Greetings and Welcome to
Public Opinion, Propaganda and Mass Media,
A course at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (COM 413)

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Cal Poly's Blackboard
Syllabus for FALL 2011

MIDTERM REVIEW

Required Reading:

Jowett, Garth S. and O’Donell, Victoria 2012. Propaganda and Persuasion. 5^th Edition.

Publishers website with additional content is HERE

Recommended:

O’Shaughnessy, Nicholas Jackson. Politics and Propaganda. Weapons of Mass Seduction

Pratkanis, Anthony and Aronson, Elliot. Age of Propaganda. The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion

Fiorina, Morris P. Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America.

PowerPoint Presentations:

Definition

Public Opinion

Definition Revisited + propaganda examples

Propaganda History

Media Effects (key points from chs 3 and 4). There is much more in the book

Propaganda Analysis

more to come...

Note: Power Point presentations are intended as outlines for lectures; they do not substitute lectures, discussions, and reading.

PRESENTATIONS

Tue 11/8 & 11/10	Propaganda Analysis / Propaganda in Action
Tue 11/15	Propaganda Analysis / Propaganda in Action
Thu 11/17	Group work / on your own / instructor available in the classroom
Tue 11/22	Presentations (groups 2, 4, 8, 10)
Thu 11/24	Thanksgiving Day
Tue 11/29	Presentations (groups 1, 5, 7, 9)
Thu 12/1	Presentations (groups 3, 6) . Course summary / Exam review
Final	Tuesday, 12/6, 1:40

Presentation. 20-minute group presentation covering the critical aspects of your project report, followed by class discussion You can make this presentation as creative and persuasive as possible using props such as video and film clips, slides, artifacts, etc.

Project Summary (1-page, single-spaced project summary or abstract) should be emailed to the instructor one day before the presentation and will be placed on the website or Blackboard. The paper (final report) is due on the final exam's day 12/6

Chinese Cinema
Kung fu propaganda

There’s a ton of easy money in praising the party

The Economist July 14th, 2011

THERE are two ways to make a box-office smash. One is to take an exciting script, hire famous actors, shoot a rollercoaster of a film, distribute it widely and market it deftly. This is the Hollywood way, and it worked pretty well for Harry Potter.

The Beijing way shares some features with the Hollywood way, such as hiring lots of stars and distributing the film widely. But the magic ingredient behind China’s latest blockbuster was one unavailable to the mightiest Tinseltown mogul. It was the power of the party. Read more HERE

COM 413: University catalog course description:

Techniques of sociological and political persuasion, mass media and public opinion in the United States; developments in international propaganda. Integrates disciplines of sociology and political science in application to operation of communication and communications media in society.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this class, the student should be able to:

Identify, describe, and explain major concepts in the studies of public opinion, propaganda, persuasion, and mass media.
Recognize, understand and analyze the processes underlying public opinion and propaganda, exemplifying these with reference to significant historical and current events.
Identify, understand, apply and critique a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques for measuring public opinion.
Understand interdisciplinary character of the course subject.
Outline contributions to our understanding of propaganda and public opinion of research from the fields of communication, mass media, social psychology, political science, and sociology.
Understand, exemplify and critique the interrelationships between propaganda, public opinion, media institutions, the market, political influence and power.
Understand and discuss ethical conventions that proscribe the misuses of propaganda and manipulation of public opinion.