September 5-6, 2014
Liu Institute for Global Issues
Research Unit Room, Liu Institute (1st floor), and Room 1197, Department of History
6476 NW Marine Drive and 1873 East Mall
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 workshop 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.
Note especially the following papers:
- Gisela Mateos and Edna Suárez (UNAM), “Radioisotope Itineraries and Peaceful Atoms in Mexico” (Commentator: John Beatty, UBC)
- Gabriela Soto Laveaga (University of California, Santa Barbara), “Beyond Agricultural Science and Steroids in the Global South: The Role of Mexico in mid-Twentieth Century Scientific Innovation” (Commentator: John Krige, Georgia Institute of Technology)
This workshop is open to the UBC community and the public, but space is limited (particularly on Sept. 5) and must be reserved in advance. Those interested in participating should also expect to do reading in advance, since the workshop format is organized around the discussion of pre-circulated papers. Please contact Prof. Jessica Wang if you wish to attend and require access to the papers.
Co-sponsored by the Liu Institute for Global Issues and the UBC Department of History and made possible through the support of the National Science Foundation (U.S.) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.