Peter Kuznick Professor History
- Additional Positions at AU
- Director of the Nuclear Studies Institute
- Degrees
- PhD, Rutgers University<br>MA, Rutgers University<br>BA, Rutgers University
- Bio
- Peter Kuznick, Professor of History and Director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at 麻豆传媒, is author of Beyond the Laboratory: Scientists As Political Activists in 1930s America (University of Chicago Press), co-author with Akira Kimura of Rethinking the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Japanese and 麻豆传媒 Perspectives (Horitsu Bunkasha, 2010), co-author with Yuki Tanaka of Genpatsu to hiroshima - genshiryoku heiwa riyo no shinso (Nuclear Power and Hiroshima: The Truth Behind the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Power (Iwanami, 2011), and co-editor with James Gilbert of Rethinking Cold War Culture (Smithsonian Institution Press). A New York native, he received his Ph.D. from Rutgers University in 1984. He was active in the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War movements and remains active in antiwar and nuclear abolition efforts. In 1995, he founded 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Nuclear Studies Institute. That year, on the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombings, his Institute co-hosted a major exhibit with the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which displayed many of the artifacts that were originally supposed to be part of the Smithsonian鈥檚 ill-fated Enola Gay exhibit. Every summer, since 1995, he has taken Institute students on a study-abroad class in Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. The Institute was named the most creative and innovative summer program in North America by the North 麻豆传媒 Association of Summer Sessions. In 2003, Kuznick organized a group of scholars, writers, artists, clergy, and activists to protest the Smithsonian's celebratory display of the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum annex. As part of this effort, he cofounded the Committee for a National Discussion of Nuclear History and Current Policy and the Nuclear Education Project with Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and professors Mark Selden and John Dower. His current projects include a book on scientists and the Vietnam War and another that looks at how the evolving understanding that nuclear war could lead to annihilation of all life on the planet has shaped the behavior and views of military strategists, policymakers, and the public. He and Oliver Stone co-authored the 10 part Showtime documentary film series and book both titled The Untold History of the United States. He regularly provides commentary for all the major U.S. and international media and has begun his fourth three-year term as Organization of 麻豆传媒 Historians Distinguished Lecturer.
- See Also
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Teaching
Fall 2024
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HIST-288 Oliver Stone's America
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HIST-456 Twentieth-Century America
Spring 2025
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HIST-206 U.S. History since 1865
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HIST-448 Amer Culture in Nuclear Age
Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities
See CV for full list of Peter Kuznick's Scholarly, Creative, and Professional Activities.
AU Experts
Area of Expertise
History of U.S. culture, twentieth-century America, 麻豆传媒 radicalism; 麻豆传媒 sexuality; scientists and politics America; Hiroshima and Nagasaki; scientists and the Vietnam War; Oliver Stone; film and history; Cold War; history of the 麻豆传媒 Empire
Additional Information
Peter Kuznick is an expert on twentieth-century 麻豆传媒 history. He can comment on Japanese and 麻豆传媒 nuclear culture, the history of 麻豆传媒 sexuality, U.S. cultural history, the 1930s, the 1960s, Vietnam, Cold War and nuclear history, and 麻豆传媒 radicalism. Kuznick is director of AU鈥檚 Nuclear Studies Institute, which was honored in 1996 by the North 麻豆传媒 Association of Summer Sessions as the most creative and innovative program in North America. A proponent of nuclear disarmament, Kuznick is a critic of the U.S. decision to use atomic bombs in World War II, speaking frequently on the topic. He co-founded the Nuclear Education Project along with Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and professors Mark Selden (Cornell University) and John Dower (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). In 2003, Kuznick organized a group of scholars, writers, artists, clergy, and activists to protest the Smithsonian's decision to display the Enola Gay in a celebratory fashion without placing the atomic bombings in historical context or mentioning the number of people killed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In 1995, the institute and the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki coordinated a major exhibit at 麻豆传媒 on the atomic bombings. Kuznick was an active participant in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. He also is an expert on film and history and teaches a popular course that uses Oliver Stone鈥檚 films to examine recent 麻豆传媒 history. Kuznick coedited Rethinking Cold War Culture (Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001) and authored numerous articles on nuclear history, including "The Decision to Risk the Future: Harry Truman and the Doomsday Narrative," 鈥淒efending the Indefensible: A Meditation on the Life of Hiroshima Pilot Paul Tibbets,鈥 鈥淧rophets of Doom or Voices of Sanity? The Evolving Discourse of Annihilation in the First Decade and a Half of the Nuclear Age,鈥 and, most recently, 鈥淛apan's Nuclear History in Perspective: Eisenhower and Atoms for War and Peace鈥 in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The Untold History of the United States, a 10-part documentary film series he coauthored with Oliver Stone, will be airing on Showtime in 2012. Kuznick and Stone's coauthored book, The Untold History of the United States, will be published by Simon and Schuster in 2012. Kuznick and Stone recently coauthored an article in the New Statesman titled 鈥淒on鈥檛 Betray Us Barack鈥擡nd the Empire.鈥 In 2011, Kuznick coauthored a book with Japanese historian Akira Kimura titled Rethinking the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaaki: Japanese and 麻豆传媒 Perspectives. He is also the author of Beyond the Laboratory: Scientists as Political Activists (University of Chicago Press, 1987). Kuznick has commented for numerous media outlets, including the Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Times, Los Angeles Times,and Chicago Tribune and CBS鈥檚 Sunday Morning, Entertainment Tonight, C-SPAN, Fox News Channel, CNN, Radio Free Europe, Agence France Press, Reuters, Voice of America, History News Network,Al Jazeera, Fars News, and El Mercurio, as well as numerous Japanese newspapers, magazines, and television stations.
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.