TCNJ

25 WINTER 2024 H oodies up, "students" slink across the TCNJ campus to Forcina Hall, and when no one is looking, duck into a utility closet that doubles as a secret portal to a laboratory deep underground. There, a shape-shifting alien reptile known aboveground as "Tom Arndt" injects microchips into their bloodstreams to program them for their next mission: working as crisis actors in a staged catastrophe that will dominate American politics for as many news cycles as possible. Yeah, none of that is actually happening. But in case anyone feels inclined to take those assertions as fact: Well, OK, there is a Tom Arndt, but he's a genial adjunct professor of political science without any outward sign of space lizard in his genes. His course, "Conspiracy Theory in American Culture and Politics," does meet in Forcina, though in a second- floor classroom. And its aim is to get to the root of conspiracy theories, not to serve as the basis for one. "One thing that motivates me is I'm very anti-conspiratorial," says Arndt. "I don't believe any conspiracy theories, and actually find them very toxic, very corrosive, and damaging." Arndt is one of two TCNJ instructors who teach classes that examine the phenomenon of conspiracy theories: how they originate, spread, and destabilize not only your Thanksgiving dinners but, increasingly, America's civic life. He meets the topic head-on, deconstructing numerous narratives around historic events, including what he calls "the big three" of the last 70 years: the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy; the alleged fakery of the Apollo moon landings; and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on American soil. "I've identified at least 18 specific story lines that speak to what allegedly happened on 9/11," says Arndt. Among them: an easily refuted claim that BBC News "reported" the collapse of 7 World Trade Center before it happened, used to bolster another conspiracy theory claiming that a "controlled demolition" was orchestrated by any number of shady actors. In nearby Kendall Hall, communication studies professor Paul D'Angelo takes a different approach, providing students with a framework for navigating the intersection of politics, traditional journalism, and social media in a class titled "News in Our Lives Today." In trying to determine where a report falls on the continuum from truth to lies and propaganda, look for intent, D'Angelo tells students. Does the author attempt to verify information with named sources? Appear willing to debunk false information? Or is he or she out to "construct a worldview impervious to validation"? Historically, false and often bizarre narratives aren't a new development in America or elsewhere, say both professors.

• Cover