Countering Info Disorder

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

In this course, students will consider the plethora of efforts designed to address information disorder (a broad category that includes disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation) as it impacts national security and the conduct of democratic societies. Students will develop a critical approach to these countering strategies and analyze their potential for undermining the spread of disinformation, stabilizing political systems, and enhancing national security. The course will begin with an overview of emerging cognitive and behavioral science related to information credibility and sharing. Then the course will examine private sector efforts (including content moderation, deep fake detection, and fact checking), government efforts (including media literacy at the local level, regulatory, national security and diplomatic approaches), research and civil society efforts, before ending with a consideration of the role of the individual in countering information disorder.