Adnan Morshed, The Catholic University of America
Smithsonian Institution - History Seminar on Contemporary Science and Technology (Washington, DC)
Time: 4:00pm
Location: Director’s Conference Room at the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Speaker: Adnan Morshed, School of Architecture and Planning, The Catholic University of America
As much as human flight was about conquering gravity, it was also about seeing the world anew from a privileged position in the sky. To many early passengers, viewing the geographic composition of the Earth from an airplane was like being god. It was a time of spectacular faith in a shapeable future, when technology, as the American literary critic Leo Marx suggested, seemed to have replaced political will to bring about a utopia. If early aviation prompted a culture of technological utopianism, it also presented a paradox. On the one hand, many thought that the solo aviator symbolized the democratic power of the everyman; on the other hand, only a privileged few actually could get on an airplane. The corporate executives of General Motors understood this paradoxical elitist stratification of society and sought its inchoate reversal as a shrewd marketing tool. Visitors to Futurama, the auto giant’s most popular show at the 1939 World’s Fair, sat in a virtual cockpit to embark on a simulated flight over a future America of 1960. The idea was that if the fairgoers saw the world of tomorrow from the same lofty perspective of corporate bigwigs, then they would be seduced to feel that they were co-builders of the shining world they had just witnessed below. Technology and utopianism have a long, shared history in America. From the Wright brothers to Steve Jobs to Mark Zuckerberg, the narrative has always transcended the physicality of technology to reveal a powerful nation-driving myth.
For further information, please contact: Tom Lassman at 202-633-2419; lassmant@si.edu.
NON-SMITHSONIAN VISITORS MUST RSVP NO LATER THAN 48 HOURS BEFORE THE SEMINAR. On the day of the seminar, please report to the South Security Desk at the Museum’s Independence Avenue entrance. Those holding SI ID badges may proceed directly to the Director’s Conference Room on the 3rd floor.
Next Seminar, December 17: Janet Abbate, Virginia Tech: “Redefining Applied Science in 1960s America: NSF, Computer Science, and Social Utility”.