What is "fake" news and how has it developed historically? To understand this phenomenon, this course explores the history of advertising, market research, public relations, and propaganda in global perspective. We consider how these persuasion industries emerged, how they operated in different places and time periods to shape politics, policies, and public opinion. We also consider how these industries influence our identities and understandings of race, class, and gender, age and ideas about sexuality and the body. Finally, we pay attention to the changing influence of the modern media and the major critics who have worried about its power to manipulate the public.