International Programs

This work is basically a story about a twin study. Just as identical twins raised in separate environments can be compared in a way that sheds light on the nature versus nurture debate, science as it developed in the Soviet Union and the West can be compares and contrasted in order to illuminate the role of science in society. This play is about one of the twins: Soviet science. The themes interwoven into the drama were focused around three questions: 1) to what extent is science cultural? 2) is political freedom necessary for scientific creativity and achievement? And 3) whose responsibility is it to judge the morality of progress and guide discovery in the appropriate direction? The point of this project was not to rewrite the scholarly conclusions on the history of Soviet science; instead, I sought to present these ideas in a new format, one that was exciting and engaging, in order to stimulate an audience to consider the interrelatedness of science, politics, and culture in both the Soviet era and in the rapidly developing international science of today.