12L/8T/12P
What role does social media play in the spread of historical falsehoods? Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube are relatively new, but the hidden power structures that shape their content are not. This course explores the relationship between social media platforms and history in two ways. First, class discussions, workshops, and guest lectures introduce students to overlooked histories of social media itself, including the rise of the early internet and its roots in histories of race, LGBTQ+ expression, sex work, and capitalism. Second, we explore how and why social media platforms promote the spread of historical misinformation, while censoring or burying accurate and important historical content. Our course focuses on the big histories behind algorithms while offering students hands-on experience building original, critical historical content for social media. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.