Students will also write a 5-8 page faux research paper detailing their invented

Students will also write a 5-8 page faux research paper detailing their invented
theory and the “evidence” behind it, which will be due in the beginning of class.
Students will not create the evidence, but will look at existing facts and give new
meaning to those facts. Students’ invented conspiracy theory will explain some
heretofore hidden narrative behind a recent event and will incorporate the various
common themes among conspiracies studied in the class, in terms of, for example, what
evidence is used, how the evidence is interpreted, how the argument is created, how
counter-arguments are dismissed, etc. Students will be graded on their theory’s
creativity, how closely it mirrors elements and aesthetics common to the conspiracy
theory genre we explore throughout the class, and the degree to which “evidence” was
drawn from a wide variety of sources. These invented conspiracies must be original, but
unlike many conspiracy theories, these invented conspiracies cannot involve any
offensive racial, ethnic, or religious stereotypes.