Ramona Naddaff, Anooj Kansara & Jeehyun Choi
What are the cultural forms that have sprouted up to describe life in this “post post-truth” age? In this course, we will study instances in the recent past and present when lies, dissimulation, disinformation, and deceit have lost their privileged place. Our exploration of theories and movements that seek to end lying’s reign of terror and to create new representations of the world is structured around a series of case studies, including Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, and the dangers posed by Internet-based disinformation.
This is both a reading-intensive and writing-intensive course, designed to teach students how to write clear, critical, and persuasive prose across a broad range of genres.