Strategic communication has traditionally relied on the intuition acquired by skillful practitioners in long years of experience and exposure. However, as communicative interventions take place in multi-faceted digital media landscapes, the “gut feeling” that comes with intimate knowledge of one’s target group is increasingly hard to come by. This course not only investigates how recent advances in the mind sciences have changed professional practice in communication, journalism and activism. It also explores how these new methodologies can be leveraged for one’s own communication. Students will employ machine learning (AI) and language processing in order to better understand large amounts of digital content, for example. They will experiment with eye-tracking in order to better understand visual attention and utilize psychographic methodologies to aid in campaign planning. The course provides an introduction to strategic communication theory and also discusses the implications of technological change and scientific advances on society and culture overall.