Vedran Duančić, “Big Effects of Small Scientific Diplomacy: Milislav Demerec Pulling Yugoslavia Out of Soviet Embrace in the Early 1950s” (Zoom presentation)

American Philosophical Society – Tuesday, May 12, at 11:00am EDT Virtual Brown Bag presentation from Vedran Duančić. An abstract of his talk is below. [Napomena za sve zainteresirane: predavanje Vedrana Duančića možete pratiti u utorak, 12. svibnja 2020. u 17:00 prema uputama u prilogu.]

 

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Tuesday, May 12, at 11:00am EDT Virtual Brown Bag presentation from Vedran Duančić

 

Vedran was awarded the 2019-2020 François André Michaux Fund Short-Term Resident Research Fellowship at the APS Library & Museum. He is a postdoc at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb, and holds a PhD in history and civilization from the European University Institute in Florence. He’ll be presenting some of his new work on Croation-American geneticist Milislav Demerec; an abstract of his talk is below.

 

The presentation will take place via Zoom. Information on how to join the call is below:

 

Topic: APS Brown Bag with Vedran Duančić

Time: May 12, 2020 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85097676769?pwd=YXdtYzZiUzZBRFpqK0ZJN3FjVVo3QT09

 

Meeting ID: 850 9767 6769

Password: 270235

 

Big Effects of Small Scientific Diplomacy: Milislav Demerec Pulling Yugoslavia Out of Soviet Embrace in the Early 1950s

 

The Soviet­–Yugoslav split of 1948–49, and the search for an alternative path to socialism that it prompted, became cornerstones of the identity of socialist Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia’s attempts at Stalinization following World War Two and the country’s “opening to the West” in the 1950s have been studied primarily through the lens of high politics and ideology, often with little regard for how the process unraveled “on the ground.” I will argue that the history of natural sciences—biology in particular—offers an invaluable insight in the mechanisms of the process. Parallel to the official diplomatic efforts to bring Yugoslavia and the U.S. closer, the Croatian-born American geneticist, Milislav Demerec (1895–1966), a long-time director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, played a discrete but important role in countering Soviet influences among Yugoslav scientists. At a time when Cold War science diplomacy was becoming increasingly ambitious, his was a small but effective enterprise. Demerec got involved in a controversy at the University of Sarajevo over introducing Michurinist biology to the curriculum in 1952, and strengthened the position of the anti-Lysenkoist camp in Yugoslavia. As opposed to a relatively slow pace of official scientific diplomacy, here the effects were seen quickly, and the episode reveals a readiness to address politically sensitive issues that high diplomacy often worked hard to suppress.

 

The American Philosophical Society is undertaking strong social distancing measures to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. APS offices and the Library are closed indefinitely. We will be hosting virtual programs during this time. Read more about these programs and other ways you can engage with the APS remotely https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/engage-aps-remotely.

 

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