Persuasion is a powerful force in our lives. From political speeches to television commercials to tv series, it can effectively mobilize political action, influence the public, and market products. During this course, we will critically discuss a new and systematic way of thinking about the influence of psychology of persuasion in our lives, showing the intersection of informative sources with psychological theories and persuasion theories. Using various case studies, we will learn how tools recently developed in psychology can be usefully applied to the identification, analysis, and interpretation of persuasive messages.