MIT Professor to Speak on Nuclear Power at 2019 Mahan Lecture

---

Posted on March 6, 2019

Libi Jacobs

---

---

An award-winning historian and author will address questions about nuclear power and its potentially catastrophic effects on humanity and the environment in “The Great Chernobyl Acceleration: Why the Nuclear Disaster was not Exceptional” at the Howard F. Mahan Lecture on Thursday, March 14 at 7 p.m. in the University of South Alabama Student Center Ballroom. 

Dr. Kate Brown, professor of history in the science, technology and society department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will state the use of nuclear activity and its severe consequences. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Brown will use her most recent book, “Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future,” to draw discussion around the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the Soviet Union’s secrecy behind it. She will also highlight a connection between the United States and Soviet Union by their similar responses to health issues caused by radiation.

“If we are going to increase the number of nuclear power plants on the globe as an answer to climate change, we need to take a more serious wide-open look at the human health and environmental effects of exposures to radioactivity,” said Brown. 

Brown has received numerous awards for her work as an author. She was honored with the Regent’s Award for Excellence in Research from the University of Maryland and the Berlin Prize by the American Academy in Berlin. Brown held a fellowship with the Guggenheim Foundation and has received support from the Carnegie Foundation, the European Institute and many others for her research.

Brown is a consulting editor for the American Historical Review and co-founder of its special section, History Unclassified. She also serves as senior editor of International Labor and Working Class History.

“An award-winning author who studies the history of human creation of modern wastelands, Dr. Brown has received international recognition for her research on the Chernobyl disaster,” said Dr. Mara Kozelsky, professor of history at South Alabama. “Her prize-winning work has put health and environmental consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe in comparative context with nuclear accidents in the United States. She raises important questions about humanity's impact on the environment and offers a guide for avoiding future crises."

USA’s Mahan Lecture Series is named after the late Dr. Howard F. Mahan, the founder of the University’s department of history. After serving a full tour in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II, Mahan decided to study history in order to better understand his experiences during the war. As one of the original faculty members of the University of South Alabama, he served as chair of history from 1964 to 1983 and retired in 1993.

With the generous support of the University of South Alabama Foundation, the USA department of history established this annual lecture in honor of Mahan’s enduring contributions to his students, colleagues, community and state.

---