Propaganda, Russia, & The World Informat

Prerequisite: Instructor-Managed Waitlist. Propaganda, Russia and the World Information War is a highly current guide to propaganda and disinformation, the geopolitical impact of information, and how false, weaponized narratives threaten the world's news and information environment. 

The course teaches how propaganda and disinformation work, the most effective ways to counter them, and the effects of artificial intelligence. The course draws many of its examples from information operations by Russia, but also considers operations by state and private actors worldwide. This includes overt and covert activities by Western governments, including in the Ukraine war.

The course also discusses information at a more philosophical and sociological level. How do we receive and process information? Can there actually be more than one truth? What is the future of the world’s information climate given all the political, social, and technological stresses on it?

The course is aimed at students with interests in geopolitical analysis involving Russia or any region; the techniques of public persuasion, in any context; or in countering propaganda and disinformation.

Interested students are encouraged to contact the instructor at tjk17@columbia.edu.