FWS: Facts, Frauds, and Rumors: (Un)Truth in Western History

3.0 credits · Undergraduate

Societies reveal much about themselves in how they define and distinguish truth and untruth. This course examines the history of facts, frauds, and gossip in the West, from the late medieval period to present. We will focus on five historical episodes in the making and unmaking of truth: the medieval inquisition; the first early modern scientific laboratories; the Feejee Mermaid and other playful frauds of P.T. Barnum's American Museum; early 20th-century newsrooms, advertising and propaganda agencies; and the 21st-century Internet. We will write, workshop, and revise reflective, comparative, and persuasive essays on these episodes, while gaining a better understanding of how such modern concepts as objectivity, reliability, and deception have developed.