Image courtesy of Dito von Tease, with our thanks
In the era of fake news and social media, many of us are finding it increasingly difficult to figure out what is real and who we really are.

The Truth and Authenticity Lab is a course unlike any other—actually, it's two linked courses (one in philosophy, one in journalism). These two courses work together to investigate the strange things that are happening to truth and authenticity in the contemporary digital age.   

Our mission is to learn how to use the tools of journalism and documentary storytelling to explore the urgent philosophical questions showing up in and around WFU and Winston-Salem—and in our own lives.
​What is lost when the messy and inconvenient aspects of ourselves and our world are hidden, neglected, distorted, manipulated, erased, or treated as mere problems to be solved?
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PHI 280 - Special Topics in Philosophy: Truth and Authenticity
JOU 335 - Multimedia Storytelling

​These courses are linked, so all participants will be enrolled in both courses simultaneously.
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The courses run back-to-back to give ample time for talking, walking, watching films, and honing our skills for observing, contemplating, and documenting our reality.

the PROFESSORS

Francisco Gallegos - Assistant Professor, Philosophy
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Ivan Weiss - Professor of Practice, Journalism

the student experience

  • ​Relaxed, experiential learning - do creative things and have great conversations with a diverse group in a bohemian atmosphere.
  • Explore - get out of the WFU bubble and pursue stories in interesting pockets of Winston-Salem.
  • Be interesting - learn how philosophy can help you tell better stories and live a more fulfilling life.
  • Discover Heidegger - think with one of the most important and fascinating philosophers of the 20th century.
  • Make cool stuff - develop a strong documentary and contemplative practice and create things you're proud of. ​​

Course Goals
Learn how to use philosophical ideas and methods to construct and analyze multimedia stories, and use multimedia storytelling techniques to illustrate and evaluate philosophical ideas and methods. 

Develop a contemplative documentary practice—an ability to slow down and observe the world, using multimedia tools and your own senses and philosophical reflections—in order to deepen your own personal relationship to life in the contemporary world, technology, art, performance, and the ideal of authenticity. 

What previous students have said about the Truth and Authenticity Lab:
-- This was a rare and unique course that forced all of us to open up and really make connections between the things we were studying and our own lives outside the classroom. This was really challenging, but it was also really incredible.

-- The Truth and Authenticity Lab is a deeply meaningful, innovative, and sublime course, one like none other at Wake Forest. Normally, educators have to decide between logic and beauty when designing a course: math vs art, physics vs music, history vs creative writing. The extraordinary aspect of this course is its fearless attempt to marry logic and beauty, logos and pathos, philosophy and journalism. By tackling the same problems from two distinct (and often opposing) viewpoints, students are able to flesh out their thoughts and feelings in a way that is impossible through any one medium or discipline.
     
-- Professor Weiss and Professor Gallegos have taught through this course how to self educate and apply knowledge into our own lives.... Personally, there was so much at stake that through working on the final project I gained a much greater understanding of Heidegger.

    INTERESTED? WANT MORE INFORMATION? We'd Love to hear from you