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Critical Thinking: Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends, and Moral Panics

If you’re teaching critical thinking and looking for timely and engaging material, why not try a conspiracy theory?

Introduction

This guide, like Gaul, is divided into three parts.

Part one is a collection of material like articles, podcasts, videos, and so on about conspiracy theories, moral panics, and urban legends.

Part two contains directions for finding books, journal articles, and videos available through the library.

Part three is material derived from a 2018 presentation about fake news.

The terms "conspiracy theory", "urban legend", and "moral panic" are not used derisively or dismissively by the author of this guide although those attitudes are exhibited by some of the authors or creators represented here.  The materials were gathered with an eye to what might be acceptable in the classroom as starting points for more research and discussion.