Nuclear Phobia Thread - Good reference text

[SAFarberMSPH@CS.COM]

There is a seminal work on nuclear phobia which was published in 1988 by Dr. 

Sydney Weart titled Nuclea Fear: A History of Images. It is mentioned in the 

link below to a course on "The Nuclear Age: Science, Politics, History"

at the University of Manchester in England. See:


HS 321/371/421: The Nuclear Age: science, politics, history

... Sample reading: S. Weart, Nuclear Fear: A History of Images (Harvard 

University Press,

1988). K. Ruthven, Nuclear Criticism (Melbourne University Press, 1993). ... 

www.man.ac.uk/Science_Engineering/CHSTM/teaching/hs321.htm - 7k - Cached - 

Similar pages



From the above link about this course:


Aims and Objectives


The nuclear age, now over fifty years old, has exerted an unimaginably 

profound effect on late twentieth-century patterns of thought and ways of 

living. From the detonation of the first nuclear weapons over Hiroshima and 

Nagasaki in 1945, nuclear weapons, nuclear energy and the culture surrounding 

them have shaped our lives. The explosions inaugurating the nuclear age 

transformed international military and political relationships.  They also 

transformed popular culture and social life: art, literature and film as well 

as politics and military doctrine have all reflected and embodied the traumas 

of nuclear culture.

Accessible to scientists and non-scientists, this course aims to explore the 

origins and development of nuclear culture, and tries to shed light on the 

interactions of science, technology, politics, gender and cultural production 

in the nuclear world. The course also asks: can a new understanding of nuclear

 discourse help us come to terms with the nuclear past, and does it offer any 

guidance as to how we should think about the nuclear present and the nuclear 

future?

Outline Syllabus



Introduction: The Birth of the Nuclear Age 

Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the End of World War II 

From Few to Many: Nuclear Proliferation and Nuclear Culture, 1945-1955 

MAD: Thermonuclear Strategy and the Cold War 

"Too Cheap to Meter": Wasn't the Future of Nuclear Energy Wonderful? 

Nuclear Phallacies: Gender in Nuclear Culture 

Atoms for Peace: Disarming Nuclear Culture from Within 

CND and the Anti-Nuclear Movement: Disarming Nuclear Culture from Without 

From the Bay of Pigs to Armageddon: The Cuban Missile Crisis 

The China Syndrome: Nuclear Accidents and the Popular Imagination 

Postmodern Nukespeak: Baudrillard, Derrida and the the End of the Cold War 

Details:



Taught in Semester 2 

The course will be illustrated with films and literature of the nuclear age 

(e.g. Doctor Strangelove, On the Beach): these materials may form the basis 

of assessment essays. 

One lecture and one seminar per week. 

Course Assessment: 

10 credits (HS 321) 

2 x 2,500-word essays (each 33.33%), 

seminar coursework (33.33%) 

20 credits (HS 371) 

2 x 2,500-word essays (each 16.66%), 

seminar coursework (16.66%) 

project (50%) 

Sample reading: 

S. Weart, Nuclear Fear: A History of Images (Harvard University Press, 1988). 

K. Ruthven, Nuclear Criticism (Melbourne University Press, 1993) 

Prerequisites: None     



I've read the book by Dr. Weart [Nuclear Fear: A History of Images] and it is 

highly recommended reading.


Regards,

Stewart Farber, MS Public Health

Public Health Sciences

172 Old Orchard Way

Warren, VT 05674

[802] 496-3356

email: SAFarberMSPH@cs.com