Dark Matters II: Science and the Cold War in a Decolonizing World
Sept. 5-6 2014
“Dark Matters II: Science and the Cold War in a Decolonizing World,” a workshop co-sponsored by the Liu Institute for Global Issues and the UBC Department of History, will take place at the University of British Columbia on 5-6 September 2014. The workshop will feature eleven papers by noted scholars and explore fundamental questions about the place of science and technology in international affairs amid the transformative pressures of both decolonization and the cold war during the second half of the twentieth century. In particular, the gathering seeks to consider the relationship between science and the cold war outside of the immediate US, Soviet, and European contexts that dominate the existing scholarly literature, to examine how cold war science (broadly construed) operated in the rest of the world, and to question the extent to which the cold war even works as an organizing principle for understanding a global era in which decolonization arguably took precedence over the US-Soviet conflict. Workshop discussions will also attempt to draw attention to historical continuities across the divide of World War II, as well as to incorporate post-colonial perspectives into accounts of cold war science.
For a preliminary program, check the “Events” calendar at the Liu Institute for Global Issues: http://www.ligi.ubc.ca/events/upcoming.htm.
The workshop is open to the UBC community and the public, but space is limited (particularly on Sept. 5—just four spaces left!) and must be reserved in advance. Those interested in participating should also expect to do reading ahead of time, since the workshop format is organized around the discussion of pre-circulated papers. Please contact Prof. Jessica Wang at jessica.wang@ubc.ca if you wish to attend and require access to the papers.
“Dark Matters II: Science and the Cold War in a Decolonizing World” has been made possible through the support of the National Science Foundation (U.S.), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Liu Institute for Global Issues.
Featured authors:
John DiMoia (National University of Singapore)
Lauren Hirshberg (University of California, Los Angeles)
Stuart W. Leslie (Johns Hopkins University)
Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Hiromi Mizuno (University of Minnesota)
Suzanne Moon (University of Oklahoma)
Projit Mukharji (University of Pennsylvania)
Jenny Smith (Georgia Institute of Technology)
Gabriela Soto Laveaga (University of California, Santa Barbara)
Edna Suárez (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico)
Zuoyue Wang (Cal Poly Pomona)
Commentators:
John Beatty (UBC)
Jeffrey Byrne (UBC)
Nick Cullather (Indiana University)
John Harriss (SFU)
Alexei Kojevnikov (UBC)
John Krige (Georgia Institute of Technology)
Steven Lee (UBC)
Carla Nappi (UBC)
Edna Suárez (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico)
Jessica Wang (UBC)
