New Sociology Course Takes a Critical Look at Conspiracy Theories, Misinformation and Pseudosc...

From viral health claims and artificial intelligence-generated images and videos to moral panics and conspiracy theories both old and new, people are constantly encountering a stream of information online that can be difficult to evaluate.

It's why Jennifer Whitmer and Meggan Jordan, sociology professors at Stanislaus State, are introducing a new course this fall called Sociology of Pseudoscience, Misinformation and Conspiracy Theories (SOCL 4500), which will examine popular claims and help students enhance critical-thinking skills needed to navigate today's increasingly complicated landscape of information.

"We are living in a time where it is so difficult to tell what is real and what is not real," Whitmer said. "A lot of us may think, 'Well, I'm smart, so I can't fall for anything.' But we all have these cognitive biases where we become more likely to believe things that already align with what we believe in.

"Everybody has their own thoughts and believes in their own conspiracies, and some can be really fun, like the existence of Bigfoot or aliens. Others can be more profound and be a bit more consequential. We want students to be aware of what biases and preconceived ideas they may have and help them apply their critical thinking skills effectively."

Launching this fall, Stanislaus State's Sociology of Pseudoscience, Misinformation and Conspiracy Theories course will help students evaluate online claims, examine how beliefs take hold and strengthen their critical-thinking skills.

In the course, co-taught by Jordan and Whitmer, students will learn to identify the basic features of conspiracy theories, examine them as a social phenomenon and be able to distinguish between science and pseudoscience. Additionally, students will learn to identify different forms of misinformation and disinformation and understand how certain claims affect society.

The topics discussed will be a mix of what Jordan and Whitmer find most intriguing with what they notice students discussing that they feel need to be addressed.

"The students can bring us ideas, because there are several things I've never even heard of that may be gaining steam on social media," said Jordan, who has a strong focus in medical sociology. "From teaching classes related to aging, there are a lot of weird ideas out there. There seems to be a culture of valuing what an influencer says over the advice of doctors or other medical experts. Somebody on social media can develop a parasocial relationship with their followers to try to push a product or perspective or a regimen of some kind. Some people really do tend to listen to that, and it's interesting to learn the reasons behind it."

Whitmer, who teaches about sexuality and gender, has also heard her fair share of moral panics and conspiracies.

There seems to be a culture of valuing what an influencer says over the advice of doctors or other medical experts. Somebody on social media can develop a parasocial relationship with their followers to try to push a product or perspective or a regimen of some kind. Some people really do tend to listen to that, and it's interesting to learn the reasons behind it."

- Meggan Jordan, Professor of Sociology

"A real popular myth that people believe is that they're going to be kidnapped in a parking lot or that sex trafficking is happening on online marketplaces," Whitmer said. "Many times, those ideas can be very damaging to actual victims of sex trafficking. These salacious ideas about bad guys that are out to get us can keep us from really understanding what structural forces are actually harming people."

The idea for the course grew out of curiosity and research that Whitmer and Jordan conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the duo reviewed existing scholarship on conspiracies, misinformation and pseudoscience, they recognized an opportunity to approach the subject through a sociological lens. Their research raised broader questions about how people determine what is true, whom they recognize as an authority and why different groups can develop sharply contrasting understandings of reality.

Whitmer and Jordan eventually began a project in which they interviewed family members of those with QAnon beliefs.

"I had family members who were questioning if the pandemic was real or not and then questioning who or what started it. There were a lot of QAnon protests at the time. Things were getting interesting," Jordan said. "You just began to ask yourself, 'What is actually happening in this moment we're living in?' That's when I reached out to Jenni to see if other people were seeing this and also dealing with these ideas being spread amongst their family members and within their social circles."

Jordan was surprised at how easy it was to find individuals willing to be interviewed for the project.

"People have family members with radically different beliefs than their own, and they had a lot to say," she said. "We also learned that once someone believes in one conspiracy or belief, they usually believe in a lot more, and it was all so intriguing."

"We want students to be aware of what biases and preconceived ideas they may have and help them apply their critical thinking skills effectively."

- Jennifer Whitmer, Associate Professor of Sociology

"While doing this research," Whitmer added, "we began to wonder how to actually define what is true or not, and how to make these kinds of valuations and who to trust as an authority and who not to trust. We want to look at how our ideas about truth are socially produced, what happens when people have completely different ways of thinking about reality and why we have so much of that in our world right now."

In SOCL 4500, students will ultimately draw conclusions surrounding certain claims based on credible evidence, as well as establish social science research methods to collect and present data about people's beliefs in a nonjudgmental way.

"It should be really fun," Whitmer said. "There are some serious topics that have real impacts on our society, and we're going to try to think about it critically and sociologically. We're looking forward to it."

For more information on the course, contact Jennifer Whitmer at [email protected] or Meggan Jordan at [email protected].