HCOL 1000D: Misinformation and the Culture Wars - Castro (Fall 2023)

For the topic you've chosen, you will need to answer the following questions:

• What is the misinformation frame / narrative?
• How did/has/does the misinformation around this topic spread? 
• Which individuals or communities are most prone to believing the misinformation?
• What culture war issue(s) were/are/have been most affected by it?
• What is the current state of this nexus between misinformation and the culture wars?

This guide was put together to help you answer the questions above.  It will help you:

1) Identify sources that examine the misinformation topic you've chose (secondary sources).  Examples might be an article from Newsweek covering the myths associated with climate change or a newspaper story describing misleading information circulating about the opioid crisis.  These secondary sources discuss misinformation.  They are not the sources of misinformation themselves.

2) Identify sources where misinformation on your topic is spread (primary sources).  Examples might include message boards, web forums, or unreliable websites.  A disclaimer, some of these sources can include deeply problematic and objectionable material.  They are linked here for you to explore how the discourse is being shaped and misinformation is being spread.