Conspiracy Pedagogies: QAnon, Social Media, and the Teaching of Far-Right Extremism

Social media apps on an iPhone.
Seed Grant Semester Awarded
Fall
Seed Grant Award Year
2020

This project explores the emergence and “conspiratorial pedagogies” of QAnon, a right-wing conspiracy theory and social, political and cultural movement that has infiltrated mainstream politics. This project seeks to understand how QAnon’s growing presence is historically rooted in prior racist and antisemitic conspiracies; how QAnon’s conspiratorial style normalizes and mobilizes white supremacist ideals; how QAnon’s post-truth stance challenges possibilities for critical dialogue; how QAnon’s embrace of right-wing extremist ideologies have impeded movements for justice and threatened democratic ways of life; and how we can learn from journalists and podcasters to create public education about QAnon for audiences beyond the academy.

Principal Investigator(s)

Jennifer Sandlin | Professor, School of Social Transformation