IULM for the City 2025-2026
In the second semester of the 2025–2026 Academic Year, the successful series of lectures open to the general public returns, following the strong response received in previous editions.
Our University continues to strengthen its vocation as a cultural hub for the entire city of Milan. Starting in February 2026, the initiative “IULM for the City” returns: a series of lectures, free of charge and open to all citizens, focusing on key topics related to the world of communication.
During the first semester, the courses “Anthropology of Food”, taught by journalist and food critic Annalisa Cavaleri, and “Psychoanalysis of Art”, taught by psychoanalyst Massimo Recalcati, were held.
In the second semester, the programme will be expanded with as many as eight new courses.
Davide Rampello will teach a course entitled “Arts and Crafts of the Territories”, which will explore the role of artisans within a specific territory and the protection of that heritage. The course will also analyse the landscapes and products that characterise these places and will examine a new economic model: the economy of hospitality.
The course “Sports Communication”, taught by Manila Alfano and Pierfrancesco Barletta, will address the main components of communication in the sports sector. It will begin with an overview of the legal framework in which sporting events take place and will then move on to the analysis of the sporting event itself.
Under the evocative title “The Ecology of Silence”, the lectures by Nicoletta Polla-Mattiot will offer a pathway enabling students to understand and personally experience the use and functions of silence and their different applications.
“Word Puzzles and Creativity of Language”, taught by Stefano Bartezzaghi, will provide an overview of language games, illustrating techniques of solving and creating them, their connections with literary and artistic traditions, encounters with key figures in the creative use of language, and reflections on how the aesthetics of words are present in social life.
Three IULM professors - Luisa Damiano, Guido Di Fraia and Riccardo Manzotti - will take turns teaching the course “Artificial Intelligence: New Technology or a New Era for Humanity?”. The course aims to provide students with a multidisciplinary and critical understanding of AI, exploring its historical roots, current applications and future prospects, as well as its ethical, social and philosophical implications.
“History of Italian Cinema”, taught by Gianni Canova, will delve into the analysis of Italian cinema during one of its most significant periods (the 1960s and 1970s), comparing it with the present day.
Roberto Vecchioni and Stefania Mancuso will teach the course “The Contemporary Relevance of the Ancient”, which will highlight how classical works remain enduringly relevant.
Angelo Panebianco’s course “Theory of International Relations” will review the main schools of thought and theories used to explain international relations in both the past and the present, illustrating the principal theories concerning the functioning of the international system and states’ foreign policy.
Discover here all the details and the schedule of the courses