Primary source material found in documentary film has the potential to richly inform college teaching. This article describes using 2 historically significant documentary~style films to teach concepts in the psychology of persuasion. Exemplary clips taken from Triumph of the Will (Riefens tahl, 1935) and Fahrenheit 9/11 (Moore, 2004) illust rated theoretical and applied topics typically taught in undergraduate social psychology. Evidence of student learning along with positive student evaluations support the use of this approach as an effective way to teach about concepts and techniques in persuasion and propaganda.
Primary source material found in documentary film has the potential to richly inform college teaching. This article describes using 2 historically significant documentary-style films to teach concepts in the psychology of persuasion. Exemplary clips taken from Triumph of the Will (Riefenstahl, 1935) and Fahrenheit 9/11 (Moore, 2004) illustrated theoretical and applied topics typically taught in undergraduate social psychology. Evidence of student learning along with positive student evaluations support the use of this approach as an effective way to teach about concepts and techniques in persuasion and propaganda.
The personal and societal devastations wrought by the genocidal actions of individuals remain confounding to psychologists. As instructors aim to increase students' engagement in global concerns, courses that address the often confusing interplay among prejudice, mass persuasion, human aggression, and prosocial behavior seem to be well placed to reduce these ambiguities. With previous examples in the teaching literature scarce, this article describes a new course on the psychology of genocide through an interdisciplinary blend of historical and psychological evidence of the single worst episode of genocide in human history: the Holocaust. Course themes and topics, readings and assignments, and recommended audiovisual supports provide a useful framework for future application of this new course in the psychology of genocide.
Genius-level achievement is a natural draw for undergraduate students, both as a cultural phenomenon and as a topic domain within the science of psychology. Yet within the teaching of psychology literature, the psychology of genius has been largely ignored. I designed a course that combines primary source material drawn from existing empirical findings in the genius and creativity literature with a novel method of inquiry for undergraduates, psychobiography. As an intellectually provocative area of study, the psychology of genius offers teachers a unique way to teach about theory and research in contemporary psychology through a case-based approach. This article describes course readings and assignments, topical areas of discussion, evidence of student learning, and student perceptions of knowledge gains.
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