Center for Executive and Professional Education

PR405 Navigating Truth and Deception in Digital Media

Formerly called Social Media and Information Warfare

About This Course

This course explores the complex relationship between digital media and manipulative communication tactics. We'll examine how social media platforms and digital media facilitate the spread of misleading or manipulated information, harmful content, and artificially generated media and their significant impact on individuals, communities, and society.

We'll investigate the strategies that organizations, governments, and individuals use in influence campaigns to shape public opinion and undermine democratic processes. We'll analyze the effects of these campaigns on recent elections and social movements.

The course covers cognitive biases, critical thinking skills, and essential tools for navigating digital media, identifying reliable sources, and recognizing manipulated information. We'll delve into the psychology of information processing and how biases contribute to the spread of false information.  

Course Snapshot


Format
 		Online

Frequency
 		Once per year (Spring)


Length

4 weeks

Cost
 		$659

Course Schedule and Registration

Businesswoman leading a presentation

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

Strategic communication is the total effort of an organization to inform, motivate, and connect with its various audiences. As social media and the immediacy of digital media takes over the news cycle, understanding how an organization is perceived by its internal and external audiences is essential for...

Strategic Communications

What You’ll Learn

Upon completion of the course, students will understand social media's multifaceted nature and develop skills to::

  • Define and differentiate between various forms of manipulated information
  • Analyze social media's impact on democracy and public discourse
  • Examine techniques used in influence campaigns to manipulate public opinion
  • Evaluate social media companies' role in combating harmful content
  • Explore cognitive biases that make people susceptible to manipulated information
  • Develop critical thinking skills to assess information credibility
  • Investigate strategies for combating harmful content, including fact-checking and media literacy
  • Apply knowledge to real-world examples of manipulated information in digital media

The Learning Environment

This class is fully online and includes live, online sessions with the instructor.

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Courses in this Certificate Track

Enrolling in the full certificate program allows for more comprehensive learning in regard to strategic communications and public relations.

Course Schedule about this content

Courses may be taken individually and in any order unless otherwise noted. Four courses are required to complete the certificate. If pursuing the certificate, all courses in the certificate program must be completed within three years. Visit the program page for a recommended sequence.

Jakon Hays

Meet the Instructor

Jakon Hays

Jakon Hays, the Senior Strategic Communications Specialist at Norwich University Applied Research Institutes (NUARI), is responsible for designing and driving awareness initiatives highlighting NUARI's mission of enabling...

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Kristen Pedersen

Meet the Instructor

Kristen Pedersen, Ph.D.

Dr. Kristen Pedersen is an Associate Vice President at the Norwich University Applied Research Institute (NUARI) managing the organization’s portfolio of Distributed Environment for Critical Infrastructure Decision-making...

See full profile for Kristen Pedersen, Ph.D.