This includes research on network theories, digitally-mediated social relations, social media, mobile communication, digital communication and natural disasters, gender and digital media, online dating, and digital inequalities. In recent years, her research has mainly focused on:
- Digital and social media in emergency communication
- Social media in everyday life, with a focus on activism, on vaccine-related communication and on gender
- Digital and social media, from a generational perspective

She is involved in several research projects and research networks, at an international level, and is experienced in working in multidisciplinary teams, with a focus on emergency and science communication. She has been the principal investigator of an interdisciplinary PRIN project involving social scientists and seismologists (see below).

Her work is published in highly recognized Journals such as New Media and Society, Information Communication and Society, Media Culture and Society, The Communication Review, The Sociological Review, International Journal of Press/Politics, American Behavioral Scientist, Games and Culture, Ageing and Society, Violence against Women.

Her most cited article, focusing on the role of social media during the “Arab springs”, was cited more than 200 times (source: Google Scholar, January 2022), and was ranked #203 out of 15.876 articles for its category, based on bibliometric parameters (WoS, 2010-2014).

She is experienced in supervising younger scholars. Namely:
- she has supervised more than 10 PhD thesis (Department of Communication and Social Research, Sapienza University of Rome);
- she has supervised or co-supervised PhD thesis at an international level, being a member of international PhD committees, including Paris 13 University (France), Murcia University (Spain), St. Gallen University (Switzerland), and supervising a Brasilian PhD student in the context of the Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Doutorado Sanduíche no Exterior, PDSE – CAPES;
- she has directly supervised a post-doctoral research grant, which was awarded for 3 years; the supervised scholar, was awarded with a position as an Assistant Professor at Sapienza University during the 3rdyear of the research grant and is currently an Associate Professor ;
- she has supervised post-doc scholars, assistant professors, and researchers in several projects she has coordinated, since 2008 (namely, see the projects “Prin – ShakeNetworks”, “Emergenze social”, “Ageism e social media, etc.”, “Lights4Violence”, “Business e gaming”).

Research activities and research networks (selection)

November 2020-: member (and coordinator for Coris-Sapienza) of the International Consortium “Fighting Fake News: A New Literacies Approach for Young People” (funded by Utrecht University, The Netherlands; international PI Eugène Loos). The network includes scholars from 8 European countries.

April 2018-June 2018: she was awarded a 5-week “Media and Communication Fellowship” by the School of Languages, Social and Political Sciences (LSAP), College of Arts, University of Canterbury, New Zealand (the fellowship was awarded following a call).

2018 - She is a member of the “Center of Excellence” in Research on Ageing and Care (CoE AgeCare), funded by the Academy of Finland, with other 11 projects, for 8 years. “CoE AgeCare is conducted as a concerted effort of four different Research Groups (RGs) coming from the Universities of Jyväskylä, Tampere and Helsinki and in close collaboration with a broad network of leading international scholars”.

2017-2018: she is the Principal Investigator of the 2-year project “Ageism e social media attraverso la lente delle media ideologies: un'indagine esplorativa” (Ageism and social media through the lens of media ideologies: an exploratory investigation), in cooperation with Dr. Fernández-Ardèvol and Rosales Climent (IN3, UOC, Barcelona). The project has received a grant funded by Lumsa University (2017-2018).

September 2017 – 2019: she has been a Member of “ValueAble network”, an ERASMUS+ project, line KA2, Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices (Lumsa University)

December 2017 – 2019: she has been a member of the project “LIGHTS, CAMERA AND ACTION AGAINST GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE (Lights4violence), SEP-210420542”. The project involves 7 European University and Research Institutions and is coordinated by Alicante University (Spain). It is funded by European Commission, GD Justice, Rights, Equalitay and Citizenship Programme.

2016 - 2021: she has been an associate researcher at the Ageing + Communication + Technologies (ACT) research group, funded by The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). ACT involves researchers working at more than 25 Institutions in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.

2015 - 2019: she has been a member of the WG “Media”, COST Action IS1402 “Ageism - a multi-national, interdisciplinary perspective”. COST Actions (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) are funded by the European Union Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020.

March 2014 - march 2017: she has been the Principal Investigator of a Programma di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale (PRIN) project, which is a designated Research Project of Relevant National Interest. The project has received a grant funded by the Italian Ministry of Education for € 204,000. The title of the project is "SHAKE networks: the role of social media in emergency communication and dissemination of seismological research". The research group includes social scientists and seismologists.

March 2014 - February 2016: she has held a fellowship as an external associate researcher at the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain), research group COMUNICACIÓ MÒBIL, ECONOMIA I SOCIETAT (CMES), coordinators: Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol and Manuel Castells.

2013-2014: she has directed the Italian unit of the research project “Interactions with and through mobile phone among the elders”, in collaboration with the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain).

2012 - 2013: she has been the Principal Investigator of the project “Emergenze social” (focusing on the role of social media in emergency communication), which has received a grant funded by Sapienza University.
2012 – 2016: she has co-coordinated (with Prof. Adam Matei, Purdue University, USA) the research project “Alterpode - World Geography Survey” (exploring the relations between the representations of geography, and digital media).

2008-2010: she has co-coordinated the research “Business and gaming”, funded by Sony Computer Entertainment Italy.

She has been a part of several research groups, based both at Sapienza and at Lumsa University, some of which included international cooperation, and/or funding by the European Commission. Among others, she is currently (2020-) involved in a research project on the social representations of climate change and on youth climate activism.

Her research has been presented to several national and international conferences. Among others: ESA (European Sociological Association, 2009, 2013), ECREA (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021*), AoIR (Association of Internet Researchers, 2011, 2016, 2021), ISCRAM (2015, 2017), NCA (National Communication Association, USA), HCII (2015, 2017), IAMCR (2017, 2019, 2020, 2021), ICA (International Communication Association, 2020, 2021, 2022), etc.