POLI1273 · Political Science
Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences
This course is major restricted and class restricted to juniors and seniors; graduate students are welcomed. This course is not about "hard power,"meaning coercive military or economic action. Instead, it is about "soft power," meaning attraction, persuasion, the power of example. Despite today's decline, America's image and influence still permeate the world, conveyed through every media platform and taking such different forms as news reports, entertainment, face-to-face interactions, and "public diplomacy" (government efforts to cultivate goodwill among overseas populations). How did these different modes of communication work in the past? How should they work today? What messages should the people of the United States be sending to the 95 percent of humanity who are not American? What messages are we in fact sending? These questions will be explored historically, thematically, and by region.
Course experience
Averages use the original five-point historical evaluation scale.
Organization
4.7 / 5
How well the course was organized
Challenge
4.8 / 5
How intellectually challenging students found it
Attendance
4.9 / 5
How necessary attendance was
Assignments
4.8 / 5
How helpful assignments were
Weekly effort
~5
hours per week
Estimated from the original workload response buckets. Individual sections may differ.
Instructor options
Ratings below reflect only recovered evaluations connected to this course.
Across time
Section-level results available in the recovered archive.
Spring 2025
1 sectionSpring 2024
1 section