0 or 3 credits
Fall 2025 Lecture Lower Division
This course examines why the ancient past inspires so many theories about aliens, dark conspiracies, lost civilizations, and apocalyptic predictions. Topics include the popularity of pseudoscientific theories in American culture and the historical contexts in which common pseudoscientific ideas have emerged; why they persist in the face of archaeological evidence; and the role of pseudo-archaeology in the growing antagonism toward scientific expertise. Through an understanding of datasets and methods archaeologists use to evaluate claims about the past, the course goes beyond debunking ancient aliens and Atlantis to develop important critical thinking skills to evaluate evidence and recognize pseudo-scientific arguments in the media.
Learning Outcomes1Evaluate the difference between a scientific and a pseudoscientific claim about the human past.
2Explain the techniques and scientific methods archaeologists use for evaluating hypotheses or claims about the past.
3Examine the role and popularity of pseudoscientific theories in American culture and the historical contexts in which popular pseudoscientific ideas have emerged.
4Articulate how seemingly harmless fringe theories are entangled with larger narratives of cultural memory and erasure among past societies and their descendants.
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