“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
Despite all of the recent advances in digital communication, television is still arguably the most important medium for political communication in the world today. Because of this, scholars of political communication have long studied the medium and its impact on the political process.
This project, in which students make commercials for a fictitious presidential campaign, shifts students from being passive observers of campaigns to being active and motivated persuaders. I have assigned this project consistently since 2002 and students tell me that nothing is more effective at driving home the power and limitations of this form of political discourse. They also tell me that they have become much more sophisticated consumers of advertising (and news, in fact) after having made their own ads.
