HIST 471B6: HISTORY OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES
Instructor: Prof. Steven E. Harris
University of Mary Washington – Fall Semester, 2009
This class meets Tu/Th, 2:00pm-3:15pm, Mercer 310
Office Hours: 9:30am-11:00am; 1pm-2:00pm (TTh); and by appointment
Office: Mercer 304; tel. (540)-654-1390; e-mail: sharris@umw.edu
Course blog: http://conspiracytheories.umwblogs.org
Course description:
Who really brought about the end of the Ancien Régime and the onset of the French
Revolution? Who were the Freemasons and the Illuminati and what were their roles in
modern history? Who killed Kirov and who really shot JFK? And, has there ever been an
“October surprise”? These are only a few of the questions that people have attempted to
answer through conspiracy theories. In this course, we will examine the history of this
way of thinking about the world – conspiracy theories – from the French Revolution to
the War on Terror in a comparative framework across the modern world. Conspiracy
theories have not been specific to any one country, political system, or religion, but rather
have become a prominent way of thinking across borders in liberal democratic countries
and totalitarian regimes; fully industrialized states and the developing world; and across
political, class, religious, gender, and ethnic lines. Our goal is to investigate the origins of
this way of thinking, its development over time, and its impact and place in modern life.
In this course, we will focus on the ways in which people have constructed and used
conspiracy theories to explain events and the world they live in, but also who they are.
We will study the role conspiracy theories have played in modern political events and
ideas such as the French Revolution, Stalin’s Great Purges, and Nazi ideology, as well as
the social context and culture of conspiracy theories – in other words, the individuals,
social groups, communities, and sub-cultures that have promoted and believed in
conspiracy theories, as well as those who have been their targets.
Course requirements:
1) Book review: You will write a 2-3 page review of one of the secondary source
books and discuss it in class.
2) Paper #2: You will write a 2-3 page paper in which you describe and analyze a
conspiracy theory for its functions and meanings.
3) Research paper proposal: You will write a 2-3 page proposal of your research
paper, including a bibliography and present it to the class.
4) Research paper: You will write a 12-15 page research paper on a conspiracy
theory. You will make a presentation on your research to the class toward the end of the
semester. Your final paper is due on the course exam day.
5) Class participation: The quality of this class depends largely upon what each
student will contribute to it, so your class participation is of paramount importance as we
analyze and interpret the texts in this course. You are asked to engage one another’s
interpretations and opinions in an effort to understand better any given text and also to
challenge one another’s readings of the texts.
Conspiracy theory journal: As a part of your final participation grade, you will keep a
weekly journal on the conspiracy theories and conspiracy culture you encounter outside
of the classroom in your everyday lives. We will start the first few minutes of each class
period with a review of one or two students’ journal entries. Over the course of the
semester, you are expected to contribute to this part of the class at least twice.
The following is the guideline for participation grades: A range (90-100%): student
participates daily, shows that he/she reads all of the assigned readings, makes several
comments and poses questions that are insightful and help guide discussion; B range (8089%): student participates regularly, shows that he/she reads most of the readings, makes
some comments/questions; C range (70-79%): student participates on occasion, may read
some of the readings, makes little or no comments; D range (60-69%): student rarely
participates and/or is disruptive in class; F (0%): student never participates once in class.
If you miss class without an excused absence on the day your peers are
scheduled to do in-class presentations, your final participation grade will be lowered
by a full letter grade.
Numerical grades in this course correspond to the following letter grades: A (95-100);
A- (90-94); B+ (87-89); B (83-86); B- (80-82); C+ (77-79); C (73-76); C- (70-72); D+
(67-69); D (60-66); F (59 and below).
When computing final numerical grades, I do not round up to the highest decimal
point (i.e., if your final numerical grade is an 82.99, your final grade is a B-).
Midterm Deficiency Report: You will receive a midterm deficiency report if you
receive a C- or below on your participation grade to date or your writing assignments to
date (for all of you, this includes your paper proposal and presentation; for some of you,
this will also include your book review and presentation).
Course grades:
Class participation:
Book review:
Paper #2:
Research paper proposal:
Research paper:
25%
10%
10%
15%
40%
Legitimate Excuses for Missing Class and Turning Work in Late:
Legitimate excuses include family emergencies, medical appointments, illness,
religious holidays, and trips related to official student activities. Athletic practices never
constitute a legitimate excuse for missing class. All excuses must be supported with
documentary proof, such as a note from a doctor, with the contact information of the
person writing the excuse. In the event of a family emergency, such as a death in the
family, contact the Office of Academic Affairs and ask them to contact me about the
emergency.
If you miss class or fail to turn something in on time and you have a legitimate
excuse, do the following: give me the documentary proof explaining your absence or the
reasons for which you turned something in late; stop by during office hours to discuss
what you missed in class. Unless warranted by a legitimate excuse as defined above,
there will be no extensions on the assignments in this course.
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If you miss class or fail to turn something in on time without a legitimate excuse, do
not e-mail me to tell me this and do not ask me to explain to you over e-mail what you
missed in class; I will not respond to such e-mails. For every day after a deadline that you
turn work in late without a legitimate excuse, your grade on the assignment is dropped by
a full letter grade until you reach an F (0%) on the assignment. Failure to complete any of
the writing assignments by the exam day (even though you will receive a 0% on them)
will result in an automatic F for the course.
Communication:
Use e-mail to communicate with me about minor questions and administrative
questions. Use formal forms of address, salutations, and good-byes, as well as proper
spelling, grammar and punctuation, when writing e-mails to me. To discuss readings and
course topics, questions about writing assignments, etc., stop by during office hours.
Honor Code:
The Honor Code of the University of Mary Washington will be strictly enforced, as
explained in the Honor Constitution. All violations of the Honor Code (e.g., plagiarism
on papers) will be immediately reported to the Honor Council.
Americans with Disabilities Act:
If you have a disability and require academic accommodation, contact the Office of
Disability Services (x1266). Upon obtaining an accommodation letter from this office,
see me to establish the academic accommodation for you in this course. All information
pertaining to your academic accommodation will be kept in the strictest confidence.
Additional Class Policies:
* Electronic equipment such as cell phones must be turned completely off during class.
* Out of respect for your peers and your instructor, arrive to class on time. You must
attend the entire class time in order to receive credit for participation for that day.
* This syllabus is subject to change exclusively at my discretion.
Course blog:
* The course’s main blog is at http://conspiracytheories.umwblogs.org. It includes a copy
of the syllabus, instructions for writing assignments, and other course materials.
Course readings:
Required readings available at the UMW bookstore:
Brent, Jonathan and Vladimir P. Naumov. Stalin’s Last Crime: The Plot Against the
Jewish Doctors, 1948-1953. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.
DeDillo, Don. Libra. New York: Viking, 1988.
Lipstadt, Deborah E. Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and
Memory. London: Penguin, 1994.
Knight, Peter. Conspiracy Culture: From the Kennedy Assassination to the X-Files.
London and New York: Routledge, 2000.
Pipes, Daniel. Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes
From. New York: The Free Press, 1997.
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West, Harry G. and Todd Sanders, eds. Transparency and Conspiracy: Ethnographies of
Suspicion in the New World Order. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003.
Course schedule:
August 25:
Introduction: Thinking historically about conspiracy theories
August 27:
Foundations of a Historical Paradigm
* Richard Hofstadter, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics” (Course
blog)
The French Revolution: Crucible of Modern Conspiracy Theories
September 1: * Amos Hofman, “Opinion, Illusion, and the Illusion of Opinion” (Course
blog)
September 3: * Timothy Tackett, “Conspiracy Obsession in a Time of Revolution”
(Course blog)
* The Law of Suspects (Course blog)
* The Conspiracy of Equals (Course blog)
Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial
September 8: * Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust, 1-182.
September 10: * Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust, 183-235.
September 15: * Protocols of the Elders of Zion (Course blog)
* Paper #2 due today
Conspiracy Theories and Stalinist Political Culture
September 17: * Brent and Naumov, Stalin’s Last Crime, 1-92.
September 22: * Brent and Naumov, Stalin’s Last Crime, 93-282.
September 24: * Brent and Naumov, Stalin’s Last Crime, 283-336.
Constructing and Deconstructing Conspiracy Theories
September 29: * Pipes, Conspiracy, 1-128.
October 1:
* Paper proposal presentations (12)
* Paper proposal due today
October 6:
* Pipes, Conspiracy, 129-201.
* Paper proposal presentations (3)
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October 8:
* Knight, Conspiracy Culture, 1-75.
Fall Break: October 10 – October 13
Conspiracy Theories in American History and Culture
October 15:
Film screening and discussion: JFK (1991)
October 20:
Film screening and discussion: JFK (1991)
* Knight, Conspiracy Culture, 76-142.
October 22:
Film screening and discussion: JFK (1991)
* Knight, Conspiracy Culture, 143-244.
October 27:
Discussion of Knight, Conspiracy Culture.
October 29:
Discussion of Knight, Conspiracy Culture.
November 3: DeLillo, Libra (read entire book by today)
November 5: DeLillo, Libra
Conspiracy Theories: A Language of Explanation for an Age of Globalization
November 10: * West and Sanders, Transparency and Conspiracy, 1-124.
November 12: * West and Sanders, Transparency and Conspiracy, 125-174.
November 17: * West and Sanders, Transparency and Conspiracy, 175-299.
November 19: * Research paper presentations (3)
November 24: * Research paper presentations (4)
Thanksgiving Break: November 25-29
December 1: * Research paper presentations (4)
December 3: * Research paper presentations (4)
December 10: Deadline for final papers, 3:30pm
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