Great Falls Forum: Conspiracy Theories: Why, How, and What To Do

This event is past.

  • Feb 17, 2022

Register Here!

The 2021-2022 season of the Great Falls Forum continues on Thursday, February 17th, featuring Bates College Professor Stephanie Kelley-Romano, with a talk entitled “Conspiracy Theories: Why, How, and What To Do.” This free, public program will take place from 12 noon to 1 PM virtually via Zoom and streamed to the Lewiston Public Library Facebook page.

Conspiracy theories seem to be everywhere—are we living in an age of conspiracies? In her Great Falls Forum talk, Stephanie will describe what a conspiracy theory is, and draw out the differences between misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy. She will also talk about the psychological and sociological conditions that may promote conspiracy thinking, and will describe the common rhetorical characteristics of conspiracy theories. Most importantly, she will do so with an eye to helping people recognize conspiracy theories, faulty evidence, and errors in reasoning. Finally, Stephanie will offer several suggestions (some of which may seem counter-intuitive) in terms of how we should try to counter conspiracy theories.

Stephanie Kelley-Romano is an Associate Professor in the rhetoric, film, and screen studies department at Bates College where she has taught since 1999. She earned her undergraduate and MA degrees at Emerson College in Boston. Her Ph.D. in Communication Studies was earned at The University of Kansas. Her research and teaching interests include gender and media, myth and narrative, conspiracy, political rhetoric, and substance (mis)use disorder/addiction. Her scholarship has appeared in such journals as The Journal of Hate Studies, Communication Quarterly, Journalism Studies, and The Journal of UFO Studies. She is often sought after for podcasts on political or paranormal topics, and her public scholarship has appeared in Newsweek.com and The Conversation. Kelley-Romano received the Kroepsch Teaching Award at Bates College for excellence in teaching in 2019.

The Great Falls Forum speaker series is co-sponsored by Bates College, Lewiston Public Library, and the Sun Journal.

Admission is free to all Forum events. For more information, please contact the Lewiston Public Library at 513-3135 or LPLReference@lewistonmaine.gov.