HIST 471B6: HISTORY OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES
Instructor: Prof. Steven E. Harris
University of Mary Washington – Spring Semester, 2007
This class meets Tu/Th, 11:00pm-12:15pm, Monroe Hall 204
Office Hours: 1pm-3:30pm (MW); and by appointment
Office: Monroe Hall 208-E; tel. (540)-654-1390; e-mail: sharris@umw.edu
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 and making sense of 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 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 political, social, economic, and cultural history.
In this course, we will focus on the ways in which people have constructed,
believed in, and used conspiracy theories to explain events, the world they live in, and
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 and presentation: you will write a 2-3 page review of one of the
secondary source books on the course reading list; post your review on our Blackboard
page two days before class meets; and make a presentation of the book to the class on the
first day we discuss the book. Your task is to lead the class discussion by summarizing
the content of the book and critiquing its author’s or authors’ argument(s). We will
schedule book review presentations during the first two weeks of class. Each book will
be reviewed by two students; one by three students. Therefore, you must coordinate your
presentations before class in order to avoid repetition, and to identify your agreements
and disagreements about the book.
2) Research paper proposal and presentation: you will write a 2-3 page proposal
of your research paper; distribute it to the class via Blackboard two days before class; and
make a presentation of your proposal to the class. Your research topic must be approved
by me before you write your proposal.
3) Research paper and presentation: you will write a 12-15 page research paper.
Your paper must combine research in both primary and secondary sources. There are
many different topics and approaches you can use in writing your research paper. These
include, but are not restricted to, the following: 1) a research paper on one particular
conspiracy theory; 2) a comparative project examining similar conspiracy theories in
different times and places; 3) an examination of how conspiracy theories have interacted
with legitimate and mainstream discourses (e.g., mass media; professional historical
thinking; criminal law); 4) a sociological examination of a group or community that
subscribes to conspiracy theories; 5) an analysis of the language, narrative structure,
and/or visual components of a conspiracy theory; 6) a study of the economic aspects of
conspiracy theories; 7) an examination of the attempts by governments, media,
academics, museums, social organizations, and others to debunk conspiracy theories; 8) a
study of the media conspiracy theorists have used over time and how they have shaped
their theories.
You will distribute a draft of your paper to the class via Blackboard and present
your paper to the class. Your final paper is due on the day of the course exam.
4) 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. In this course, you are asked to participate
in the following ways: a) discussions of course readings; b) reading and critiquing
constructively one another’s book reviews and presentations; c) reading one another’s
paper proposals and paper drafts, and providing constructive criticism in class discussion.
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.
I will assign a numerical participation grade for each student each week in the
semester beginning with week two; your final participation grade will be the average of
these weekly grades. The following is the guideline for participation grades: A range
(90-100%): student shows that he/she has read all of the assigned readings, and he/she
makes several comments and poses questions that are insightful and guide the discussion
for that particular class; B range (80-89%): student shows that he/she has read most of the
readings and makes some comments/questions; C range (70-79%): student may have read
some of the readings, but makes little or no comments; D range (60-69%): student is
disruptive in class; 0%: students fails to participate because he/she is not in class.
You will receive a midterm participation grade when I return your proposals.
Numerical grades in this course correspond to the following letter grades: A (95100); 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
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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:
Book review and presentation:
Research paper proposal and presentation:
Research paper presentation:
Class participation:
Research paper:
10%
10%
10%
30%
40%
Legitimate Excuses for Missing Class and Turning Work in Late:
Legitimate excuses include family emergencies, medical appointments, illness,
and religious holidays. 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. Notes
from relatives will not be accepted. In the event of a family emergency, such as a death
in the family, please 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, please do the following: obtain the documentary proof explaining your absence
or the reasons for which you turned something in late; bring it to me in class or during
office hours; stop by during office hours to discuss what you missed in class. Unless
warranted by a legitimate excuse, there will be no extensions on the written assignments
and presentations in this course.
If you miss class or fail to turn something in on time without a legitimate excuse,
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 grade until you reach
an F, in which case you will receive a 0% on the assignment.
Communication:
Please use e-mail to communicate with me about minor questions and
administrative questions. Please use formal forms of address, salutations, and good-byes,
as well as proper spelling, grammar and punctuation, when writing e-mails to me. If you
wish to discuss readings and course topics, specific questions about your writing
assignments, your grades, etc., please avoid e-mail for these questions; instead, stop by
during office hours or make an appointment to see me.
Honor Code:
The Honor Code of the University of Mary Washington will be strictly enforced,
as explained in the Honor Constitution. If you have any questions about the code and its
enforcement, please do not hesitate to ask me. All violations of the Honor Code will be
immediately reported to the Honor Council.
In writing your papers, be sure to avoid plagiarism. If you take someone else’s
ideas or words and present them in an essay as your own (i.e., without proper
acknowledgement of the author), you will have committed plagiarism. If you are unsure
about what this means, please do not hesitate to ask me for further clarification.
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Americans with Disabilities Act:
If you have a disability and require academic accommodation, please contact the
Office of Disability Services (x1266). Upon obtaining an accommodation letter from this
office, please see me so that we can establish the proper academic accommodation for
you in this course. All information pertaining to your academic accommodation will be
kept in the strictest confidence.
Drop/Add:
Last day to add this class: January 19.
Last day to drop this class: February 2.
Additional Class Policies:
* All cell phones must be turned completely off during class.
* Use of laptop computers, recording machines, and other electronic equipment is not
allowed in this class.
* Out of respect for your peers and your instructor, arrive to class on time. Your final
participation grade will be lowered by a third of a letter grade for each time you fail to
arrive to class on time. You must attend the entire class time in order to receive credit for
participation for that day.
Course readings:
Required secondary sources available at the UMW bookstore:
Lipstadt, Deborah E. Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and
Memory. London: Penguin, 1994. ISBN 0140241574
Brent, Jonathan and Vladimir P. Naumov. Stalin’s Last Crime: The Plot Against the
Jewish Doctors, 1948-1953. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. ISBN
006019524X
Pipes, Daniel. The Hidden Hand: Middle East Fears of Conspiracy. New York: St.
Martin’s Griffin, 1998. ISBN: 0312176880
Knight, Peter. Conspiracy Culture: From the Kennedy Assassination to the X-Files.
London and New York: Routledge, 2000. ISBN: 0415189780
_____, ed. Conspiracy Nation: The Politics of Paranoia in Postwar America. New
York: New York University Press, 2002. ISBN 0814747361
Rödlach, Alexander. Witches, Westerners, and HIV: AIDS and Cultures of Blame in
Africa. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2006. ISBN 1598740342
West, Harry G. and Todd Sanders, eds. Transparency and Conspiracy: Ethnographies of
Suspicion in the New World Order. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003. ISBN
0822330245 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Other required secondary sources available on Blackboard:
Herman, Arthur. “The Huguenot Republic and Antirepublicanism in SeventeenthCentury France,” Journal of the History of Ideas 53, no. 2 (1992): 249-69.
Hofman, Amos. “Opinion, Illusion, and the Illusion of Opinion: Barruel’s Theory of
Conspiracy,” Eighteenth-Century Studies 27, no. 1 (Autumn, 1993): 27-60.
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Hofstadter, Richard. “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” in The Paranoid Style in
American Politics and Other Essays (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1964).
Ruotsila, Markku. “Mrs. Webster’s Religion: Conspiracist Extremism on the Christian
Far Right.” Patterns of Prejudice 38, no. 2 (2004): 109-126.
Tackett, Timothy. “Conspiracy Obsession in a Time of Revolution: French Elites and the
Origins of the Terror, 1789-1792,” American Historical Review 105, no. 3 (2000):
690-713.
White, Ed. “The Value of Conspiracy Theory,” American Literary History 14, no. 1
(2002): 1-31.
Required primary sources available at the UMW bookstore and on Blackboard:
Webster, Nesta. Secret Societies and Subversive Movements. Brooklyn, NY: A&B
Publishers Group, 2003. ISBN: 1881316882
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. (Blackboard)
Finding Aids and Other Resources:
* Peter Knight, Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia (REFB E
179 .C66 2003).
* James McConnachie and Robin Tudge, The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories (New
York: Penguin, 2005).
* Katie L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
(Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1996).
* A good dictionary of American English. I recommend Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary, especially those editions that contain the etymologies of words.
* A good grammar book. I recommend Patricia T. O’Conner, Woe is I: The
Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English (New York: Riverhead
Books, 2003).
Course schedule:
January 16: Introduction: Thinking historically about conspiracy theories
January 18:
Foundations of a Historical Paradigm
* Richard Hofstadter, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics”
(Blackboard)
The French Revolution: Crucible of Modern Conspiracy Theories
January 23:
* Herman, “The Huguenot Republic” (Blackboard)
* Amos Hofman, “Opinion, Illusion, and the Illusion of Opinion”
(Blackboard)
January 25:
* Timothy Tackett, “Conspiracy Obsession in a Time of Revolution”
(Blackboard)
* The Law of Suspects (Blackboard)
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* Robespierre, Report on the Principles (Blackboard)
* The Conspiracy of Equals (Blackboard)
Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial
January 30:
* Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust, 1-182.
February 1:
* Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust, 183-235.
February 6:
* Protocols of the Elders of Zion (Blackboard)
* Janusz Tazbir, “Conspiracy Theories and the Reception of the Protocols
of the Elders of Zion in Poland” (Blackboard)
* Jeffrey Herf, “The ‘Jewish War’: Goebbels and the Antisemitic
Campaigns of the Nazi Propaganda Ministry” (Blackboard)
Conspiracy Theories and Stalinist Political Culture
February 8:
* Sheila Fitzpatrick, “A Time of Troubles” (Blackboard)
* Gábor Rittersporn, “The Omnipresent Conspiracy: On Soviet Imagery of
Politics and Social Relations in the 1930s” (Blackboard)
February 13: * Brent and Naumov, Stalin’s Last Crime, 1-234.
February 15: * Brent and Naumov, Stalin’s Last Crime, 235-336.
Constructing and Deconstructing Conspiracy Theories
February 20: * Ruotsila, “Mrs. Webster’s Religion: Conspiracist Extremism on the
Christian Far Right” (Blackboard)
* Webster, Secret Societies
* Paper proposal presentations (4)
February 22: * Webster, Secret Societies
* Paper proposal presentations (4)
February 27: * Webster, Secret Societies
* Paper proposal presentations (4)
March 1:
* Webster, Secret Societies
* Paper proposal presentations (3)
Spring Break: March 2 – March 11
Conspiracy Theories in the Middle East
March 13:
* Pipes, The Hidden Hand, 1-286.
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March 15:
* Pipes, The Hidden Hand, 287-389.
Conspiracy Theories in American History and Culture
March 20:
* Knight, Conspiracy Culture, 1-75.
* White, “The Value of Conspiracy Theory” (Blackboard)
March 22:
* Knight, Conspiracy Culture, 76-142.
March 27:
* Knight, Conspiracy Culture, 143-244.
March 29:
* Knight, Conspiracy Nation, 1-81.
April 3:
* Knight, Conspiracy Nation, 85-201.
April 5:
* Knight, Conspiracy Nation, 205-273.
Film screening: The Manchurian Candidate (1962) (Place/time TBA)
The Postcolonial Encounter and Conspiracy Theories about AIDS
April 10:
* Rödlach, Witches, Westerners, and HIV (Introduction; parts I and II)
April 12:
* Rödlach, Witches, Westerners, and HIV (parts III and IV; conclusions)
Conspiracy Theories: A Language of Explanation for an Age of Globalization
April 17:
* West and Sanders, Transparency and Conspiracy, 1-124.
* Research paper presentations (3)
April 19:
* West and Sanders, Transparency and Conspiracy, 125-174.
* Research paper presentations (4)
April 24:
* West and Sanders, Transparency and Conspiracy, 175-257.
* Research paper presentations (4)
April 26:
* West and Sanders, Transparency and Conspiracy, 258-299.
* Research paper presentations (4)
May 1:
Deadline for final papers, 12pm
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