

“A conspiracy theory has key features that place it outside the realm of legitimate academic theory. You might be wondering what exactly is a conspiracy theory.

Now he’s written a book, called Conspiracy U, that questions the university’s decision to have professors on the faculty who openly espouse conspiracy theories. Scott Shay was a student at Northwestern University in Chicago back in the 70’s. These interests are reflected in Conspiracy U, as well as his previous two books, In Good Faith: Questioning Religion and Atheism and Getting Our Groove Back: How to Energize American Jewry. Scott is a distinguished leader in the Jewish community and an avid student of religion and its application to the world outside of the synagogue, church, or mosque.

His third book, Conspiracy U: A Case Study, utilizes this motto as a backdrop to illustrate how his alma mater and academia in general have departed from these standards and ideals, sacrificing academic integrity and trustworthy scholarship in favor of Conspiracy Theories. Scott earned a BA in Economics and a Masters in Management from Northwestern University, a valuable experience due to the commitment of his professors to high academic standards and the ideals of the university’s motto. Scott is the co-founder and Chairman of Signature Bank, well known as one of the best banks in New York for private business owners. Shay is a leading businessman, thought leader, and author of several widely read books on profound issues facing the Jewish community. The book provides a roadmap for reform based on universal moral and intellectual standards and offers a way out of the culture wars that are ripping America apart. His keen analysis reveals why Jews serve as the canary in the coal mine.Ĭonspiracy U delivers an urgent wake-up call for everyone who cares about the future of civil society and is concerned that universities today are failing at teaching students how to strive for truth but rather guiding students to blindly trust theories driven by ideology. He explains why Zionism, the movement for Jewish national self-determination, has become the focal point for both far-right and far-left conspiracy theories. Shay tackles the thorny question of how otherwise brilliant minds willingly come to embrace and espouse such patent falsehoods.

In Conspiracy U, Shay presents a case study of his alma mater, Northwestern University, in order to challenge the proliferation of anti-Zionist conspiracy theories championed on college campuses by both the far right and far left. Conspiracy U exposes how conspiracy theories drawn from far-right and far-left ideologies masquerade as scholarship at many universities, endangering our norms and conceptions of morality and truth.
