INFO 3025

Conspiracy theories have become an important expression of social anxieties and desires, and an important way to understand the relationship between the individual and the modern state of the world. In this course we will approach conspiracy narratives and the theories they embody both as symptoms and as modes of information. We will ask: What do conspiracy narratives accomplish? What do they explain about our own experience—especially of freedom, the exercise of power, and what counts as knowledge? We’ll begin by briefly surveying how disciplines such as psychology, political science, and rhetoric help us understand the appeal and significance of conspiracy narratives. Students will write a three short rhetorical analysis of a popular conspiracy debate or conspiracy narratives, helping you to take the steps necessary to dissect popular narratives. Students might, for example, examine a set of films regarding a vast conspiracy; or students might examine the debate around a particular conspiracy theory (QAnon, or 5G).