Dear all,
Greetings! I am Kapil Subramanian and have just started work as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Telecommunications History with Prof. Graeme Gooday at the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science at the University of Leeds. Building upon the success of the AHRC “Innovation in Combat” project ( https://arts.leeds.ac.uk/legaciesofwar/themes/science-and-technology/innovating-in-combat/ ), the fellowship seeks to explore how far telecommunications expertise and technologies developed during the First World War facilitated post-war developments such as radio broadcasting, commercial radio communications, wireless telephony and aircraft communications. One of the specific aims is to to extend the British focus of “Innovation in Combat” to include Germany, France and the United States by mapping out completed and ongoing research in the four countries and identifying available archival resources.
As part of this project, we are seeking to build an international network of researchers interested in telecommunications during the First World War and the interwar years. We will be holding a preliminary workshop at Leeds early in 2016 (with participation either in person or through Skype) as well as a more formal 2 day workshop towards the end of this academic year at the IET in London. We intend to develop a 2 year project suitable for AHRC network funding or a cross-European project for HERA or Horizon 2020 funding. Initial aims of such a project would be larger publication such as a special journal issue, or a multi-author volume making a preliminary attempt to characterize the key similarities and differences in the stories of communications across Europe and the United States. Over a longer term, we seek to collaboratively develop in-depth studies and interlinked analysis of communication technology development in each of the countries involved, as well as surveys of the dialogue concerning technological sharing and espionage.
As someone very new to telecommunications history, I would be grateful for any advice on these issues, including relevant research questions, gaps in the historiography and references to existing research that is often overlooked. We also seek strong participation at all levels from individuals and groups interested in telecommunications history (broadly defined), ranging from presenting at the planned workshops to formally collaborating on a project proposal. Do feel free to get in touch with me about the same at [log in to unmask] .
Apologies for cross-posting.
Thanking You,
Yours Sincerely,
Kapil Subramanian
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