The Seventh Cardwell Memorial Lecture in the History of Technology

John Krige, Georgia Institute of Technology
“Science, technology and American hegemony”

Tuesday May 27 2008, 5pm
Michael Smith Lecture Theatre, University of Manchester, UK. All welcome.

This talk will describe how scientific and technological exchange between the United States and Western Europe in the 1950s and 1960s served as an instrument of American foreign policy.  The focus will be on domains in which there is a porous barrier between the civil and the military, notably nuclear and missile technologies. It will show how the US, deploying its technological leadership in an asymmetric field of force, tried both to strengthen and to channel European technological capabilities, steering them down avenues that cohered with its commercial, political and military interests in the region.

John Krige is Kranzberg Professor in the School of History, Technology and Society at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta.  His main research area is the intersection between science, technology and American foreign policy in Europe in the first two decades of the Cold War.  He was co-editor, with Kai-Henrik Barth, of _Global Power Knowledge: Science and Technology in International Affairs_ (University of Chicago Press, 2006).  In May 2005 he was awarded the Henry W Dickinson medal by the Newcomen Society for the Study of Technology and Society.  His most recent monograph is _American Hegemony and the Postwar Reconstruction of Science in Europe_ (MIT Press, 2006).

The Cardwell Lecture commemorates Professor Donald Cardwell (1919-1998), a pivotal figure in the academic study of technological history both in Manchester and internationally.  The Donald Cardwell Memorial Fund includes among its objectives sponsorship of an annual lecture in Cardwell’s name, hosted in turn by each of the Manchester institutions shaped by Cardwell’s presence, and presented by a leading international figure in the history of technology. Past Cardwell Lectures have been given by Svante Lindqvist, Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Thomas P Hughes, Arnold Thackray, David Edgerton and John Heilbron.

Lecture organised by the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of Manchester.

Full details: <www.chstm.manchester.ac.uk/newsandevents/seminars/cardwelllecture/>

Campus map (venue is building 71, access from Dover Street): <www.manchester.ac.uk/medialibrary/maps/campusmap.pdf>

Bridge to Asia, the largest such program in the PRC where it sends 500,000 books to 1000 universities per year, seeks your unwanted journals and books. Needs are urgent—even premier schools lack adequate collections. Thank you for helping if you can.

Shipping address (Western U.S.): Bridge to Asia, Foreign Trade Services, Pier 23 - Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94111

Shipping address (Eastern U.S.): Bridge to Asia, c/o Follett Campus Resources, 2211 West Street, River Grove, IL 60171-1800

Donations of books are deductible, together with shipping costs. Once you have made your gift, please notify us at contacts below, and we will send an acknowledgment and IRS form for claiming your tax benefit.

Office address - questions and correspondence only - please do not send books to this address: Bridge to Asia, 665 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94108 - Phone: (415) 678-2990 - Fax: (415) 678-2996 - E-mail: nxliu@pacbell.net - URL: www.bridge.org

Friday, May 16, 2008, 3:00–5:00 p.m.

Manufactories of Public Sentiment: Political Parties and the Concept of Public Opinion, 1787-1850
Mark Schmeller, Northeastern Illinois University

In 1787, Americans adopted a constitution designed to check the evils of political factions. Half a century later, organized mass political parties were a basic fact of national political life. Historians have long debated the meaning and significance of this transformation. Did the rise of the two-party system indicate a widespread acceptance of pluralism and liberal, interest group politics? This essay argues that changing concepts of public opinion played a vital yet often neglected role in legitimating parties. I first show how the anti-partyism of the founding generation rested upon classical humanist ideas of popular opinion as unstable and easily counterfeited. As these ideas fell into disuse, a new generation of politicians reconfigured the relation between party and public opinion. Democrats advanced a “constitutionalist” rationale for party government. They equated public opinion with the popular will, and saw parties as necessary means for implementing that will. Whigs developed a weaker “sociological” defense of party organization. They defined public opinion as a product of civilization and economic “improvement,” and argued that it would contain the violence of partisan conflict.

All papers are pre-circulated electronically to those who plan to attend the seminar in person. For a copy of the paper, e-mail Jenny Butler at scholl@newberry.org, or call (312) 255-3524. Please do not request the paper unless you plan to attend the seminar.

The Newberry Library Seminar on Technology, Politics, and Culture is co-sponsored by the University of Illinois at Chicago, Roosevelt University, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and Northwestern University’s School of Communications

The Newberry Library
Email: scholl@newberry.org
<http://www.newberry.org/scholl/schollhome.html>

NIH, May 16, 2008, 3:30 p.m.

Dr. Joseph A. November, Ph.D., will present the 2008 DeWitt Stetten, Jr. Lecture, titled “The Forgotten Revolution: The Early History of NIH Biomedical Computing,” on Friday, May 16 at 3:30 p.m., at the National Institutes of Health, Building 10 (Clinical Center), Room 2-3750 (Hatfield side). All are welcome. (more…)

The Social Science Research Council, with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is pleased to announce a call to faculty for interdisciplinary research field proposals for the 2009 Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship (DPDF) program.  Established in 2006, the DPDF combines financial support and workshop experience for early-stage graduate students engaged in predissertation research and developing their dissertation proposals. The DPDF program is designed to intervene at a critical moment in the career development of graduate students in the humanities and social sciences by aiding their transition from students to researchers. It provides complementary interdisciplinary perspectives to students across the disciplines of the social sciences and humanities. Faculty applicants must be tenured at different doctoral degree-granting programs at US universities and apply in teams of two. DPDF Research Directors lead groups of 12 graduate student fellows in two four-day workshops Research directors receive a stipend of $10,000 each. More information about the program may be found at: http://programs.ssrc.org/dpdf. <http://programs.ssrc.org/dpdf> (more…)

Jill Lepore, in the New Yorker.

April 2-5, 2009, Providence, Rhode Island

Call Deadline: September 3, 2008

The program committee looks forward to proposals that connect local stories to international issues, capture the role of activism in public history and related disciplines (i.e. public anthropology, folklore, art, economics, and sociology), speak to social justice and environmental politics, commemorate individuals who have brought about change, and, more generally, innovative ideas in the content and practice of museums, historic sites, archives, and other public venues.

For more information, including submission guidelines, visit <http://ncph.org/Conferences/2009/tabid/304/Default.aspx>.

The Department of Social Sciences at Michigan Technological University invites applications for a visiting assistant professor for a one-year appointment for the 2008-2009 academic year. Preferred area of specialization is history of American technology. Preferred qualifications include completion of a doctorate and research interests that align with the Department’s graduate programs in industrial archeology, industrial heritage, and environmental policy. (ABDs may apply and would be appointed as a lecturer.) The successful applicant will be expected to offer two classes per semester. In fall, one will be an introductory survey course in American history, the other will be a freshman seminar on a topic of the instructor’s choosing. Spring classes will include the second half of the American survey and a class in the history of American technology. The Department will begin reviewing applications on May 15 and continue until an appointment is made, hopefully by June 15. Women and candidates from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply. Salary, depending upon qualifications, will be in the vicinity of $45,000 with fringe benefits. A final decision on hiring and the date of such a decision is subject to budgetary considerations. (more…)

German Historical Institute, Washington DC, May 15-17, 2008

<http://www.ghi-dc.org/events/conferences/2008/fc/fc.html>

Note: Papers will be distributed in advance.  Panels will be devoted to short presentations and discussion.  For information, please contact Baerbel Thomas at the German Historical Institute:  B.Thomas@ghi-dc.org (more…)

We are planning the upcoming Mellon Contemporary Color Workshop at MOMA in October and need someone to lecture on the dye diffusion processes of color photography. Individuals with knowledge of  other contemporary color photographic processes are also welcome.  Please Debra Hess Norris dhnorris@art-sci.udel.edu if you have this knowledge and are interested in participating. Like prior workshops, this will be a dynamic combination of conservators, artists, curators, and scientist and is shaping up to be very exciting.

Debra Hess Norris
Chair, Art Conservation Department
(302) 831-3696
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716
dhnorris@art-sci.udel.edu