The George Washington University Cold War Group

Summer Institute on Conducting Archival Research

June 4-5, 2003

All sessions held at 1957 E. Street, N.W., Lindner Commons, 602

June 4

8:30-9Breakfast
Voesar Conference Room, Room 412Q

9:00-9:20 Introductions

9:20-10:30 Preparing to visit an archive

Distribution of National Security Archive “How To” CD-ROM
Thomas Blanton, William Burr
Room 308

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-12:00 At the archives: Procedures for gettingwhat you want

Part 1 - The National Archives
Room 212

12:00-1:15 Lunch talk on the State Department’s FRUS series

David Geyer
Voesar Conference Room, Room 412Q

1:20-2:30 How Archivists Think

Trudy Peterson
Room 212

2:40-3:30 Understanding where documents come from, how they come to be written, and the

policymaker’s perspective
James Goldgeier, Hope Harrison
Room 212

3:30-3:45 Break

3:45-5:30 At the archives: Part 2, Foreign archives

Hope Harrison, James Hershberg
Room 212

6:30 Dinner discussion

The Cold War International History Project
Christian Ostermann, James Hershberg
Lindner Family Commons, Room 602

June 5

8:30-9:00 Breakfast

All activities today will take place in

Lindner Family Commons, Room 602

9:00-12:00 Hands on: your chance to read and interpret documents and engage in a debate about

them. We will distribute documents on several issues from various countries and discuss questions of interpretation.
Hope Harrison, Thomas Blanton,
Malcolm Byrne, James Hershberg

12:00-2:00 Lunch talk
A Policymaker’s Perspective
Dennis Ross

2:00-2:45 Going beyond the archives: FOIA requests and private papers.

Peter Kornbluh, Gregg Brazinsky

2:45-3:30 Going beyond the archives:conducting interviews.

James Goldgeier, Thomas Blanton,
Hope Harrison

3:30-4:00 Concluding Discussion

GWCW gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Elliott School Dean.

Speakers


Thomas S. Blanton, Director, National Security Archive (NSA), The George Washington University (GWU)
Expert on issues concerning accessibility of government documents and on the Cold War.

Gregg Brazinsky, Assistant Professor of History and International Affairs, GWU
Specialist on South Korea

William Burr, Senior Analyst, National Security Archive, GWU Specialist on U.S. foreign policy

Malcolm Byrne, Deputy Director and Director of Research, the National Security Archive Specialist on U.S., Iran and Central Europe

David C. Geyer, Office of the Historian, Department of State Compiler of FRUS volumes on Germany and Europe

James M. Goldgeier, Director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, and Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, GWU Specialist on U.S.-European-Russian relations

Hope M. Harrison, Assistant Professor of History and International Affairs, GWU Specialist on Russia and Germany

James G. Hershberg, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, GWU Specialist on U.S. foreign policy and the Cold War, former director of the Cold War International History Project

Peter Kornbluh, Senior Analyst, National Security Archive, GWU Specialist on U.S. relations with Cuba, Nicaragua and Chile

Christian Ostermann, Director, Cold War International History Project, the Woodrow Wilson Center
Specialist on U.S., Germany and the Cold War

Trudy Peterson, Visiting Research Fellow, the World Bank, and former Director of the National Archives
Specialist on international archival issues

Dennis B. Ross, Director and Ziegler Distinguished Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Formerly Director of Policy Planning and Special Middle East Coordinator, U.S. Department of State