Courses:

This seminar examines the history and legacy of the Cold War on science, looking predominantly at examples in the United States. It begins by exploring scientists' new political roles after World War II, ranging from elite policy-makers in the nuclear age to victims of domestic anti-Communism. The seminar next examines the changing institutions in which the physical, biological, and social sciences were conducted during the postwar decades, investigating the links between institutions and epistemology. The seminar closes by considering the place of science in the post-Cold-War era.

Requirements

All students will be responsible for doing the assigned reading before each session of the seminar. In addition, students will take turns leading a session of the seminar by presenting an overview of the reading (including discussion of major themes, as well as critiques), and presenting questions for discussion based on book reviews and other relevant sources.

As you read, it will be helpful to keep several questions in mind:

• Can you summarize the author's main thesis or argument? What kinds of examples are brought forth to bolster the main thesis?
• Upon what kinds of sources does the author draw? How does the main argument fit into the broader literature on the subject or within the field?

Reading to answer these questions will be more important than dwelling on particular details within a given study.

Assignments

There are also two writing assignments: 

• A book review (4-5 double-spaced pages) of one of the course books.
• A research paper (25-35 double-spaced pages). Research papers should be based on original research, drawing on unpublished primary sources (archival, interviews, etc.) where appropriate, in addition to relevant secondary sources.