The Centre for the Study of Propaganda & War

The Centre for the Study of Propaganda & War (CSPW) was established at the University of Kent in 1994: “In recent years the study of propaganda has assumed an increasing importance both in the academic world and in the mass-media. As electorates and audiences have become more sophisticated, they have begun to question the use of propaganda in history and its role in contemporary society. However, propaganda has become a portmanteau word which can be interpreted in a number of different ways. Propaganda has invariably come to mean different things to different people. Despite the controversy over definition, the subject continues to grow and attract widespread interest.”

Visit the Centre, its associated resources, and check out the MA in War, Media and Modernity

Templeman Library at the University of Kent therefore has a great collection of material: there’s over 500 entries for the keyword ‘propaganda’.

Mock the Week: Mocks David Cameron Poster

If you get a chance (probably available in the UK til Wednesday), check out Mock the Week for last week – excellent humour re: David Cameron’s new poster campaign – they got about 6 minutes of mileage out of it. The real poster is visible on 760 billboards across the UK… this was Dara’s interpretation of what the poster should have said… Very scathing that it’s all personality, no policies… hmmm, a certain Conservative MP made the same error post-war (Winston Churchill’s 1945 campaign was all about personality, Labour was all about policy!)

Reg Gammon (b.1894; d.1997)

Described as a ‘remarkable artist’, a retrospective exhibition of Gammon’s work was held at the Somerset Rural Life Museum in Glastonbury in March 2002. Eamples of his work include images of gypsies and Derbyshire dry stone wallers. He illustrated books, certainly in the 1950s.

Information collated from: Anonymous, ‘Reg Gammon’, http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:Wdp-mcbLLO8J:dspace.dial.pipex.com/crumbleholme/dorpot/dpgn0203.htm+%22Reg+Gammon%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8, accessed October 3 2003; Celebrating Somerset, ‘Celebrating Somerset – The Tourism Pages, Events Listing’, http://www.somerset.gov.uk/tourism/pages/subs/events_detail.asp?Event_Title=Reg+…, accessed October 3 2003; Rwa.org, ‘Gypsy Sisters’, http://www.rwa.org.uk/gypsy1.htm, accessed October 3 2003; Bearnes Auctioneers, ‘Auction House Lot Detail’, http://www.thesaurus.co.uk/bearnes/xq/asp/SaleID.1080561/LotNumber.390/qx/lot.htm, accessed October 3 2003; Dial-a-Book, Sydney, ‘Books on Dogs’, http://www.dialabook.com.au/local/1/63, accessed October 3 2003