This course assesses ways in which governments, political parties, news agencies and other groups and institutions use media to shape particular messages or describe current events. Each week the seminar will focus on a major historical event, the manner in which it was reported and interpreted, and principal challenges to that interpretation. A wide variety of media will be analyzed including: books, newspapers, film, radio, television, and the internet. Events such as the War on Terror, the Great War, the Dreyfus Affair, the Irish Famine, and the “Red Scare” are among some of the topics that will be discussed. Students will prepare unique assignments akin to the work done by communications officers.