2020-21 Academic Catalog

How have news media affected democratic elections in the U.S., UK, and EU? Case studies show traditional and new media—from citizen journalism to bots—shaping views of candidates and issues—and democracy itself. Using recent elections worldwide as a base, we will investigate traditional media as an institution in a challenging environment of new media sources and charges of “fake news.” Coursework includes learning about research design through original data collection, data analysis, and visual representation of data. POSC 223 is recommended as a way to learn quantitative and qualitative methods of social science research. Research paper required.