(A) You are to find information that supports the stated issue, belief, position or controversy. This will be fairly easy, and you may use books, articles, or web sites.
NOTE: The source must actually support the issue, belief, position or controversy. For example, if you select "The CIA/FBI killed JFK," the source must actually show evidence to support that position.

(B) The bulk of your paper should provide information evaluating the credentials of the person promoting the particular conspiracy theory, as well as an evaluation of the source of THAT information.

Here's an example:
1. Joe Smith has appeared on numerous radio and television programs promoting the idea that following World War II the Nazis established a secret base in the Antarctic.
2. What do Joe and his followers believe, and why? What is their evidence?
3. A discussion of Joe's credentials.
4. What do mainstream media say about Joe and his theory?
5. Provide a discussion of the credentials of the people/book/web site criticizing Joe's credentials.

(C) Be prepared to discuss the belief in class. Part of your grade will be determined by discussions of your project.

The paper is to be typed, double spaced, in 10 or 12 point Times New Roman or similar font. Use approximately 1 inch margins. Spelling and grammar, of course, count.

Some of these issues may not be familiar to you, so I will briefly describe them in class.

Vaccines cause autism
Fluoridation of water is part of a conspiracy
Predictive programming and false flag operations
DTV is watching us
Disease creation
What is really going on at Denver Airport?
Area 51 and Roswell
The CIA/FBI/Mob killed JFK
Black helicopters are watching us
The Bilderburgers are running the world
The Trilateral Commission is running the world
The Council on Foreign Relations is running the world
The Freemason's are running the world
The Jesuit's are running the world
The Holocaust never happened
The moon landings never happened
The New World Order (not Hulk Hogan) is taking over the world
Tracking devices in our money
The Bush administration carried out the WTC bombing
USAF's Project Aurora
Backward masking works (drugs and the occult)
Subliminal messages (mind control, not self-help tapes)
Skull and Bones members are running the world
FEMA is ready to take over the government
Proctor & Gamble's moon and stars logo is satanic
RFID chips are a government plot
The Chief Seattle statement
The government has concentration camps set up for dissidents

Go to this site for or a more complete list

The paper should be organized as follows:
1 page - Describe the controversy/issue/belief
2-4 pages - What are the arguments supporting the controversy?
3-5 pages - What are the credentials of the sources you used? This is the heart of the paper. It's easy to find someone who believes these ideas. But if they are promoting them to the public, what are their credentials, areas of expertise, etc.?
1-2 pages - Rebuttal information and sources

As you probably already know, the Internet is a fertile breeding ground for conspiracy theories. But how accurate is the stuff you find there? Fortunately, there are still some reliable sources of information: refereed professional journals, major news sources, etc. Therefore you must include in your paper at least two of the following sources:
The New York Times
The Washington Post
Wall Street Journal
Time
Newsweek
U.S. News and World Report
ABC
CBS
NBC
CNN
NPR
Books that have been favorably reviewed by any of the above sources