Seminar to examine linkage between terrorism and bioweapons

Jul 09, 2007

“Forming the Bioterrorism ‘Bandwagon’ in the Clinton Administration” is the topic of a seminar presentation by a visiting US academic at the University of Wollongong tomorrow (Tuesday 10 July).

The Faculty of Arts is hosting the seminar presentation by Visiting Professorial Fellow, Dr Susan Wright, of the University of Michigan.

By the end of the Clinton administration, the possibility that terrorists would arm themselves with bioweapons was widely seen as a huge threat to US national security.

The President, and eventually Congress, accepted that the nation should spend $US millions (and eventually billions) on a new form of biodefence designed to protect civilians. Such decisions were taken despite informed dissent inside as well as outside the administration.

Tomorrow’s seminar will address how the linkage between terrorism and bioweapons was formed, how it was used to justify a radical reframing of the biological sciences — especially genetic engineering and genomics — in terms of military goal, and the policy implications for the biological sciences and for disarmament. Metalevel questions concerning relations between history, policy, and ethics will also be addressed.

Dr Wright, a historian of science at the University of Michigan, received a Bachelor of Arts in physics from Oxford University, a Master of Science in physics from the University of Michigan, and a PhD in history of science from Harvard University. Over the past 30 years, her research has focused on the history and politics of biotechnology, and, in particular, the military dimensions of this field.

Her books include Molecular Politics: Developing American and British Regulatory Policy for Genetic Engineering, 1972-1982 (University of Chicago Press, 1994), Preventing a Biological Arms Race (MIT Press, 1990), and Biological Warfare and Disarmament: New Problems/New Perspectives (Rowman & Littlefield, 2002). She was also a Senior Research Fellow at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research in 1998-1999. As a Visiting Professorial Fellow this term, she has continued research on the formation of US counter-bioterrorism policy and launched a new project on gender and security.

The full title for tomorrow’s address is: “Forming the Bioterrorism ‘Bandwagon’ in the Clinton Administration: Policy Implications and Metalevel Questions”.

When: 12.30pm, Tuesday 10 July

Where: Room 1003, Building 19 (Arts Bldg)

Further information: Contact Leonie Clement on 4221 5581.

For more information, contact:

media@uow.edu.au
University of Wollongong
Ph: (02) 4221 5942; fax (02) 4221 3128