Four Week Class Taught Online Via Zoom
Sundays October 25, November 8, 22, December 6, 2026 (note: alternating weeks)
8:00 - 9:30pm ET (NYC Time)
$150 Paid Patreon Members / $175 General Admission
PLEASE NOTE: Classes will be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
From the Illuminati to QAnon, from Freemason lodges to whispered claims about lizard people running the world, humans have always been drawn to the idea that hidden hands shape events from behind the curtain. This course takes that impulse seriously — not by asking whether the theories are true, but by asking why they're so compelling, how they spread, and what they reveal about the societies that produce them.
We will move chronologically and thematically through some of history's most enduring secret societies and conspiracy narratives, including real secret societies: the Freemasons, the Illuminati, the Bilderberg Group, and the Skull and Bones — separating documented history from the myths that grew around them. Our discussions will explore how the hidden aspect of these groups connect with occult movements, esoteric traditions and humanistic traditions such as Rosicrucianism. Finally, this course will delve into modern conspiracy theories such as QAnon, flat earth communities, and how social media algorithms accelerate and reshape belief systems.
Conspiracy theories aren't just fringe curiosities — they're a lens into power, trust, and epistemology. We'll examine the psychological research on why people believe, the sociological conditions that make certain eras especially fertile ground for conspiratorial thinking, and the very real consequences these beliefs have had, from political violence to public health crises.
We'll also grapple with an uncomfortable truth: conspiracy theories often contain a germ of truth. Governments have lied, corporations have covered things up, and secret arrangements among the powerful are not always fantasy. Part of this course is learning to tell the difference — developing the critical tools to evaluate evidence, spot manipulation, and resist both credulity and reflexive dismissal. A historical approach is critical toward developing these tools and understanding the existence of fringe beliefs within the context of a long tradition of shadow histories and the cultural response to their existence.
Robert Spinelliis the archivist for Special Collections at Middle Tennessee State University. Prior to his role there, he worked in the non-profit museum sector and was the former Special Collections Librarian at Fisk University. In addition to his work in academic libraries, Mr. Spinelli is an active researcher in the fields of misinformation and death studies. His first book, The Lizard People Don’t Want You to Read This: Essays on Conspiracy Theories in Popular Culture, was published by McFarland Publishers in Fall 2025, with his second, Death, Commemoration & Cultural Meaning: Past & Present, in December of 2025. Mr. Spinelli’s third collection, Libraries, Archives & Collective Grief, was published by Bristol University Press in 2026. Currently under contract with BAR Publishing is a fourth volume entitled Pseudoarchaeology and Conspiracy Theories in Contemporary Context as well as other works on dark tourism, hauntology and death/grief bots.
Images:
Four Week Class Taught Online Via Zoom
Sundays October 25, November 8, 22, December 6, 2026 (note: alternating weeks)
8:00 - 9:30pm ET (NYC Time)
$150 Paid Patreon Members / $175 General Admission
PLEASE NOTE: Classes will be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
From the Illuminati to QAnon, from Freemason lodges to whispered claims about lizard people running the world, humans have always been drawn to the idea that hidden hands shape events from behind the curtain. This course takes that impulse seriously — not by asking whether the theories are true, but by asking why they're so compelling, how they spread, and what they reveal about the societies that produce them.
We will move chronologically and thematically through some of history's most enduring secret societies and conspiracy narratives, including real secret societies: the Freemasons, the Illuminati, the Bilderberg Group, and the Skull and Bones — separating documented history from the myths that grew around them. Our discussions will explore how the hidden aspect of these groups connect with occult movements, esoteric traditions and humanistic traditions such as Rosicrucianism. Finally, this course will delve into modern conspiracy theories such as QAnon, flat earth communities, and how social media algorithms accelerate and reshape belief systems.
Conspiracy theories aren't just fringe curiosities — they're a lens into power, trust, and epistemology. We'll examine the psychological research on why people believe, the sociological conditions that make certain eras especially fertile ground for conspiratorial thinking, and the very real consequences these beliefs have had, from political violence to public health crises.
We'll also grapple with an uncomfortable truth: conspiracy theories often contain a germ of truth. Governments have lied, corporations have covered things up, and secret arrangements among the powerful are not always fantasy. Part of this course is learning to tell the difference — developing the critical tools to evaluate evidence, spot manipulation, and resist both credulity and reflexive dismissal. A historical approach is critical toward developing these tools and understanding the existence of fringe beliefs within the context of a long tradition of shadow histories and the cultural response to their existence.
Robert Spinelliis the archivist for Special Collections at Middle Tennessee State University. Prior to his role there, he worked in the non-profit museum sector and was the former Special Collections Librarian at Fisk University. In addition to his work in academic libraries, Mr. Spinelli is an active researcher in the fields of misinformation and death studies. His first book, The Lizard People Don’t Want You to Read This: Essays on Conspiracy Theories in Popular Culture, was published by McFarland Publishers in Fall 2025, with his second, Death, Commemoration & Cultural Meaning: Past & Present, in December of 2025. Mr. Spinelli’s third collection, Libraries, Archives & Collective Grief, was published by Bristol University Press in 2026. Currently under contract with BAR Publishing is a fourth volume entitled Pseudoarchaeology and Conspiracy Theories in Contemporary Context as well as other works on dark tourism, hauntology and death/grief bots.
Images:
