F2A. Manufacturing Consent: How Cinema Has Shaped Public Opinion
History & World Affairs | Registration opens 2/27/2025 9:00 AM
More efficient than brute force, mass media in a democracy “manufactures” public beliefs to benefit the interests of specific political and economic players. Visual propaganda, like cinema, molds popular attitudes to align with the interests of ruling authorities. Cinema shapes public discourse to ensure consent for policies and ideology that benefit those in power.
The term comes from the book Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of Mass Media (1988), co-authored by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman. This course will examine documentary and feature films available for streaming at home (some for a nominal fee) that illustrate this concept. The course syllabus can be accessed here: Syllabus Manufacturing Consent Spring 2025
- Image courtesy of the Presenter
Peter Scheckner
Presenter
Peter Scheckner, PhD, (LLI) retired professor of literature, Ramapo College of NJ, did his undergraduate work at Bard College. His publications include American War Cinema and Media Since Vietnam: Politics, Ideology, and Class (2013), co-author Patricia Keeton; The Way We Work: Contemporary Writings from the American Workplace (2008) co-editor, M.C. Boyes; An Anthology of Chartist Poetry: Poetry of the British Working Class, 1830s-1850s (1989); and Class, Politics, and the Individual: A Study of the Major Works of D. H. Lawrence (1985).
Felice Gelman
Presenter & Host
Felice Gelman, MA, MBA, (LLI) is a retired investment manager. She has traveled extensively in Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel. She spent the last 18 years working to support a theatre and cultural center in the city of Jenin in the West Bank of Palestine—The Freedom Theatre. She also helped produce three of The Freedom Theatre’s plays in the United States. Most recently, she enjoyed working on the Bard LLI multipresenter class Immigration—Too Hot to Handle?
Ruth Tourjee
Class Manager