Dissertation Research: Scientists' Political Activism and the American Public during the Cold War Era, 1945-1980

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

This is a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant that will examine the political activism of American scientists throughout the Cold War era (1945-1980). Specifically, it will trace the efforts of scientists to educate and mobilize the American public in support of various scientific policy issues, including nuclear disarmament, environmental concerns, and biotechnology. The dissertation will draw primarily on archival sources and oral histories, and will be organized as a series of case studies. Each chapter will examine, in roughly chronological order, a different aspect of scientists. political and public activism during the years between 1945 and 1980. Funding of this proposal will allow the graduate student to conduct the research necessary for the completion of her dissertation. This research can only be conducted by traveling from Los Angeles to archival collections located in Washington, D.C., Boston, and Chicago. During her expected six-month sojourn in Washington, the graduate student will examine a number of collections housed at the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, and the National Archives. She will also make short trips to Boston, to examine archives at MIT, and to Chicago, to examine the archives at the University of Chicago.