Political Science 486-110:
Politics and Propaganda in Film

Jeffrey Dixon
Fall 2010

Slogans from Orwell's 1984 

Class News

Documents and Notes

Course Documents

Syllabus -- includes the Short Film assignment

Final Exam: Take Home Portion (QUESTION ONE)

Course Grades -- Use the last 3 digits of your UIN (the number with all the zeroes) to find the row with your grades.

Class Notes

Techniques of Propaganda and Persuasion

The Propaganda Model

Fascist Aesthetics

How Can Citizens Evaluate Scientific Evidence?

 

Topics and Assigned Readings

Date Topic/Assignments Readings/Films Publicly Available Online? Blackboard Library
Reserve
Sept 8 What is Politics? Read: Donahue, “46 1/2 Conceptions of Politics      
Watch: Triumph of the Will (104 min) Yes Yes Yes
Watch: Seven Up (39 min) No Yes Yes
Read: Seven Up, pp. 1-55      
Sept 15 What is documentary and what is propaganda? Read: Documentary Film, pp. 1-77 and 125-146      

Watch: Inside North Korea (46 min)

Yes No Ordered
Watch: Control Room (84 min) Yes No Ordered
Sept 22 A Propaganda Model of Politics Read: New Documentary, pp. 1-46
Watch: Manufacturing Consent (167 min) Yes Yes Yes
Sept 29 The Documentarian and the Subject Watch: 21 Up (100 min) No Yes Yes

Watch: 49 Up (135 min)

No Yes Yes
Read: Seven Up, pp. 55-117      
Oct 6 Ethical Implications of Documentary Film
***STORYBOARD DUE***
Watch: The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (181 min) Yes:Part I | Part II Yes Yes
Oct 13 "In Their Own Words"
 

Watch: Jesus Camp (87 min)

Yes (In 9 Parts) Yes Yes

Watch: Israel’s Next War? (55 min)

Yes No No
Watch: Obsession (60 min) Yes Yes Yes
Oct 20 Narrators and Journeys: Political Aspects

 

Read: New Documentary, pp. 47-119

     

Watch: Sicko (123 min)

Yes (6 parts on a shady site) Yes Yes
Watch: America’s Heart and Soul (84 min) No Yes Yes
Oct 27 Electoral Propaganda

Watch: Electoral Propaganda (about 120 min)

Yes: Part I | Part II | Part III No No
Read: New Documentary: pp. 155-184      
Nov 3 Tactical Criticism
Watch: American Dream (100 min) No Yes Yes

Watch: No End in Sight (102 min)

Yes (10 parts) Yes Yes
Read: New Documentary: pp. 120-154      
Nov 10 Radical Dissent
*** ROUGH CUT DUE***

Watch: Waco - The Rules of Engagement (136 min)

Yes: Part I | Part II Yes Yes
Watch: This is What Democracy Looks Like (72 min) Yes (subtitled in Spanish) Yes Yes
Read: New Documentary, pp. 185-218      
Nov 17 Science for Voters
*** SHORT FILM DUE ON NOV 23***
Read: Documentary Film, pp. 77-95 and 117-124      
Watch: An Inconvenient Truth (94 min) Yes (subtitled in Vietnamese) Yes Yes
Watch: Not Evil Just Wrong (90 min) No Yes Yes
Read: Lakatos (Online)      
Nov 24 No Class No class – Thanksgiving holidays
Watch: Short Films on Blackboard
No No No
Dec 1 Representations of Crime

Watch: Scared Straight! (52 min -- you are not required to watch 20 Years Later, even though it's part of the same file).

No Yes Yes
Watch: Capturing the Friedmans (107 min) Yes (12 parts, starts about 2 mins late) Yes Yes

Watch: Cochise County, U.S.A. (69 min)

Yes (Shady site) Yes Yes
Read: New Documentary, pp. 221-252      
Dec 8 Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism Watch: Children of Beslan (60 min) Yes (6 parts, under a different title) Yes No

Watch: Taxi to the Dark Side (106 min)

Yes (Someone added anti-NATO propaganda just before the film) Yes Yes
Watch: The Oath (90 min) No Yes Yes
Dec 15 ***FINAL EXAM -- QUESTION 1 DUE*** Prepare Answer to Question 1