Spring 2026 OLLI Digital Catalog – under construction 

PROPAGANDA AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY (S306)

S – Economics, Finance, Political Science, Law

Since the propaganda masters of World War II, in the Cold War and beyond, governments use their power over media to influence public opinion. This course explores how propaganda is created, why it is effective, who uses it, and why. We’ll see how “news” media become collaborators in influence campaigns and how media sometimes resist. Topics include contemporary social media propaganda and why social media and the decline of journalism makes these efforts more effective than ever.

This offering meets for a total of 5 session(s).

INSTRUCTOR: Ralph Begleiter

BEGLEITER, RALPH — M.S., journalism, Columbia University; B.A., political science, Brown University. Former CNN world affairs correspondent (1981-1999) and professor of communication at the University of Delaware (1999-2017) and founding director of UD’s Center for Political Communication. (S306)

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