Student of Propaganda Devices

PROFESSOR MICHAEL E. CHOUKAS '27 has made a special study of propaganda for a good many years, and since 1934 has been presenting his findings and his ideas in a popular sociology course, "Public Opinion and Propaganda." When this course was introduced at Dartmouth a little over twelve years ago, with the general object of defining propaganda and showing students how to spot it, it was one of the first college courses of its kind in the country.

After graduating from Dartmouth with summa cum laude honors, Professor Choukas took his M.A. degree in 1928 at Columbia, where he later also took his Doctor's degree, and in 1929 returned to Dartmouth as Instructor in Sociology. He became assistant professor in 1934 and a full professor in 1940. A native of Greece, he is the author of a book, Black Angels of Athos (1934), an account of twenty Greek Orthodox monasteries on Mt. Athos, where he lived with the monks while gathering material. He is also the author of a chapter on "The Greeks in the United States" in the book American Minorities which Prentice-Hall published in 1937. Other writings have appeared in the American Sociological Review and in the Greek National Herald.

During the war Professor Choukas served with the Office of Strategic Services, where his propaganda studies were of value in important assignments for the government. Recently he completed a special study of statewide conditions for the New Hampshire Liquor Research Commission, and many of his recommendations are now before the state legislature as part of the proposal for a permanent rehabilitation and educational program.