Professor: Nicole Dudukovic

4.00 credits

CRN 12233: Tuesday & Thursday, 2:00-3:20pm @ CHA 202

This course examines misinformation from an interdisciplinary, liberal arts perspective. We will explore the nature of truth and knowledge and apply these concepts to our current struggle to separate facts from alternative facts and legitimate news from fake news. We will investigate the psychological processes that make us vulnerable to believing misinformation and why it can be challenging to correct these beliefs. We will also consider how misinformation can undermine our understanding of pressing scientific issues that have significant implications for society, such as climate change and vaccine safety. Finally, we will discuss the ways in which the current misinformation age is similar to the past, as well as the factors that may make this a distinct period of human history. This course will emphasize strategies for evaluating and verifying sources of information, and we will practice resisting misinformation with evidence-based critical thinking, research, and information literacy. These skills will serve you well as a student in the liberal arts and as a global citizen in what has been called a post-truth era.