Cults/ Detecting Lies/ (Mis/Dis/Mal)Information
Overview
Cult Rhetorics
Cult Rhetorics investigates the language and strategies used to create, sustain, and manipulate group dynamics within cult-like structures. By analyzing how rhetoric is employed to establish authority, reinforce social norms, and control narratives, this module reveals the psychological and social mechanisms behind cult operations. Students will explore the impact of persuasion, collective memory, and pseudo-historical narratives on individual and group behavior. Through critical analysis, this module equips learners with tools to recognize manipulative rhetoric and to understand the broader societal implications of cult-like dynamics in both historical and modern contexts.
Lies and Disinformation
Lies and Disinformation examine how false narratives are constructed and propagated to influence public perception, reinforce biases, and distort historical and social truths. This module emphasizes the role of rhetoric in spreading disinformation, malinformation, and misinformation, while also exploring the ethical and societal consequences of these practices. By analyzing the intersection of cognitive dissonance, media literacy, and historical memory, students will gain insights into how lies shape collective understanding and perpetuate power imbalances. This module challenges students to critically evaluate information, recognize rhetorical manipulation, and advocate for truth and accountability in communication.
Personal Quote: You must run away if a leader is okay with the harm and oppression of others; you will be next. Everyone is okay with oppression until it happens to them.
Note: You MUST include the following information for ALL of your sources: The Author; The Title; and the Year the article was published.
Not having these will resort in a ZERO
Research These
- Doomerism– The end of times are near
- Salem Witch Trials
- Tituba
- Immigration Myths
- Japanese Concentration Camps in America
- Santee Sioux Mass Execution by Abraham Lincoln
- Thought Terminating Cliche
- Us-vs-Them Thinking
- Repetition of Talking Points
- Fear-Based Persuasion
- Spiritual Psychosis
- Logical Fallacies
- Page Act of 1875
- People vs Hall
- United States vs Wong Kim Ark
- Haitian Revolution and the mistreatment of Haiti from other countries
- White Citizens’ Council
- Confessional Rhetorics of Disability in the Church
- Native American Assimilation Schools
- Hernandez v. Texas
- Mendez v. Westminster
- Group Think
- Gender Hierarchies
- Public Executions and Lynching
- Disinformation, Malinformation, and Misinformation
- Each States Reasons for Secession
- Social Norms
- Mores vs Folkways
- Cognitive Dissonance
- Psuedo-Science
- Historical Memory
- Collective Memory
- Social Memory
- Public Memory
- Pseudo History
- Pseudo-Historical Narratives
- Media Literacy
- How do cults operate?
- What happens if someone else tells your story?
- Skim Through– Immigration Myths
Read all of the Following
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
https://www.history.com/news/henry-viii-wives
AMERICAN CASTE: A SECRET HISTORY
https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mqr/2022/11/american-caste-a-secret-history/
Master List of Logical Fallacies: https://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/ENGL1311/fallacies.htm
The Declaration of Causes of Seceding States: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/declaration-causes-seceding-states
Jordan Wiggins 