True or False: Contagious Hysteria, Mass Deceptions, Conspiracy Theories, and Confidence Games
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact.
Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
Marcus Aurelius
HCOL 40000-665
Fall 2025
Honors Colloquium
Sadler 217
Tuesdays, 4-6:40 PM
Dan Williams, PhD
Director of TCU Press and TCU Honors Professor of Humanities
Office[s]: TCU Press (3000 Sandage), Sadler 427
Office Hours: Thursday and Friday, 8 AM-noon, at TCU Press, and by appointment (in person or virtual)
817-257-5907 office
Emails are usually the best way to reach me, and all emails from students are usually answered the same day. For appointments, please email before our meeting to be sure where I will be.
Final Exercise:
Our final exercise will take place on Tuesday, December 9, from 2 to 4:30 PM.
I will email you this syllabus before our first meeting and as well upload it and other courses materials to our D2L site. I will also post grading points on D2L.
Student resources, policies, and information can be located at: https://cte.tcu.edu/tcu-syllabus-policies/
Course Description:
True or False is a discussion-based Honors colloquium that examines a variety of deceptive truth claims. In the context of a world dominated by digital realities and “alternate facts,” this course investigates historical and contemporary occurrences when multitudes of people were misled. After an initial discussion of current scams and swindles, such as phishing and catfishing, the course will proceed loosely chronologically to consider the Salem Witch hysteria, when nineteen people were executed and hundreds more accused of witchcraft, the mid-nineteenth century Millerite Movement, when several thousand people converged on a hilltop in Kansas to await the end of the world, the White Slave Trade hysteria of the early 1900s, when thousands of people across the US were in panic believing that young white girls were being kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery, three of the world’s greatest con men (Victor Lustig who twice sold the Eiffel Tower, Charles S. Parker who sold the Brooklyn Bridge numerous times, and Charles Ponzi, who originated the Ponzi Scheme), religious cults such as the Branch Davidians in Waco and Heaven’s Gate, and conclude with current hoaxes and conspiracy theories. Throughout the course, the manipulation of belief will be examined. Readings will kept short to allow students to research course topics for themselves by examining a variety of books, online sources, films, and videos.
Prerequisite & Concurrent enrollment:
You must be enrolled in the Honors College to take this colloquium.
Recommended Print Sources:
Catch Me If You Can, The True Story of a Real Fake, Frank Abagnale, Crown, 2002
The Confidence Man in American Literature, Gary Lindberg, Oxford University Press, 1982
Cults: Inside the World’s Most Notorious Groups, Max Cutler, Gallery Books, 2022
The Death of Expertise, Tom Nichols, Oxford University Press, 2024
The Death of Truth, Steven Brill, Knopf, 2024
The Delusions of Crowds, William J. Bernstein, 2024
Fighting the Traffic in Young Girls: The War on the White Slave Trade, Ernest A. Bell, 1910
The Greatest Hoax on Earth: Catching Truth, While We Can, Alan Logan, 2021
History’s Greatest Deceptions, Steven Lazaroff and Mark Rodger, 2018
The Salem Witch Hunt, Richard Godbeer, Bedford St. Martins, 2017
Films:
The Music Man, 1962
**The Flimflam Man, 1967
**Paper Moon, 1973
The Sting, 1973
Trading Places, 1983
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, 1988
The Grifters, 1990
The Usual Suspects, 1995
The Spanish Prisoner, 1998
The Talented Mr. Ripley, 1999
Heartbreakers, 2001
Catch Me If You Can, 2002
The Italian Job, 2003
Matchstick Men, 2003
Confidence, 2003
Futurama: Bender’s Big Score, 2007
Catfish, 2010
American Hustle, 2013
The Wolf of Wall Street, 2013
Now You See Me, 2013
The Inventor, 2019 (Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos)
**popular older films but highly recommended
Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok)
Teaching Philosophy:
I value all perspectives, and I do not believe there are dumb questions or right or wrong answers. I teach through discussion, so I do not lecture or test for short-term memorization. I will introduce subjects, concepts, contexts, and situations, and I will do my best to engage you in critical discussions. My aim is not to train you to think like me—but to motivate you to think for yourselves. Learning is a process of self-discovery, and you learn best when you are active and interested. Every course I teach is partnership, and I ask students to actively contribute to its success. My goal is always to help students develop their intellectual expertise and their own critical perspectives.
True or False Learning Outcomes:
1. A general familiarity with truth theories and current global and national issues concerning the validity of truth statements and the manipulation of belief.
2. An understanding of confirmation bias
3. An overview of current deep fake practices
4. A general familiarity with the historical development of the Salem Witch Hunt
5. A general familiarity with historical mass delusions, particularly the Millerite Movement and the White Slavery Panic
6. A general familiarity with historical con games and confidence men
7. A general familiarity with current online practices of fraud, imposture, and deception.
8. A general familiarity with depictions of fraud and deception in popular media (film, television, and social media)
Honors Colloquia Outcomes:
1. Students will integrate knowledge across different modes or domains,
2. Students will develop informed, course-related perspectives grounded in their identities, values, and academic learning.
Course Requirements:
1) Attendance and Participation. Discussion and participation are essential requirements of this colloquium. Students are required to take an active part in the colloquium and to contribute to its success. In every class we will discuss the assigned readings or videos and related issues, and in nearly every class there will be some sort of in-class activity (brief writing assignments, group work, assigned research and discussions). Anyone absent will not receive credit for these activities. Missing more than three classes during the term will result in a class drop or failure.
2) Familiarity with the Texts and videos. A knowledge of the assigned texts and videos are crucial and expected. Please read, view, and review. I will not assign excessive amounts of reading or research, and I will expect a familiarity with the assignments for every class. While I will not quiz on content, I will expect that you demonstrate familiarity with our course subjects and discussions, and I will weekly assign participation points to those who demonstrated such familiarity. There are three ways you can do this: speaking up during class discussions, writing about content and your reactions in your blog entries, or talking with me during my office hours (in person or virtual).
3) Learning Journals. Throughout the semester you are required to keep an online journal (a blog) and post a minimum of ten entries—five before Fall Break, and five before Finals. In these entries you are asked to comment specifically on your learning experiences—particularly about what you’ve read or researched in this course, and what you learned from our class discussions, but also more generally about all your learning experiences (both inside and outside of classrooms). In response to our assigned readings and discussions, please describe what you found interesting, useful, and/or relevant in your learning experiences. You are also welcome to comment on what you did not find to be interesting, useful, and/or relevant. What you write is up to you, but I ask is that you honestly reflect on your learning experiences and assess the value of these experiences in terms of your own life. Entries should be a minimum of around 250 words in length.
Where you keep your journal is up to you, but I strongly recommend that you use
Google’s Blogger. It is one of the oldest blogger platforms, but it is by far the easiest. There is no learning curve. I will create a central course website using Blogger, and I will use it for course content and to link your individual blogs.
My primary interest is having you keep a record of your learning experiences. I encourage you to reflect on the relevance of these experiences.
Anyone who waits until the week before midterms or finals to post 2 or more journal entries will receive half credit for those entries. Keeping your learning journal is an exercise in self-reflection as you learn and should not be reduced to an academic “homework” assignment that can completed simply to complete the assignment.
4) In-class Research Presentations. Student research is a primary course emphasis, and the presentations will be scored according to the range and depth of student work.
Throughout the semester students will take part in three presentations. 1) Topics Research, 2) Popular Media, and 3) Campus Surveys. Students will work in teams of 3 for each of these three assignments.
For the topics research, students will present their research on one of the course’s primary subject areas (truth theories and definitions, current online scamming practices, the Salem Witch Hysteria, the Millerite Movement, The White Slavery Panic, Waco, historical hoaxes, historical tricksters and swindlers). They will locate and present relevant information concerning their subject areas, such as an overview of historical events and/or episodes, the social and cultural causes, the motivations of the people involved, and the consequences and repercussions of the events and/or episodes (plus any fun facts they discovered). In addition to informing the class concerning what happened and who was involved, teams must try to explain relevance of their topics—why is it important to know about this subject?
For the popular media presentations, students will present their research on popular media depictions of con men, scam artists, trickers, scoundrels, and swindlers primarily in film (see above list of films) but also in social media (such as Tik Tok and YouTube). Teams will preview, introduce, present, and discuss the depictions con men, scam artists, trickers, and swindlers in film and social media, noting how their depictions reveal them as heroes, antiheroes, or just plain scoundrels. Each team will preview its film or social media site in advance, choose up to 15-20 minutes of video clips, and then prepare brief introductions for each of the sequences they’ve chosen. The primary focus of their introductions and discussions should demonstrate how con men, tricksters, and swindlers have been marketed for popular audiences and as well how these depictions compare to the historical representations. Teams may also offer critical assessments on their media’s overall quality, representations, techniques, and relevance, and for films th teams can conclude with rotten tomatoes assessments.
For the Campus surveys, students will prepare a questionnaire and interview other students, faculty, and staff concerning current fraudulent practices on campus and/or concerns about truth-telling. The specific survey questions will be developed collaboratively in class, but the basic ideas are to discover what others on campus know about, have observed, or have experienced concerning fraudulent and/or deceptive practices (online, in person, or in the classroom). In a world where it is difficult to discern the difference between true and untrue, the surveys should ultimately assess whether or not fraudulent, deceptive practices are common at TCU and how concerned are people around campus with truth-telling difficulties.
All three presentations should be interactive and should engage the class in discussions.
5) Final Class Assignment: What Have I learned Videos. For the final course assignment, (still) teams of 3 students will be required to create and present a brief video (8-10 minutes max) that offers a concluding reflection of the team’s thoughts, observations, and experiences throughout the semester. There is no specific format or formula, but teams are asked to reflect on what they experienced as learners that was relevant. These videos should be engaging and creative. Ultimately, each team must create a video responding to one overall question: What are you going to take away from this course? What are your actual outcomes compared to the course outcomes?
These videos will be shown on our designated final exam slot during finals week, Tuesday, December 9, from 2 to 4:30 PM.
6) Never Use the Non-Word “Very.” Throughout the semester, students are asked to exclude the non-word “very” in all class writing. It is used so frequently that it has become meaningless. English has a rich vocabulary, and there are far stronger words to intensify thoughts and feelings. People who frequently use it demonstrate a lack of vocabulary. There will not be points taken away for its use, but there will be 3 extra credit points for any student who never used the non-word in their writing.
Course Assignments and Final Grade:
Attendance and Participation 20%
Learning Journals 30%
Research/ Review Presentations 30%
Final Presentations 20%
Eradicating the Non-Word Very 3 points extra credit
Grading Scale:
A 94-100
A- 90-93
B+ 86-89
B 81-85
B- 78-80
C+ 75-77
C 73-74
C- 70-72
D+ 67-69
D 64-66
D- 60-63
Course Schedule:
August 19: introduction, truth concepts, confirmation bias, and alternate facts
https://www.britannica.com/topic/truth-philosophy-and-logic
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201808/what-is-truth
“Six Times Seven Is Not Forty-One,” The Death of Truth (2024) 9-page handout
August 26: catfishing, phishing, spear phishing, and deep fakes
https://www.phishing.org/what-is-phishing
https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams
https://us.norton.com/blog/online-scams/what-is-catfishing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuufkPTFt0E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7akzhpx0EIU
https://www.spokeo.com/compass/what-you-need-to-know-about-catphishing/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at53zE5zOH4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H_7sP-yaZc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcpV857mMCI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY5suVb0BSI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etSfYERBK28
September 2: Salem Witch Hysteria
https://www.history.com/articles/salem-witch-trials
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Sv93yRPQSs
September 9: Salem Witch Hysteria
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3h6pyWrOq4
September 16: The Millerite Movement
https://www.thoughtco.com/millerites-definition-1773334
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millerism
https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/william-miller-convinced-thousands-millerites-world-end/
September 23: The Millerite Movement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXzKNeosMvU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcnJMGOPbi8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90mZj5YdRyc
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SiP_rIdUJ-E
September 30: The White Slave Trade
Traffic in Souls, 1913 film
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_slavery
https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/unforgivable-blackness/mann-act
https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/united-states-and-canada/us-history/white-slave-traffic-act
October 7: The White Slave Trade
https://www.npr.org/2008/03/11/88104308/the-long-colorful-history-of-the-mann-act
https://reason.com/2008/03/13/the-white-slavery-panic/
October 14: Cults, Waco
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Branch-Davidian
https://allthatsinteresting.com/branch-davidians
October 21: Cults, Waco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhKmRtBfxjo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GJhsnxcsrY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3B7iWE1PrA
October 28: Historical Hoaxes and Frauds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUuo4M2aLwE
https://allthatsinteresting.com/con-artists
https://moneyinc.com/the-20-most-notorious-con-artists-of-all-time/
November 4: Conspiracy Theories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW5VGdL4brQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW5VGdL4brQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCQx2hlEPEc
November 11: Tricksters, and Swindlers (Lustig, Parker,)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe2iQ1f-IYE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-MT7ClmvlM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywMqxYwHfqY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l-fJmJrq_0
November 18: Tricksters, and Swindlers (Ponzi, Abagnale)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIYtKR24LQs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UmcxQto7UU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4waqVKanxA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgDQG-ZKRFg
November 25: Truth and Falsehood in Social Media
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7VtVy0WJ8k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EFHbruKEmw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n94qNB9V5ZA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN8alp5-C7U
December 2: TCU Today
Presentation of campus surveys
December 9, Final Evaluative Exercise:
“What We Learned” videos
Central Course Blog site: https://trueorfalsefall2025.blogspot.com/
Technology Policies:
Laptops and iPads are welcome in class, but I ask you not to use cell phones for anything during class time.
Writing and the Use of AI-Generated Writing:
Writing is an extremely important requirement in our course. I consider writing to be an act of discovery and a significant learning tool. You learn about your subjects, your thoughts, and ultimately yourself by writing.
Use of Chat GPT and other AI platforms are neither forbidden nor required. If you use it, I require that you cite its use as a source the same way you cite other sources used in your research and writing. Unacknowledged use of AI-generated text may be academic misconduct and/or a violation of professional ethics.
Keeping a personal blog tracking your learning experiences is your most important assignment in this course, and I expect you describe your personal thoughts, observations, and reactions to our course content and discussion. Chat GPT cannot do this for you. Your course blog is not academic discourse that you need to stress over. Your blog entries should more resemble a personal letter rather than a formal essay. I challenge you to develop your critical perspectives and to be ambitious about your writing, but my primary challenge is for you to honestly reflect on your learning experiences.
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