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  3. Introduction to Student Pugwash and the Rotblat Society

Introduction to Student Pugwash and the Rotblat Society

Mon, 04/20/2020 - 2:27pm by webadmin

Student Pugwash USA is an umbrella organization promoting education, outreach, and activism around ethical issues and concerns in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). We cover topical issues in each field, how work in these fields takes place, and how institutions, governments, and the general public understand and make decisions about applications in these areas.

Our portfolio is broad and our mission is inclusive. We're as interested in how future developments in medical applications of CRISPR should be steered, as we are about diversity amongst those scientists working in the field, or economic justice regarding who can access such treatments. We have particular focus on issues that can have an existential impact on humanity or civilization: weapons of mass destruction, climate change, and technologies like genetic engineering, nanotechnology, or artificial intelligence, which may add to this list of threats in the 21st century to seeing the 22nd. Our programs are geared both for professionals and pre-professionals in these areas, as well as members of the general public wishing to become more knowledgeable and have a voice in how these issues affect their communities.

Because of our broad umbrella of topic areas, it's common for the same members to be experts providing information at some events, and the interested laypeople at others. Likewise, we welcome new members and attendees at every level of expertise, with the caveat that misinformation is always left at the door. We encourage debate and discussion in those areas of research where the science is not yet settled, but strongly-held opinions not backed by research do not get presented. For example, in the 1980s we hosted panel debates on whether climate change was caused by human activities; now that topic is not suitable for our venues, but we certainly hold further debates about which climate change models are most accurate, or what actions we should take as a result.

Student Pugwash USA is part of the worldwide Pugwash Movement, and was founded after the model of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, recipients of the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize.

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Table of Contents

  • Introduction to Student Pugwash and the Rotblat Society
    • Why "Pugwash"?
    • Other Pugwash Organizations
  • How We Work
  • Online Community
  • Glossary

News and Updates

  • Information for new members
    5 months 3 weeks ago
  • Welcome to the website
    5 months 3 weeks ago

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Contact Us

700 12th Street Northwest, Suite 700-93149
Washington, DC 20005 USA

+1 (202) 794-6928

contact@studentpugwash.org

Student Pugwash USA is a 501(c)3 organization registered in Washington, DC, USA.

© 2020 Student Pugwash USA. Explicitly named authors of contributed portions of the site retain copyright to their work. All rights reserved.

Beta Notice

The Student Pugwash and Rotblat Society membership programs, and this website, were launched in Summer 2020, and both are still in beta while we figure out what works best for our membership, and how to leverage this site for those programs.

Like everyone else, we're determining how to respond to COVID-19 and how it is impacting campus life, extracurriculars, and the best ways we can bring programs to our members and have them come to us with their ideas.

We welcome questions and constructive criticism, as well as requests for help and support from our membership. 

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This site uses cookies to make it work better, including using Google Analytics so we can see how people are using it in aggregate. The only things watching you are the automated hamsters that power the site. We're an ethics organization—we're not going to do unethical things with your data. 

If you have questions about our organization, policies, or programs, drop a line to contact@studentpugwash.org.

If you find an issue with the website or need help navigating it, get in touch with webadmin@studentpugwash.org.