Is Seeing Believing? Stalinism & The Manfacture of Truth: Can you trust what you see? In an age defined by images, this hands-on, collaborative course invites students to explore how truth itself can be manufactured. We will investigate how photos, posters, and paintings were used to rewrite reality, using the Soviet Union under Stalin as a starting point to understand how similar visual strategies shape perception today. Through active learning exercises, including archival study, and close analysis of historical and contemporary media, students will uncover how truth, power, and vulnerability are constructed through images. Together, we will practice critical thinking to distinguish political spin from nuance, developing the tools of media literacy needed to see clearly in a world designed to persuade.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Develop practical media literacy skills for critically assessing photographs, news images, and digital media.
- Analyze historical examples of image-based propaganda in the Stalinist Soviet Union and connect them to broader global practices of media control.
- Identify and interpret key propaganda techniques used in visual media, including manipulation, omission, and emotional appeal.
- Differentiate between political spin, bias, and nuanced interpretation in historical and contemporary contexts.
- Evaluate how truth and power are constructed, maintained, and challenged through visual culture.
- Apply historical frameworks to current events to understand the persistence of image-based persuasion in modern politics and media.
- Collaborate with peers through hands-on projects and discussions that encourage active learning and shared interpretation.
- Synthesize historical and theoretical perspectives to form informed, independent judgments about visual information in today’s world.
LUNCH: Students staying for full day or for both morning and afternoon sessions can bring or buy their lunch. All students will eat lunch on Campus in The Commons, a small food court.
Digital Credentials are linked directly to a students emails and cannot be assigned to a parents email. For your student to receive their digital credential please add your student’s email at registration.
