Rumor, Secrecy, and Conspiracy Theory

Catalog description

What's true, and how can we be sure? Why do misfortunes happen? And who-or what-is really in control? This course explores fundamental questions of power and knowledge through the interlinked categories of rumor, secrecy, and conspiracy theory. Rather than dismissing such phenomena as illegitimate or ridiculous, we will approach them as social processes infused with meaning and intention. We will consider how people hearing and spreading rumors might see themselves as connected to, or excluded from, generally accepted forms of communication and authority. We will interrogate the relationship between secrets and power. We will examine theories of conspiracy in their social, cultural, political, and economic contexts, and ask what happens when conspiracies are not just theorized but confirmed. Drawing on ethnographic case studies from around the world, we will use the concepts of rumor, secrecy, and conspiracy theory as starting points for understanding human experiences of politics, media, violence, illness, injustice, exclusion, and more. Finally, through original research projects, students will practice applying theoretical and ethnographic insights from course readings to contemporary events as shared and interpreted through social media. Throughout the semester, we will investigate how the very labels of rumor and conspiracy theory are constructed and applied, and how whether something seems reasonable or paranoid is often a matter of perspective-and of power.