UNESCO History Conference Discussion UNESCO and the Cold War 5 March, Afternoon 2 P.M.-4 P.M
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“UNESCO and the Birth of Space Activities” (Hervé Moulin, doctoral student, University of Paris IV Sorbonne, France) “A Campaign of Ideas: The American Radical Right and UNESCO” (Randle Hart, Southern Utah University, United States) “A Contribution to International Understanding: Belgian Historians and Revision of Textbooks” (Eva Schandevyl, Researcher, Belgium) United Nations Educational, Scientific and “UNESCO and the First Two Inter-American Conferences on Mathematics Education” (Wagner Rodrigues Valente, Professor, Cultural Organization Research group on Education History of Mathematics (GHEMAT), São Paulo, Brazil) Commentator: Iris Schroeder, University of Magdeburg; Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany UNESCO History Conference Discussion UNESCO and the Cold War 5 March, afternoon 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA), Heidelberg University, Germany Round Table: Studying UNESCO in the Cold War: Problems, Questions 4-5 March 2010 and Perspectives Symposium organised by Introduction: Akira Iriye, Professor, Harvard University, United States The International Scientific Committee for the UNESCO History Project Discussion Moderators/Facilitators: PROGRAMME Robert Frank, Professor, University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, France Glenda Sluga, Professor of International History, University of Sydney, Australia From its very inception UNESCO was one of the forums, where the East-West contest in the ideological sphere became most Ibrahima Thioub, Professor, Director of History Department, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal visible. For many years the Organization remained a hostage of Cold War confrontation, when both opposing blocs attempted to Ilya V. Gaiduk, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of World History, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia use it as an instrument in their war of ideas. On the other hand, the UNESCO that had been founded, as its Constitution declares, “for the purpose of advancing, through the educational and scientific and cultural relations of the people of the world, the objective Closing remarks: of international peace and of the common welfare of mankind,” played an important and not always appreciated part in alleviating Françoise Rivière, Assistant Director-General for Culture, UNESCO contradictions between opposing Cold War blocs, seeking ways of mitigating the conflict between them by way of influencing Jean-François Sirinelli, President of the International Scientific Committee for the UNESCO History Project people’s thinking and spreading ideas of peace and accommodation that could help to eliminate the seeds of war in the minds of Jens Boel, UNESCO Chief Archivist, Coordinator of the UNESCO History Project people. The objective of the conference is therefore not only to study the influence that the Cold War exerted on UNESCO, its activities and evolution, but also the impact that the Organization, through its efforts in connecting peoples and countries in the sphere of culture, education and science, had on this confrontation between countries divided by an irreconcilable discrepancy of worldviews, interests and objectives in the international arena. Format Each session will begin with commentators discussing the pre-circulated papers in relation to the general topic, after which the authors will respond, and then discussion will open up to the floor. Simultaneous interpretation in English and French will be provided. All sessions take place in Atrium, Heidelberg Center for American Studies 4 March, morning “The Role of UNESCO in Overcoming Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe at the End of the Cold War” 9.15 a.m.-12.15 p.m. (Raman Ramanouski, Ph.D in history of international relations, Minsk, Belarus) Video message from Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO Commentator: Christian Ostermann, Director, Cold War International History Project (CWIHP), United States Opening remarks: Discussion Françoise Rivière, Assistant Director-General for Culture, UNESCO Jean-François Sirinelli, Director of the Centre d’Histoire de Sciences Po, Paris, France, President of the International Scientific Session 3: In the Struggle for Peace and Mutual Understanding Committee for the UNESCO History Project Glenda Sluga, University of Sydney, Australia Detlef Junker, Founding Director of Heidelberg Center for American Studies, Heidelberg University, Germany Chair: Pre-circulated papers: Conference introduction: “UNESCO’s War at the Cold War: International Peace and Mutual Trust Prevailed” Robert Frank, Professor, University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, France (Omprakash Dash, Doctoral Research Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India) “UNESCO and the Cold War: Cultural Diversity and Cultural Industry” Session 1: UNESCO and the Member States: In the Turmoil of Cold War Politics (Beatriz Barreiro Carril, Carlos III University, Madrid, Spain – Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid, Spain Chair: Mohieddine Hadhri, Qatar University, Qatar “The Intergovernmental Conference on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (The Hague, 1954): Pre-circulated papers: Illustration of the Impact of the Cold War on the UNESCO Flagship Project” “Japanese Relations with UNESCO during the Cold War” (Christian Bolduc, Archivist, National Library and Archives of Quebec, Canada) (Liang Pan, Assistant Professor of International Relations, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of “Transnational Culture and UNESCO during the Cold War” Tsukuba, Japan) (Hara Kouki, European University Institute, Italy) “Hungary, Member of UNESCO: its admission and its activities (1945-1963)” “UNESCO and the United Nations Film Board: Coordination of Film Information (1945-1951)” (Anikó Macher, Ph.D candidate, Paris Institute of Political Studies) (Suzanne Langlois, Associate Professor, York University, Toronto, Canada) “The Role of UNESCO in the Field of Education, Science and Culture in Post-independence Kenya” “The New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) and the Cold War: Issues and Perspectives” (Joshia Osamba, Department of Philosophy, History and Religion, Egerton University, Kenya) (Michael Palmer, University of Paris III, France) Commentator: Commentator: Laura Wong, Heidelberg Center for American Studies, Heidelberg University, Germany; the Reischauer Institute for Japanese Madeleine Herren, Professor, University of Heidelberg, Germany Studies, Harvard University, United States Discussion Discussion 5 March, morning 4 March, afternoon 9.15 a.m.-12.15 p.m. 2 p.m.-5 p.m. Session 4: UNESCO: A Platform for Promoting Culture, Science, and Education Session 2: Engaging the Other Side of the “Iron Curtain” Chair: Tom Weiss, City University of New York (CUNY), United States Chair: Ilya V. Gaiduk, Institute of World History, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia Pre-circulated papers: Pre-circulated papers: “Cold War Science and Environmental Change in the United Nations Specialized Agencies: the Case of UNESCO” “How UNESCO Helped to ‘Rust’ the Iron Curtain through East-West Youth Volunteering” (Jacob Darwin Hamblin, Department of History, Oregon State University, United States) (Arthur Gillette, Former Director of UNESCO’s Division of Youth and Sports Activities) “Latin American Social Sciences and the Struggle for UNESCO’s Leadership during the Cold War: the Competition between Chile “The UNESCO European Centre for Higher Education (CEPES) in the Context of UNESCO’s Response to the Cold War” and Brazil” (Leland Conley Barrows, Professor, Voorhees College, United States) (Fernanda Beigel, Adjunct Researcher, CONICET, National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina) “UNESCO, International Council on Archives (ICA) and the Cold War” (Klaus Oldenhage, Vice-President (Ret.), Federal Archives, Germany).