SCHEDULEFORMAT
Online synchronous and asynchronous sessions
LOCATION
Zoom (synchronous sessions) and Moodle (asynchronous sessions)
PREREQUISITES
No
CAPACITY
25 students
ABOUT THIS MINOR
- Summary
-
Emotion is simultaneously a cognitive model, a moral judgment, a lever for motivating action, an affect linked to physical and psychological state, a non-verbal sign of political communication, and an instrument of influence, even individual and collective manipulation.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
- Analyze and detect an emotion in communication exchange
- Consider the impact of emotion on rational decisions
- Detect nonverbal signs related to emotions
This course considers classical philosophical pillars as fundamental, with a disruptive look at contemporary thought modified by the digital paradigm of artificial intelligence around the notion of affective computing (Picard R., 1997), which is the discipline that studies electronic devices and sign systems that identify, interpret and simulate human emotions.
Since Aristotle, emotions have been considered constitutive elements of moral and political judgment. Modern works, particularly Anglo-American ones, such as those by Martha Nussbaum (The Upheavals of Thought, 2001) and Amélie Rorty (Explaining Emotions, 1980), have rehabilitated the cognitive value of emotions: far from opposing reason, they constitute, on the contrary, the conditions for its expression (Cepernich and Novelli, 2018). More recently, Sara Ahmed (The Cultural Politics of Emotions, 2014) has shown how fear and anger circulate in the public sphere, thus creating affective communities.
Neuroscience, particularly through the work of Antonio Damasio (The Feeling of What Happens, 1999), has confirmed that rational decision-making is inseparable from emotional experience. In political science, George Marcus and Michael MacKuen (Affective Intelligence and Political Judgment, 2000) proposed an affective model of voting behavior, highlighting the role of negative emotions in democratic vigilance. More recent approaches, such as those of William Davies (Nervous States, 2018), John Protevi (Political Affect, 2009), Dan Degerman (The Politics of Negative Emotions, 2023), and Stefano Pivato (2025), analyze emotions as productive social forces of political change and engagement. - Lecturer
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- Valentina TIRLONI, Associate Professor in Information and Communication Sciences, Université Côte d'Azur / Fields of expertise : Infocom, Philosophy, Anthropology, Ethics.
Her research work deal with the Anthropology and Ethics of Technics to investigate how new technologies have impacted human life, human body (transhumanism) and social life. In particular, she focused on the political impacts of technological communication means and electronic democracy. She managed seven European Projects and spent a year at Yale University as Visiting Researcher. - Bibliography
-
- Cavicchio, F. (2025). Emotion Detection in Natural Language Processing. Springer.
- Damasio, A. (1999). The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness. Harcourt.
- Döveling, K., Konijn E. A. (2022). Routledge International Handbook of Emotions and Media. Routledge.
- Ekman, P., Rosenberg E. K. (2005). What the Face Reveals. Basic and Applied Studies of Spontaneous Expression Using the Factial Action Coding System (FACS), 2nd éd., Oxford University Press.
- Nussbaum, M. (2001). Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions. Cambridge University Press.
- Picard, R. (1997). Affective Computing. The MIT Press.
- Rorty, A. (1980). Explaining Emotions. University of California Press.
- Scarantino, A. (2022). Emotion Theory: The Routledge Comprehensive Guide. Routledge.
- Evaluation
-
Type of evaluation
Date or Submission deadline
Time
Location
(for on-site exams)
% of the final grade
Written essay 1
Submission deadline
05/11/2026
Before 22h
On Moodle
50%
Written essay 2
Date of the exam
03/12/2026
Before 22h
On Moodle
50%
SCHEDULE FALL 2026
|
Date |
Time |
Course title |
Lecturer |
Location |
|
08/10/2026 |
17h00-18h00 |
Introduction to emotions |
Valentina Tirloni |
Online synchronous session on Zoom |
|
15/10/2026 |
17h00-18h00 |
Emotions as feelings |
Valentina Tirloni |
Online asynchronous session on Moodle |
|
22/10/2026 |
17h00-18h00 |
Emotions as cognitive patterns |
Valentina Tirloni |
Online asynchronous session on Moodle |
|
05/11/2026 |
17h00-18h00 |
Emotions as motivation for decision-making process |
Valentina Tirloni |
Online asynchronous session on Moodle |
|
12/11/2026 |
17h00-18h00 |
Emotions and philosophy: values and jugements |
Valentina Tirloni |
Online synchronous session on Zoom |
|
19/11/2026 |
17h00-18h00 |
Emotions and non verbal communication |
Valentina Tirloni |
Online asynchronous session on Moodle |
|
26/11/2026 |
17h00-18h00 |
Computational affectiveness |
Valentina Tirloni |
Online synchronous session on Zoom |
|
03/12/2026 |
17h00-18h00 |
Conclusion: emotions as patterns of behaviour |
Valentina Tirloni |
Online asynchronous session on Moodle |