With respect for our presenters I was a little disappointed with Dr. Wineburg introducing the topic of the Big Lie and Stop the Steal but then his pivot to the fact that it isn't his area of expertise and that lies like that have always existed - since Cain and Abel, as he put it.  This is plainly a different beast entirely and as a teacher in a rural district the assertion with absolute conviction that the 2020 presidential election was stolen  has entered my classroom multiple times. Does anyone have anything in the way of research or strategies for how to deal with these things?  

In my personal experience I've used an imperfect solution of trying to validate some of their feelings before I talk about anything else.  " By all means, hate Joe Biden.  It's perfectly fine to hate Joe Biden.  But as American Citizens we need to support or hate him based on things that are actually real.  Hate him for his Afghanistan policy.  Hate him for his actions on the economy or inflation.  But there is absolutely zero evidence of any election fraud in.... "    The validation coming before the lecture seems to at least keep them from shutting down, but I feel like I need better tools.  

With respect for our presenters I was a little disappointed with Dr. Wineburg introducing the topic of the Big Lie and Stop the Steal but then his pivot to the fact that it isn't his area of expertise and that lies like that have always existed - since Cain and Abel, as he put it.  This is plainly a different beast entirely and as a teacher in a rural district the assertion with absolute conviction that the 2020 presidential election was stolen  has entered my classroom multiple times. Does anyone have anything in the way of research or strategies for how to deal with these things?  

In my personal experience I've used an imperfect solution of trying to validate some of their feelings before I talk about anything else.  " By all means, hate Joe Biden.  It's perfectly fine to hate Joe Biden.  But as American Citizens we need to support or hate him based on things that are actually real.  Hate him for his Afghanistan policy.  Hate him for his actions on the economy or inflation.  But there is absolutely zero evidence of any election fraud in.... "    The validation coming before the lecture seems to at least keep them from shutting down, but I feel like I need better tools.  

Perhaps point them to the many lawsuits that were unilaterally shut down? Most of my immediate family believes the election was stolen, and since I don't live in the US, I had to investigate on my own to know how to reply. The fact that many courts of law totally denied all the claims, and that the Republicans in charge in states like Georgia (where I went to MS/HS/college) also certified their vote counts, was pretty compelling to me. But that's not really a systematic response for the classroom--sorry! That said, I know my family has a lot of respect for the law, so pointing that out seemed to help a little.

That's usually what I say, including the detail that many of the 60+ courtrooms that threw out the challenges were filled with Trump appointed judges.  Sorry to hear that your family has bought into all this - I deal with the same thing.  

Joshua Niese  as someone who teaches American History and Government classes along with Big History I have run into some of the same discussions.  I fall back on some of my big history training and turn it into a claim testing lesson.  Capture some of the claims in the room whether through discussion or some type of post-it activity.  Then, using some of the skills Dr. Wineburg spoke about, test those claims.  You can even show them Authorities like the director of the FBI, countless judges, etc. that debunked these claims.  

Jason, I like the scenario you have offered, having students test the claims. Like Joshua Niese , even when I tell students about the evidence that has been accumulated, it's a much different experience to have students investigate and find information themselves.