“This is the age of conspiracy… the age of connections, links, secret relationships.” - Don DeLillo, 1978.
This class will look at the history of conspiracy theories in American media and culture from the 50s and 60s (UFOs, the red scare, JFK’s assassination) to the 21st century (9/11 truthers, Covid conspiracies, QAnon) with particular attention to cinematic representation. What is the lure of conspiracy theories? Are there particular reasons that conspiracy theories thrive in American culture? Do different media forms and platforms encourage the spread, and even affect the content, of conspiracies? What is the difference between theory in the social sciences and humanities and conspiracy theory? We will read a range of theoretical material including writings by Richard Hofstadter, Fredric Jameson, Jean Baudrillard, Eve Sedgwick, Sianne Ngai, and many others. Films will include: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Parallax View, Videodrome, The Matrix, Get Out, and others.