DETECTING BULLS***

The combination of free speech and the internet makes the global transmission of ideas nearly instantaneous. This provides wonderful opportunities for important advocacy, but also makes it easier to disperse fake news and other BS wildly and widely. Unfortunately, research shows that falsehoods spread more quickly than the truth. Effective advocates must learn to protect themselves and their constituents. Developing the critical thinking skills to recognize and understand BS, and the advocacy skills required to explain it to people ranging from family to experts within a field, is essential to an advocate. This growing field, often referenced as bulls*** studies, analyzes the phenomenon’s causes, trends, and implications. It provides advocates with tools for identifying falsehoods and fallacies, helping advocates spot problems in advertisements, fake news, political claims, big data, academic journals, and other contexts. Finally, the course provides guidance on how to call BS ethically and effectively, especially given the tendency of people to cling to falsehood even more tightly once it is identified. The course includes numerous case studies and culminates in a significant paper in which students identify, explain and refute bunk from a contemporary example. Course assignments provide artifacts for enhancements of the student’s e-portfolio.