SPCOM 150: Persuasion and Propaganda

J. Michael Hogan
Fall 2002
TR 1:00-2:15
122 Thomas

Course Description

Propaganda, in its common, everyday usage, is a deliberate, systematic attempt to manipulate beliefs and emotions, usually through methods considered deceitful and unethical. Persuasion, on the other hand, is an everyday activity in our personal, social, and civic lives. Persuasion is considered acceptable, even necessary in a free society. This course will explore the distinction between propaganda--in the pejorative sense-and persuasion, with an emphasis on developing the critical skills necessary to distinguish between the two.

There are many different definitions of "propaganda," and the term often is used to label and discredit political opponents. In this course you will develop a more precise understanding of "propaganda" and the techniques of the propagandist. In more practical terms, you will learn to recognize, describe, and evaluate propaganda in all of its various forms and contexts. Toward this end, we will study the history of propaganda, as well as contemporary cases of public advocacy that raise questions about the differences between persuasion and propaganda. 

Office and Office Hours

Office: Room 234 Sparks Building. Office hours: 11:00-12:00 TR and by appointment. Phone numbers: 865-3461 (office) or 364-3296 (home, no later than 5:00 p.m.). You may leave a message with the departmental secretary at my office number; there is an answering machine at the home number. E-mail may be used for most routine questions and correspondence: jmh32@psu.edu.

Texts

The required text is: Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion, 3rd edition (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1999). Additional readings will be available on-line or placed on Electronic Reserve in Pattee Library.

Assignments

1. "Commissions on Persuasion and Propaganda." Each student will participate in a group investigation of persuasion and propaganda in one of the following arenas: international relations and war, election campaigns, public policy campaigns, corporate public relations, advertising, or entertainment media and popular culture. Each student will investigate a specific aspect of the more general topic, and the group as a whole will coordinate these investigations and report its findings to the entire class in a fifteen-minute formal presentation. Each student will then write a two-page report summarizing the work of the commission, including an assessment of each member's contributions to the group project. Further details on this assignment will be provided in a separate handout.
2. Research Paper. Students will write an 8-10 page paper expanding on their own, specific area of research for the Commission on Persuasion and Propaganda. Further details on the research paper will be provided in a separate handout.
3. Examinations. Students will write both a midterm and a comprehensive final exam.
 

Grading

Commission Report 20%
Research Paper 30%
Midterm Exam 15%
Final Exam 25%
Attendance 10%

Attendance will be taken daily, and seven points will be deducted from your attendance grade for each unexcused absence. Students with no unexcused absences will receive a score of 100% for attendance, those with one unexcused absence will receive 93%, those with two unexcused absences 86%, and so on.

All grading will be on a numerical scale, and the final course grade will be computed according to the following scale:

A 93+          B+ 87-89     B- 80-82     C 70-76      F 0-59
A- 90-92     B 83-86       C+ 77-79     D 60-69

Course Policies

1. Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty. The University Faculty Senate Policies for Students, in Section 49-20, defines academic dishonesty as follows: "Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarizing, fabricating of information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other students." In this course, cases of academic dishonesty will be handled in accordance with the procedures outlined in Section 49-20. You may access the University Faculty Senate Policies for Students from the university home page for more details.
2. Student Disabilities. Penn State encourages qualified persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation in this course or have questions about physical access, please let me know as soon as possible.

Course Schedule

Part I: Persuasion and Propaganda: An Overview

Aug. 27: Introduction: Persuasion and Propaganda
In-Class Video: "Faces of the Enemy"

Aug. 29: Defining and Classifying Propaganda
Reading: Jowett and O'Donnell, pp. 1-46.

Sept. 3: Analyzing Propaganda
Reading: Jowett and O'Donnell, pp. 279-98.

Sept. 5: Research on Propaganda
Reading: Jowett and O'Donnell, pp. 161-202.

Sept.10: The Early History of Propaganda
Reading: Jowett and O'Donnell, pp. 47-96.

Sept.12: Propaganda in the Modern Era
Reading: Jowett and O'Donnell, pp.. 97-160.
In-Class Films: "The Old Way and the New" (8 minutes); "First Casualty" (54 minutes)

Part II: Historical Case Studies in Persuasion and Propaganda

Sept. 17: "Calamity Howlers" and "Muckrakers": The American Tradition of Propaganda
Reading: William Jennings Bryan, "Cross of Gold," online at: http://douglass.speech.nwu.edu/brya_a26.htm ; Upton       Sinclair, excerpts from "The Jungle," online at: http://mohawk.k12.ny.us/progressive/sinclair1.html ; Theodore Roosevelt, "The Man with the Muckrake," online at: http://www.tamu.edu/scom/pres/speeches/trmuck.html.

Sept. 19: World War I Propaganda: The Rhetoric of Atrocities
Reading: Jowett and O'Donnell, pp. 208-222; Bryce Report on German Atrocities, online at: http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~hisite/bryce_report/bryce_r.html .

Sept. 24: Illiberal Liberalism: Wilson and the Committee on Public Information
Reading: "The Drift Towards War," "The Committee on Public Information," "Demons, Atrocities, and Lies," and "Post-War Propaganda" (all under "Wartime Propaganda"), Propaganda Analysis Website online at: http://carmen.artsci.washington.edu/propaganda/contents.htm#war ; World War I posters, online at: http://gulib.lausun.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/amposter.htm ; WWI cartoons, online at: http://rutlandhs.k12.vt.us/jpeterso/uboatcar.htm.

Sept. 26: Propaganda in the Interwar Years: Huey Long and Father Coughlin
Reading: Jowett and O'Donnell, pp. 222-31; Huey Long, "Our Growing Calamity," online at: http://www.ssa.gov/history/longsen.html [Scroll down to "Congressional Record, January 23, 1935]; Father Charles E. Coughlin, "Roosevelt or Ruin," 27 November 1933, online at: http://www.pbs.org/greatspeeches/timeline/index.html ;  Charles E. Coughlin,  "Roosevelt and Ruin," 19 June 936, online at: http://www.pbs.org/greatspeeches/timeline/index.html.

Oct. 1: "Good" Propaganda: Public Relations and the "Social Hygiene" Films of the 1930s.
Reading: Edward L. Bernays, "This Business of Propaganda," online at: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/coolhtml/coolenin.html [Click "Bernays, Edward L."
Read the biographical sketch, then click "This Business of Propaganda," then "View This Item," then "Page Images." Read just first two pages. Click "Higher Quality Image" for larger, printable pages.]; "The Golden Age of Exploitation," online at: http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue08/features/exploitation/
[Click forward button at bottom right of first page, read three-page interview by Gary Johnson]
In-Class Video: "Reefer Madness" (67 minutes)

Oct. 3: The Propaganda Backlash: The Institute for Propaganda Analysis
Reading: Jowett and O'Donnell, pp. 231-235 ; "Introduction" and "Common Techniques," Propaganda Analysis Website, online at:  http://carmen.artsci.washington.edu/propaganda/contents.htm#war

Oct. 8: World War II: Nazi Propaganda and the "Big Lie"
Reading: Jowett and O'Donnell, pp. 235-48; Joseph Goebbals, "Knowledge and Propaganda," online at:
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/goeb54.htm
In-Class Film: "Triumph of the Will (Abridged Version)" (53 Minutes).

Oct. 10: Propaganda at Home and Abroad in World War II
Reading: Jowett and O'Donnell, pp. 248-53, 300-12.
In-Class Films: "Scrap-Happy Daffy" (7 minutes); "Prelude to War" (54 minutes)

Oct. 15:  Fall Break

Oct. 17: Propaganda and the Cold War
Reading: Jowett and O'Donnell, pp. 253-61; Joseph McCarthy, "Communists in the State Department [Electronic Reserves]
In-Class Film: "The Red Nightmare" (25 minutes)

Oct. 22: Propaganda and the Cold War
In-Class Video: "The Atomic Café" (88 minutes)

Oct. 24: Midterm Exam

Part III: Persuasion and Propaganda in the Television Age

Oct. 29: The Vietnam War and the Rhetoric of the New Left
Reading: Jowett and O'Donnell, pp. 261-69; Lyndon B. Johnson, "Gulf of Tonkin Incident," online at:
http://www.tamu.edu/scom/pres/speeches/lbjgulf.html ; Paul Potter, "The Incredible War," in Teodori, The New Left, pp.246-48 [ Electronic Reserve]; Students for a Democratic Society, "The Port Huron Statement," in Teodori, The New Left, pp. 163-72 [ Electronic Reserve].

Oct. 31: The New Right and the Rhetoric of Direct Mail
Reading: Larry J. Sabato, "How Direct Mail Works," in Sabato, Campaigns and Elections, 88-99 [ Electronic Reserve].
In-Class Video: Excerpts of news story on Richard Viguerie.

Nov. 5:  Propaganda and the Abortion Debate
Reading: Condit, Decoding Abortion Rhetoric, pp. 79-95 [ Electronic Reserve].
In-Class Video: Excerpts from "The Silent Scream"; Baily anti-abortion sports

Nov. 7: The Nuclear Freeze Campaign: The Rhetoric of a Televisual "Movement"
Reading: Hogan, "Rhetoric of Doom" and "Rhetoric of Political Medicine," in The Nuclear Freeze Campaign, pp.37-79 [ Electronic Reserve].
In-Class Film: "If You Love this Planet" (26 minutes)

Nov. 12: Commission Reports

Nov. 14: Commission Reports

Nov. 19: Commission Reports

Nov. 21: Commission Reports

Nov. 26: Propaganda Or Education? The Rhetoric of the NEA
Reading: J. Michael Hogan and David Olsen, "Rhetoric of Nuclear Education," in Smith, Propaganda, pp. 165-79 [ Electronic Reserve].
In-Class Film: "Bombs Will Make the Rainbow Break" (18 minutes).

Nov. 28: Thanksgiving Break

Dec. 3: Propaganda in Advertising: Big Tobacco
Reading: Jowett and O'Donnell, pp. 331-51.
In-Class Video: "Growing Up in Smoke" (15 Minutes)

Dec. 5:  Propaganda in Advertising: Sex Sells
Reading: Charles U. Larson, "Sexual Appeals and Subliminal Persuasion in Advertising," in Persuasion, pp. 369-80 [ Electronic Reserve].
In-Class Video: "Killing Us Softly, III" (34 minutes).

Dec. 10: Persuasion and Propaganda in Political Campaigns: The "Spot" Ad
Reading: West, Air Wars, 1-16 [ Electronic Reserve].
In-Class Video: "The Living Room Campaign" (60 minutes)

Dec. 12: Persuasion and Propaganda in Political Campaigns: The Rhetoric of "Attack" Ads
Reading: Ansolabehere and Iyengar, Going Negative, pp. 1-12 [ Electronic Reserve]
In-Class Video: Negative spot ads.

Dec. 17 (Tuesday): Final Exam, 4:40-6:30.

Book Citations

Ansolabehere, Stephen and Iyengar, Shanto. Going Negative: How Political Advertisements Shrink and Polarize the Electorate. New York: The Free
    Press, 1995
Condit, Celeste Michelle. Decoding Abortion Rhetoric: Communicating Social Change.  Urbana: University of
    Illinois Press, 1990.
Hogan, J. Michael. The Nuclear Freeze Campaign: Rhetoric and Foreign Policy in the Telepolitical Age. East
    Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1994.
Larson, Charles U. Persuasion: Reception and Responsibility, 9th ed.  Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2001.
Smith, Ted. J., III. Propaganda: A Pluralitic Perspective New York: Praeger, 1989.
Teodori, Massimo, ed. The New Left: A Documentary History. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1969.
West, Darrell M. Air Wars: Television Advertising in Election Campaign, 1952-1996. Washington:
    Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1992.