What is the best major to pursue if one has an interest in studying propaganda?

December 7, 2007 8:14 AM

What is the best major to pursue if one has an interest in studying propaganda?

I would like to become a scholar in mass public manipulation and mind control - propaganda, media control, advertising, public relations, etc.

I have a bachelor's in Mass Communication and Journalism, but I'm not interested in the good side of the field, only the malevolent, dark side.

What would be the best academic course to pursue? Where would be the best place to pursue it?

posted by Lownotes to Media & Arts (16 answers total)

I think Sociology is your field (Ph.D.). As for where to do it to best study the things you mention, that's a little tougher, but I'd start by searching for contemporary scholars who write articles and papers on these topics that you find interesting.
posted by cashman at 8:21 AM on December 7, 2007

It really depends on what aspect of it you are interest in. If its how propaganda has been used historically vs. how people in certain groups react to different tactics vs. why people who use it use it vs. 1000 other questions.

I would say some combination of history, anthropology and psychology though.
posted by zennoshinjou at 8:45 AM on December 7, 2007

Politics. perhaps? I took an into American Government course, and a strong theme was that the prof was showing students how they are "being played."
posted by jon1270 at 8:48 AM on December 7, 2007

Semiotics.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 8:52 AM on December 7, 2007

There is some interesting stuff in the Media Studies field on this (mostly post WW1 like Lasswell or Lippmann) but I'd honestly recommend running away from MS as a major. I tend to think of it as the wooly-thinking discussing articles by the weakminded which misquote intellectual giants. YMMV of course.
posted by merocet at 8:55 AM on December 7, 2007

Advertising.
posted by notmydesk at 9:04 AM on December 7, 2007

I'd start with either Sociology or Communications departments. My girlfriend has undergrad degrees in both and some of her coursework dealt media influence. But as cashman recommends, start finding papers/books/journals that deal with these topics and find out what universities and departments those authors are from.
posted by Nelsormensch at 9:09 AM on December 7, 2007

regarding books that deal with this topic, i recommend Noam Chomsky's: Manufacturing Consent: the Political Economy of the Mass Media as well as Media Control: the Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda and Doris Graber's Media Power in Politics;

in terms of major - it should be a mix of Communications and Political Science. there are courses that deal with propaganda and media control, but I doubt that there's an entire program devoted to it.
posted by barrakuda at 9:34 AM on December 7, 2007

Pragmatics
posted by ochenk at 9:41 AM on December 7, 2007

History, obviously. But there's no jobs in any of the fields described anyway.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:51 AM on December 7, 2007

I don't know if Communications departments are different school-to-school, but at Penn, the Comm program would have been very much what you're looking for. There were a lot of classes on how credibility is generated out of thin air, how people come to accept different positions than they started with by various means of reframing, using cognitive dissonance, etc.

Interestingly enough, I also took Marketing there, and that had some uses as well. In that case, it's more about tailoring a message to someone's image of themselves and what they want.
posted by Doctor Suarez at 9:55 AM on December 7, 2007

Something I found that lined up with this material was Sociology and Science Studies interdisciplinary stuff focused on the creation of knowledge.

I think your best bet might be to identify classes (with the help of an advisor who could point out professors who, even if the class isn't right up your alley, could foster this academic exploration of yours) that you should take, and try to piece together your own course of study. because it's definitely very interdisciplinary.
posted by entropone at 10:31 AM on December 7, 2007

Best answer: There is certainly a lot of "Dark Side" of Comm being studied. But, seriously, do some searching on Google Scholar and try to find out who the big propaganda scholars are. If you like their work, go study with them.
posted by k8t at 10:44 AM on December 7, 2007

History, especially if you are thinking the phd route. I doubt you'll come away pleased with more communications classes. In history you're going to see a lot of this stuff. I think communications in general is going to be a lot of theory. Id also wonder what exactly you'll be studying in sociology and communications. I imagine "propaganda in history" is more academic friendly than "teach me the dark arts, lord vader."

Seconding speaking to some advisors.
posted by damn dirty ape at 10:59 AM on December 7, 2007

Seconding what k8t said, and I'd add that another keyword to look for is persuasion. And you may want to clarify which direction you're interested in...if you are most interested in studying the construction of persuasive (propaganda) messages, then that's Comm all the way, baby. If you're more interested in studying the macro effects of propaganda, that could fit into comm but maybe also sociology or poli sci, depending on what you want to do with the degree (consulting or academic route?).

and as an aside, what's with all the comm bashing here, sheesh!
posted by DiscourseMarker at 1:36 PM on December 7, 2007

Don't overlook classes from Art History faculties!
posted by nicolas léonard sadi carnot at 9:39 PM on December 7, 2007