Due: Friday 9 July 1999

Length: 5 pages, 1 page per source, 12 pt. font, SINGLE-SPACED

Value: 25% of your course grade

Assignment:

Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to track down five (5) sources which treat a "pseudoscience" (marginal knowledge system) in a positive light, read them, and critique their methodology and arguments for the pseudoscience.

The printed sources can be a book chapter (i.e. not a whole book), a newspaper or magazine story or journal article, or promotional literature. They should not all be on the exact same topic, although having some related to others will more easily help you see the similarities and differences between them.

There are three reasons for this assignment. First, it will give you practice finding, skimming, and citing bibliographical sources. Second, it will allow you to explore an area of pseudoscience of interest to you early in the course and begin to consider why you do/don't believe its claims and begin to try to understand how the proponents for the (pseudo)science attempt to convince their readers. Finally, it will make you aware of the pervasiveness of pseudosciences in our society (especially in relation to "real" science).

This is not meant to be an impossible or overly-taxing assignment. Those of you who find 5 sources, cite them properly, and make some attempt to analyze the content beyond a simple summary can easily expect a mark in the B range. Those who demonstrate insight and/or enthusiasm are well on their way to an A of some sort.

Each site will generate a maximum of 1 page of commentary , single spaced, which means that you should write no more than ~400-500 words per site. These commentaries should not be pure summary ; a successful critique of how the author(s) did their thing will also necessarily successfully summarize the content.

The third hour of Tuesday 6 July will be devoted to finding, citing, and reading your sources. Try to track down a couple of sources (or all 5) before then so we can begin to answer questions. A list of pseudoscience topics is listed on the back of the page to get you started.

Afrocentrist Archaeology ( Out of Africa ), Atlantis, Bermuda Triangle, Cardiff Giant, "Chariots of the Gods" (Erich von Daniken), Creationist Flood archaeology, Egyptian and other ancient "science", Piltdown Man, Shroud of Turin, Paluxy River dinosaur footprints

Aliens (among us?), Astrology, Extraterrestrial intelligence, Velikovsky

Edgar Cayce - documented psychic?, Samuel Hahnemann - founder of homeopathy, Rupert Sheldrake - "Morphic Resonance", Nicola Tesla - inventor, Rudolf Steiner - theory of Anthroposophy

Biorhythms, Creationism and the origins of life, Dermo-optical perception, Lysenkoism and Soviet Science, Phrenology, Plant "psychology", Post mortem retinal images (Optograms)

Dowsing, Voodoo

Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, Aromatherapy, Breast implants, Chiropractics, Crystals, Homeopathy/Tinctures, Magnetic therapies, Naturopathy, Osteopathy, Power lines and cancer, Pyramid power, Shark cartilage and other cancer cures, Touch healing, Urine therapy

Cold fusion, Faster-than-light travel and communication, Free-energy devices and perpetual motion, N-rays, Quantum consciousness

The Bell Curve, Scientology and Dianetics, Facilitated communication, Graphology, IQ as a measure of intelligence, Recovered memory and child abuse, Multiple personalities, Freud, Jung, and psychoanalysis, Police psychics, Polygraphs, Psychokinesis

-list modified from John Conway (Rutgers U.)

Hines, Terence, Pseudoscience and the paranormal: a critical examination of the evidence (Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1988).

Leith, Harry, 1927. Bibliography of books and articles on the contrasts and similarities among science, pseudoscience, the occult , 5 ^th ed. (Toronto: Atkinson College, 1992).