INQ-300 | Pseudoscience in the Real World

Full Title: Pseudoscience in the Real World

Topic Description:

What distinguishes a true science from a pseudosicnece? How do pseudoscientific claims negatively impact individuals and society, and how can such impacts be minimized? Many of the claims made in advertisements, news articles, and our social media feeds sound plausible, intuitive, and even scientific, but how do we distinguish claims that are sound from those that are not, and what harms can come from being unable to make these distinctions? In this course, students will enhance their skills in distinguishing scientific from psuedoscientific claims, investigate a particular pseudoscientific claim in depth, and present critical evidence regardling the veracity and consequences of that clain, and propose a solution to ameliorate its harms. Topics covered in this class may include alternative medicine, cryptozoology, ufology (the study of UFOs), psychics and mediums, ghost-hunting, vaccination, (modern) flat Earth theory, polygraphs (lie detectors), and others.

Counts as Global? No

Topic Approved: November 2015