HIST 1411

Last Updated

  • Schedule of Classes - September 10, 2024 10:17AM EDT
  • Course Catalog - September 10, 2024 9:48AM EDT
Global toggle of class tabs

Links for textbooks and Cornell Store open in new tab.

HIST 1411
FWS: Facts, Frauds, and Rumors: (Un)Truth in Western History

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2024-2025. Courses of Study 2024-2025 is scheduled to publish mid-June.

Societies reveal much about themselves in how they define and distinguish truth and untruth. This course examines the history of facts, frauds, and gossip in the West, from the late medieval period to present. We will focus on five historical episodes in the making and unmaking of truth: the medieval inquisition; the first early modern scientific laboratories; the "Feejee Mermaid" and other playful frauds of P.T. Barnum's American Museum; early 20th-century newsrooms, advertising and propaganda agencies; and the 21st-century Internet. We will write, workshop, and revise reflective, comparative, and persuasive essays on these episodes, while gaining a better understanding of how such modern concepts as objectivity, reliability, and deception have developed.

When Offered Fall.

Satisfies Requirement First-Year Writing Seminar.

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 20195 HIST 1411   SEM 101

  •  
    • TR
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024

    • Clark, J

  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://knight.as.cornell.edu/.