Persuasion and Propaganda
Persuasion and Propaganda (PERP) is a CTY course offered at New Haven.
Course Description
From the CTY Course Catalog (2018):
During the Vietnam War, U-10 Super Courier aircrafts dropped thousands of leaflets on North Vietnam encouraging the combatants below to lay down their arms and defect. It’s easy to recognize actions as political propaganda when they’re this overt, but what about when a population is targeted through subtler means? In this course, students examine historical and contemporary instances of propaganda through the numerous ways humans have swayed others to their points of view, tracing these efforts from World War II to the present. Students learn to not only identify problematic arguments as they develop the rhetorical strategies necessary to question and dissect their compelling messages, but also to construct and deliver persuasive arguments in a variety of forms, including editorials, oral presentations, brief films, and public speeches.
