Did aliens land in Roswell, N.M., in 1947? Was there a second gunman on the grassy knoll? Did the Jersey Devil and Loch Ness Monster actually exist? Did Paul McCartney secretly die in 1966, and the Beatles cover up his death by hiring someone who look and sang like him?

For decades, these questions have been informally pondered in bars, barbershops, and everywhere in between.

Now, though, Villanova students have the luxury of deconstructing these popular notions in the classroom.

The university currently offers a course on conspiracy theories, with the faculty member who teaches it hopeful that it will catch on in the fall and spring semesters.

“This is the third time we’ve offered the class,” Derek Arnold, a 52-year-old communications professor and expert in business and political scandals, crisis management, and conspiracy theories recently told DELCO Today. “It’s a five-week course that students think will be easy, but they have to read about 100 pages and write a paper per week.”

Arnold’s syllabus begins with a focus on argumentation and logic, and preparing students to look at things through an unbiased lens, a difficult task for any young adult. Students then progress toward researching and analyzing a conspiracy theory of their choice.

What’s one of the professor’s favorite?

“That the NBA rigged the 1985 Draft, so the (New York) Knicks could get Patrick Ewing,” he said. “They say that the Knicks’ envelope was frozen, so the commissioner would know which one to pick.”

Like any great instructor, Arnold enjoys the class because of what the students bring to it.

“They really have a lot of enthusiasm for the subject,” he said. “It’s amazing, too, how technology and social media now contribute to the proliferation of conspiracy theories. Back in the day, if you wanted to spread your opinions, you had to mimeograph, then print pamphlets and spend time handing them out.

“Now, the Internet can spread your message with the click of a mouse.”