The Militarization of the University
When: Thursday, November 13, 2014, 6:30
pm
Where: MIT Campus - Room 56-114 • 77
Mass. Ave. • Kendall T • Cambridge
Contradictory
U.S. Roles in the Development and Control of
Biological Weapons
U.S. role in the development
and control of biological weapons has been murky. Professor King will review the
first roller coaster phase of BW regulation beginning with the Nixon and Reagan
administrations. Professor King will then address events following 9/11: the US
lobbying to weaken the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and the
transformation of US programs by the Department of Homeland Security, including
funding distribution to medical schools and microbiology departments. The BU lab
is the natural local example.
How
the Pentagon Funds University Research
The marriage of science and
the military was forged in the crucible of the Manhattan Project that developed
the atomic bomb in 1945. It has thrived for seven decades after the end of WWII
– throughout the Cold War, and now a quarter century after its end. The Pentagon
spends $80 billion annually for research and development of weapons. It gives a
total of about $12 billion of that amount to the universities. As the Cold War
paradigm of maintaining technological superiority over the Soviet Union remains
unchanged, so does the dependence of the universities on the Pentagon.
Unbeknownst to most people, the inevitable militarization of science continues
with ramifications for science and the larger society, and for war and
peace.
Upcoming Events:
Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect | Wed Nov 12 | 7:30pm | United Church | Walpole |
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