Security studies, as an American field of inquiry, has particular historical origins. Contrary to standard views, it was the unraveling of the international order in the 1930s that compelled a collection of internationalist institutions and individuals led by historian Edward Mead Earle to bind together a variety of new and traditional disciplines to create an entirely new field focused on the problem of security.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

During the global crisis of the 1930s and 1940s, many Americans came to believe their place in world affairs had fundamentally and permanently been altered.  What is often forgotten is how the labors of the League of Nations, along with a network of committed internationalists, laid foundations for these views.  Such was the importance of seemingly prosaic technical work done by the League on health, communication, and, most of all, economics that, at the start of World War II, vital parts of the institution were evacuated to the United States to work in exile in Princeton, New Jersey.  This seminar explores this network and its considerable impact on the perceptions and policies that shaped a postwar order.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.