University

Research and Projects realized in 2021 by the Research Department of Link Campus University

• MiRA: Mixed Environmental Reality. A CMS for museum exhibit design
• TETRIS “TEachers’ TRraining to combat Gender-based violence In Sports”
• Research with the Circolo di Studi Diplomatici on priority themes for Italian foreign policy
• Atlas of thrillers. Media history and popular culture in Italy (1954-2020)
• Europarties, democracy and civil society in the European Union

Title MiRA: Mixed Reality Ambientale. Un CMS per l'exhibit design museale

Duration: 18 months

Start date: 22/06/2021

Finish date: 31/12/2022

Partnership: 

• Sapienza Università di Roma, Centro di Ricerca Interdipartimentale Sapienza Design Research;
• Università di Cassino;
• Link Campus University;
• Munus S.r.l. 

Description:

The MiRA promotes an advanced paradigm of interaction and engagement in exhibition spaces, with the purpose of improving the communication of the cultural heritage. The intention is to develop a software platform that enables the creation of effective interactive displays even in the absence of IT experts, valorizing the professional figures already working at Places of Cultural Significance. The proposal starts from the observation that many museum exhibits are 'invisible' because they are not displayed, or poorly understood because they are displayed without contextualisation and without the necessary information to be fully appreciated.

The effectiveness of the principle of Augmented Reality, the augmented reality with superimposed information, or Mixed Reality, the intersection of real and virtual objects, typically implemented with visors in close contact with the user - raising issues with hygiene, depreciation, management, as well as some cognitive difficulties limiting the user experience - has already been widely documented.

The MiRA system will make available Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality without any physical contact with the visitor, enhancing the exhibition spaces with interactive and immersive explanation of the exhibits. The holographic effect is attained through the use of screens/projections located behind the artifacts, changing the perspective of the visualization according to the position of the visitor, which is tracked precisely through the use of depth cams.

The technological principle was already experimented and demonstrated in a relevant environment (TRL 6) with previous funds. The present project will pursue a  more efficient technological fruyibility, for visitors and Places of Cultural Significance, crucial stakeholders with particular needs. The aim of the project is to transform the existing ad-hoc solution into a commercial software, replicable in different contexts through a flexible, open CMS (content management system) platform that can be used even without IT experts. Museum professionals such as curators, archivists, archaeologists, exhibition designers, etc. will be able to calibrate hardware components and configure the visualisation of information, settings or missing parts of exhibits. It will also establish a wide variety of pre-programmed and quickly customisable interactive experiences with the appropriate cultural, narrative and graphic content - comparable to templates and plugins for web CMSs such as Wordpress.

Furthermore, the projects provides for the involvement of various Places of Cultural Significance for system demonstration purposes.

LCU Activities:

LCU will develop a variety of interactions, sample contents and templates, which will be re-usable by the future users of the platform, similarly to the approach adopted by common CMS for webpages which allow the users to configure their own websites from a variety of templates governing structure and graphics (e.g. Wordpress, Squarespace, Wix).

Funds: Lazio Innova

Title:  TETRIS “TEachers’ TRraining to combat Gender-based violence In Sports”

Duration:  24 months

Start date: 01/12/2021

Finish date: 30/11/2023

Partnership:

1. LINK CAMPUS UNIVERSITY – Italy   - https://www.unilink.it/
2. SYSTEM  DYNAMICS ITALIAN CHAPTER  - Italy   - www.systemdynamics.it
3. PANEPISTIMIO THESSALIAS Greece  -  https://www.uth.gr
4. RESEARCH INNOVATION AND DEVELOPMENT  LAB PRIVATE COMPANY - Greece  - http://www.readlab.eu
5. SYMPLEXIS-  Greece  - http://symplexis.eu/
6. FREDERICK UNIVERSITY - Cyprus  - www.frederick.ac.cy
7. CSI CENTER FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION LTD – Cyprus - www.csicy.com

Project abstract:

The project is mainly based on the most recent data, such as those presented by 2020 EC “Study on Gender-based Violence in Sports”, providing precious insights and references regarding the occurrence of rights violations and intolerance in professional sport.

The main purpose of the project is to raise awareness among physical education teachers and students on prevention and fight against gender violence in the sports sector.

Specific objectives:

•   Improving the basis of evidence releted to the existence of sexual and non-sexual violence, radicalization, discrimination and intolerance against women and men in the sports sectors;
•   providing useful tools and sources for the empowerment of the victims and their supporters, so as to enable them to talk about their negative experiences;;
•   improving the skills of the educational staff and public and private service providers working with victims, and also identify the needs of alleged victims in this area;
•   raising awareness on the rights and needs of victims in the sport sector and their role in the dynamics of protection.

 Funds: European Union - Erasmus+ National Agency INDIRE

Title:  Research with the Circolo di Studi Diplomatici. on priority themes for the italian external politics

Duration:  12 months

Start date: 01/06/2021

Finish date: 30/06/2022

Partnership:

1. Link Campus University
2. Circolo di Studi Diplomatici

Project abstract:

The aim of the project is to contribute to the in-depth study of a number of priority themes for the formulation and conduct of Italian foreign policy, making use of the scientific contribution and knowledge of the Circolo di Studi Diplomatici. The research provides for the realization of at least four Diplomatic Dialogues, which constitute one of the traditional forms of expression of the Circle's research activities. 

The topics covered in the Dialogues, conducted and published on schedule in accordance with developments in the international situation, are:

•  Balances and alliances in the current multipolar system;
•  Arms control crisis and prospects for revival also in the space and cyber sectors;
•  Enlargement of the European Union, differentiated integration and conference on the future of Europe;
•  Strategic autonomy of the European Union and transatlantic relationship;
•  The development of the process of stabilization in Libya, Role of Italy, France and European Union (26.07.2021);
•  Conflicts in the Middle East, the Gulf, Red Sea, Horn of Africa and their management  (21.06.2021);
•  Geopolitical range of the ecological transition and the actions for sustainable development and food safety (11.10.2021);
•  The case of Burma in the asian balance.

Specific activities 

Scientific, technical and administrative support through transcription and proof-reading of acts of Dialogues and Conferences.

Maintenance and update activity of the digital archive, open for public consultation and including the contents of the Dialogues and Diplomatic letters published since 1968, available at the following link:  circolostudidiplomatici.unilink.it

Funding body: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) - Grants for educational projects ex art. 23 – DPR 18/1967 

Title: Atlas of crime fictions. Media history and popular culture in Italy (1954-2020)

Duration: 36 months 

Start date: 19/05/2022

Finish date: 19/05/2025

Partnerships:

• Link Campus University;
• Università degli Studi di Bologna;
• Università degli Studi G. D'annunzio Chieti-Pescara;
• Libera Università di Lingue E Comunicazione Iulm-Mi;
• Università degli Studi Di Firenze.

Description:

The aim of this project is to investigate the history of the italian crime fictions as a key element of our cultural historyin the light of the transformation of the media system, as well as the inter and trans-medial influence of said genre on literature, cinema, radio and musical industry, television and comics, from the 50s to this day.

The term "giallo" (correlative to the english "crime fiction") has been employed in Italy since the '30s in order to refer to vaarious species of detective stories, noirs or thrillers. It designs a modality of narration born in the literary field and which acquired a central importance in all media thanks to the ability to give form to major themes of knowledge (crime fiction as an intellectual adventure and an interpretative challenge) and ethics (the reflection on justice, fault and punishment). The enormous fortune that said genre has enjoyed from the very beginning is a statement to its ability to interpret through compelling plots the contradictions and fears of an increasingly complex society, becoming a site of identity elaboration on a national, transnational or 'translocal' level.

Therefore, the objective of the project is to analyze the cultural identity of the italian crime fictions starting from the advent of television broadcasts, or the diversification of the cultural industry providing the context for an unprecedented expansion of inter-media exchange. This entails a mapping exercise (starting from a corpus of inter- and trans-media cases and critical and theoretical discourses that will be defined at the beginning of the project) of the themes and figures that have given the detective story its characteristic profile, bearing in mind that it has emerged not only through the development of 'autochthonous' forms and content, but also through the appropriation and adaptation of foreign models.

Furthermore, the aim of the research is to provide a periodization of the inter-media history of the Italian crime fiction as a contribution to a more general media history. Special attention will be paid to RAI's television productions, in order to highlight their crucial role on several levels: as a training ground in which even literary skills are formed (the Camilleri case), as a place of valorisation and dissemination of national narrative production, and as an agent of innovation in narrative forms, which shapes and transforms the tastes of the general public.

The project is supported by a series of high-profile organisations, including RAI and Mondadori, which ensure that the research will have a significant impact in terms of enhancing the cultural heritage represented by Italian detective stories. Dissemination will make use of publications and scientific conferences or seminars, open access digital and multimedia educational resources, an exhibition and public events with creative people and professionals from the cultural industries.

Scientific coordinator: Valentina Carla Re

Funds: PRIN 2020 - MUR

Title: Europarties, democracy and civil society in the European Union

Duration: 36 months 

Start date: 01/02/2022

Finish date: 2024

Description:

“"Europarties, Democracy and Civil Society in the EU"” is a teaching module linked to the teaching of the History of European Integration and would provide an important educational and experiential offer linked to the study and in-depth study of the different European political families with the analysis of political thought, the different organisational levels (European party, group in the European Parliament, European political foundation and main member parties) and their impact on the European institutions (and in particular in the work in the European Parliament) and European society. 

The second part of the module provides specific knowledge on the articulation of the interests and of the organization of the european civil society which are partly expressed in the Committee of the Regions (local authorities) and the Economic and Social Committee (productive organisations and interest groups, trade unions and social organisations) as well as the main European non-governmental and social organisations and networks involved in European policy-making processes.

Finally, the project will analyze the development of European democracy, the characteristics and instruments of European citizenship and the most relevant transnational proposals and actors involved in the discussion on the future of Europe. In this regard, starting from a historical survey of citizen molization for the reform of the treaties and the development of European integration (pro-European and federalist movements, Eurosceptic movements, etc.), students will be constantly involved in cooperative activities to acquire knowledge and skills related to the functioning of the European Union and its democratic development, in seminar-meetings with representatives of the organisations studied, in seminars and debates on the topics addressed.

Scientific director: Giorgio Grimaldi

Funds: Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Module