Arts and Humanities Colloquium Series: Media, Persuasion and Propaganda

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Friday, January 23rd, 2015
10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

Dr. Marshall Soules, Department of Media Studies, will give an illustrated talk entitled, Media, Persuasion and Propaganda. 

"We live in a saturated media environment," says Soules, "crowded on all sides by persistent, persuasive messages." The techniques and the psychology behind them have become increasingly sophisticated in the "age of persuasion," a century of applied research in advertising, advocacy, public relations, mass entertainment and social control. "In our time," argues Soules, "creative deception keeps us amused and confused."

His presentation will explore persuasion across the disciplines, and challenge widespread beliefs about news-making, democracy, expert opinion, social influence, activism and deception in societies where "truth happens to an idea." Where do persuasive messages originate and how are they propagated through media? What is the relationship between publicity and news in a time when public trust in politicians and journalists is so low? How do we use recent discoveries in cognitive science to promote a cause, advocate social change, or market ideas and products? How do we defend ourselves against manipulation and undue influence? And when does persuasion turn into propaganda?

"Persuasion and propaganda have consequences," notes Soules, "and we need tools--both old and new--to decode the stories, biases, stereotypes, and metaphors attempting to influence us." Grappling with these issues is indeed crucial to our lives.

Dr. Soules taught at VIU from 1987 to 2009 and was awarded the Outstanding Service Award by the university in 2011. This presentation is a preview of his new book, Media, Persuasion and Propaganda, which will be available from Edinburgh University Press in February 2015.

Previous publications reflect his interest in performance, improvisation, digital media, and street art. He has investigated graffiti and wild postering, the Cuban government's use of billboards to spread propaganda, and the collective improvisations and expressions on the walls of the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver by the people who live there. The connection between media and political context is prominent in his work. As he said in a 28 July 2012 Nanaimo Daily News article, "The media is extremely important, in my view, for forming opinion. And forming opinions elects governments, and those governments have policies, and those policies are often prejudicial." The newspaper article concluded that according to Soules, "media is simply the oxygen of democracy."