[CogSci] Call for Submissions: Conspiracy Con - An Interdisciplinary Conference on Conspiracy Theories

Emily Sumner sumnere at uci.edu
Fri Jan 10 15:50:29 PST 2020


Please circulate the following invitation for submissions to your graduate
students and faculty.


Archaeology in a post-truth world | Interdisciplinary conference at the
University of California, Irvine | February 8th and 9th

*If you are a member of the wider UC system, travel costs may be partially
or fully funded.*


CALL FOR POSTERS

Submission deadline: January 20th

Abstract: 750 words (max)

Send to: *philos at uci.edu <philos at uci.edu>*

Visit conspiracycon.net for more information


The popularity of false narratives about history (alternative history) and
archaeology (pseudoarchaeology) poses a unique threat to history and
archaeology. In a post-truth world, false stories — e.g. that the
Smithsonian has a hidden collection of bones that would rewrite human
evolutionary history—have gained remarkable social media momentum.
Unfortunately, pseudoarchaeology proves difficult to debunk; often, the
most virulent pseudoarchaeological narratives are those which feed into
racist or nationalist sentiments and propagate deep-seated suspicion of
academics. Work in cognitive science and epistemology on the phenomenon of
conspiracy theories can aid in solving some of these problems. These fields
study how and why people form beliefs and, as a result, they can offer
strategies to counter the appeal of misinformation. This conference will
gather scholars from epistemology, cognitive science, history, classics,
and archaeology for an interdisciplinary dialogue about information
literacy and scientific communication in a post-truth world. This
conference will provide theoretical depth to the conspiracy theory
phenomenon as well as a needed opportunity for an interdisciplinary
response to the dire matter of misinformation in the digital age. It will
include traditional presentations, interdisciplinary round-table sessions,
and will produce interactive media coverage and lesson plans to raise
information literacy as well as recommendations for the future.



There will be a poster session during the February 8th & 9th conference,
and we are accepting abstract submissions from graduate students, and
faculty across a number of departments, including philosophy, history,
archaeology, psychology, cognitive science, political science, and
classics. The subject of the conference is the particular phenomenon of
archaeological conspiracy theories and the spread of misinformation through
media, and submissions should be related in some general way to this topic.
Presenters will also give a brief 3-minute explanation of their topic prior
to the poster session.



Please include in your submission:

Full name

position (grad/faculty)

department & university

poster title

abstract



Thanks and best wishes,

The Conference Planning Committee at UCI, Department of Philosophy
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