Conspiracy theories are everywhere, all over the world; and they have been for as long as civilization has existed. In recent years, they have been especially relevant due to the outbreak of theories about the COVID-19 virus and the more recent theories relating to the rapidly nearing election.
At Poly, the middle school offers a wide range of electives for students to choose from. Some are classes that have been taught many years over, while others have been introduced into the curriculum much more recently. But this year, the eighth grade has a brand-new elective: Conspiracy theories. This elective was designed and taught by Middle School Librarian Samantha Owen. Her idea for the class stemmed from a personal interest in digital misinformation, which is especially relevant in an age where social media is ubiquitous. Owen explained, “The spread of false information in online spaces has had a profound impact on our everyday lives, and it’s getting more and more difficult to discern fact from false information.”
The class explores everything from major conspiracies, such as the theory that the moon landing was staged or that Princess Diana’s death was planned by the royal family, to discussions about claims made by businessman Elon Musk and former president Donald Trump. However, the goal of the class is certainly not to encourage students to believe in conspiracy theories but rather to examine how they originate and spread, their history, and why they can be harmful. Owen shared, “It’s important to interrogate where they come from and why they spread. Some of these conspiracy theories seem ridiculous, but there are very real human motives behind believing in them.”
A student who is enrolled in this elective this semester, Molly Speaker ’29, says, “Learning about different conspiracy theories that people have can be weird, but it’s also fascinating to hear why a person may think that the moon landing is fake or why someone may think aliens are real.” Many may be under the impression that conspiracy theories are silly ideas and that only crazy people pay attention to them. The truth is, there are also a great deal of people who sincerely believe in conspiracy theories. However, no one develops opinions without having some kind of logic. Perhaps conspiracies are just a tool to help understand the world for some, or something that offers an explanation for a certain event, or something to turn to in a time of political unease.
The students of Conspiracy Theories, as Speaker noted, have learned the reasoning behind such theories. Baxton Ling ’29 is also a part of the conspiracies elective and remarked that the class is “teaching you something maybe you don’t really think about a lot.” Both Ling and Speaker have commented that many of the ideas that they have investigated in the class are new to them. Due to the fact that conspiracies are a somewhat more unconventional topic in school, the class assists in developing new skills and critical thinking.
The conspiracy elective is filled with engaging activities that are both fun and beneficial to Owen’s teaching. Several students in the class discussed the projects when asked about a point of enjoyment in the class. The biggest project so far, requiring several classes to complete and plenty of creative thinking, involved constructing a Sherlock Holmes-style conspiracy board with a partner. The board consisted of made-up conspiracies created out of magazines.
Many activities are completed in class or for the occasional homework assignment, such as ‘The Bad News Game,’ an online game where you learn how to spread disinformation to try to gain followers. These are enjoyable while also helping students understand the wide range of conspiracy theories they explore, both famous and obscure. Students are also able to learn about their places of origin, many of which were not what was expected from the class.
For example, think about the well-known (but untrue) conspiracy that the ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Asian pyramids were actually built by aliens. Believers of this theory claim that the ancient pyramids in these places were built by aliens because humans at the time were not technologically advanced enough to build such structures. The origin of this conspiracy is rooted in racist beliefs: that the civilizations that built the pyramids did not have the capacity to erect them because they mainly comprised of people of color.
Owen has revealed to her class the shocking histories of other conspiracies, too—with many more in store for the rest of the semester, giving all the more reason to question whether a simple, seemingly harmless comment heard or seen can be passed off as a joke, or if there is another meaning behind it.
While knowing about conspiracy theories may not seem as “useful” for the future the typical way the word is usually thought of in school—skills like writing, math, research, or history—it is a topic that has become increasingly important to understand in the present day. Owens is looking forward to continuing the class, adding that “it’s a work in progress that will be continually shaped by both the students to take the course and current events around each semester.”
