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Apr 28, 2024
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2022-2023 College Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
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HON 200 HONORS COLLOQUIUM - GV
Take a walk off the edge of the Earth and into the abyss of lies, disinformation, fake news, alternative facts, and conspiracy theory. Perhaps the most significant threat to 21st century democracy lay in the tenuousness of truth. Weaponized as “fake news,” politicians and pundits turn certainties into falsehoods, amplified through corporate media, social media and the internet–sometimes aided by anti-democratic governments and actors–in the service of the construction of a sense of “un-reality.” In this context, determining truth has grown ever more difficult. The resultant loss of faith in democratic government, political leaders, institutions, and expertise portends profound change for both nascent and established democracies around the world. This course will focus on the importance of truth in the maintenance and upkeep of American democracy. It will take a multi-disciplinary approach to the topic. Students will examine the history of truth in American democracy. For example, how did America’s Founders view the relationship between truth and democracy? What did that relationship look like in American politics prior to today? We will broaden our focus when necessary to study how authoritarian regimes shape reality to better understand the methods of misinformation and disinformation, and the interests of these actors in undermining democracy. Students will study the legal issues surrounding “fake news” and what the Constitution and legal system have to say. For example, what is free speech? What is the importance of freedom of the press? What tensions exist in these constructs? Sociologically the course will examine the social construction of reality as it informs the creation of discourse and narrative. For example, what is the process by which MAGA hat become a symbol that is imbued with cultural meaning and power. Finally, this course exposes students to some of the many proposals to address the problem of fake news, from regulation to civics education, with an eye toward evaluating the possibilities and problems in each and honing the critical thinking skills necessary to making sense of the news they consume. 3 Credits. Prerequisite: EN 101
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