One of the goals of the Reinventing Civil Defense project is to fund several “seeded” projects that can provide focal points for re-thinking communication strategies with regards to nuclear risk. These are meant to be “prototype” projects that can be developed over relatively small time frames, studied for their efficacy and impact, and used as exemplars for further work. Our ideal project funding amount might be on the order of several thousand dollars, but there is some flexibility there depending on the project’s nature, the number of people involved, and other factors.
We are especially interested in funding projects that take advantage of non-traditional modes of public communication. By “non-traditional,” we mean approaches that diverge from the traditional, didactic (e.g., “lecture” or “report” style) methods that are common to academic and policy circles. Though we are especially interested in approaches that use emerging technologies (smart phones, augmented reality, virtual reality, interactive web applications, etc.), we are also very open-minded about approaches that, while they may not be technologically innovative, still offer up new opportunities (e.g., theatre, graphic novels, television, film, traditional art mediums).
All project proposals will be approved by the Reinventing Civil Defense co-PIs, after taking into account the recommendations of our Advisory Committee. Individuals or groups who re interested in receiving funding should get in contact with the Co-PIs first, and we will give instruction on the application process and guidance on funding amounts. Our goal is to minimize hassle and paperwork, while at the same time provide sufficient accountability. Eligibility requirements are as open as we can make them and evaluated on a case-by-case basis; affiliation with academic or policy institutions is not required.
For the Request for Proposals (round 2), deadline November 5, 2018, click here.
Funded projects (round 1)
The Reinventing Civil Defense Project, after soliciting requests for funding and getting feedback from its Advisory Committee, has chosen to fund the following projects after competitive review:
Drawing Doomsday: Using Comics for Civil Defense
Jonathan Fetter-Vorm
Civil Defense publications from the 1950s often used comics to communicate the complex threats of nuclear warfare in a way that was dramatic and easy to understand. But these pamphlets were also woefully inadequate to the severity of the subject matter. They glossed over the potential devastation and trauma of a nuclear attack, and they never showed the bleak aftermath. As such, these early attempts at educational comics read like quaint exercises in propaganda.
Nevertheless, a reinvented Civil Defense could still benefit from the tools of visual storytelling. Comics can be a powerful way to communicate the complexity of nuclear risk to young readers. I propose creating a brief narrative in comics form – using a current DHS scenario for a nuclear device detonated in an urban area – as well as several alternate versions of the same narrative, each with a slightly different framing device. The result will be a set of variations on a theme that educators could use to gauge the effectiveness of different modes of storytelling for teaching their students about nuclear threats. Knowing this will help graphic novelists tune their material to the needs of young readers, for whom nuclear salience is a distant abstraction.
Investigating the Effects of Nuclear Knowledge on Citizen Attitudes toward the Use of Nuclear Weapons
Lisa Koch and Matthew Wells
Can citizen attitudes toward the use of nuclear weapons be moderated through citizen education? Recent research has found that a significant proportion of the American public is willing to approve the use of nuclear weapons in defense of U.S. interests. U.S. President Donald Trump’s public statements regarding the American nuclear arsenal and the North Korean nuclear program have renewed public debate over the potential use of nuclear weapons against foreign enemies. We plan to determine if there are factors not yet addressed in studies of nuclear attitudes that heighten citizens’ appreciation of nuclear risk and mediate their willingness to use nuclear weapons. We will conduct a series of experiments to test whether either of two selected factors influences nuclear attitudes: a detailed explanation of the uniquely devastating effects of a nuclear blast, and the risk of retaliation by a nuclear-armed adversary.
Nuclear Worriers: Stories from a Nuclear World
Alton Lu and Tam Anh
Nuclear Worriers is a podcast and network for communicating stories relating to nuclear risk and salience among the public. Nuclear Worriers is a mechanism to identify whether podcasting is a sufficient medium for discussing complex issues for a more time-consumed population. We want to utilize existing research about risk communication – namely using imagined scenarios and stories – to build an audience that is receptive to the nature of nuclear risk. The goal is to test the podcast format as a way to communicate civil defense.
The Nuclear Plays
Anthony P. Pennino
The Nuclear Plays will consist of a series of interlocking one-act plays that could be performed individually or together as a full evening of theatre. They will be written specifically for performance by high schools and colleges to contribute to ongoing conversations in and out of the classroom on nuclear salience. The one-acts will be divided into three sets. The first set (“Before”) will form the first half of the full theatrical event and will remain unchanged. “Before” will concern the days leading up to a possible nuclear exchange between nations and told from the perspective of high school/college students. The second part of the evening would involve a conversation between performers, audience members, teachers, and students: what are the risks of conflict? what are the likely outcomes? how prepared are we (or could ever be) to survive such a conflict? what are our responsibilities in now in understanding and preparing for a world after nuclear conflict? Based upon that conversation, the performers can decide which of the remaining two sets to perform for the evening’s third portion. “After A” will follow a series of events where nuclear war is avoided while “After B” will investigate a post-nuclear war.
Mark 17 User’s Manual
Peter Rickwood, Kirstie Shepherd, and Cesare Asaro
The first airborne hydrogen bomb in America was the massive Mark 17, at 42,000 pounds possibly the most powerful ever made. An unarmed Mark 17 accidentally fell from a bomber near Albuquerque NM in 1957. Newer weapons are much smaller. The Mark 17 was larger than life and lends itself to the dark sweep of a graphic fictional operation and maintenance guide. A 1950’s-style manual of the kind gathering dust in grandpa’s attic, would find a new lease of life informing its audience about nuclear weapons. The project will lead an audience into the apocalyptic realm of nuclear weapons illustrating stark evidence of the risks and dangers.
This user’s manual not only offers instruction on maintaining such weapons — consider the estimated $1.3 trillion US modernization program — it also examines the impact of the weapons: treatment of radiation poisoning and severe burns; nuclear winter; climate change, among other topics. The project will be driven by two talented artists, who have created a number of graphic print and online books, and a veteran nuclear communicator. The model for the product is a successful manual for a 1950’s time machine, the Gadabout TM 1050. As a template it provides a number of possibilities for offering education and information about nuclear weapons.
There were also three non-competitive (in-house) projects funded through separate lines of funding:
NUKEMAP-VR
Seth Cluett, Christopher Manzione, and Alex Wellerstein
NUKEMAP-VR will develop a virtual environment that explores and simulates nuclear weapons effects. Coded in Unity, and designed for platforms such as the Oculus Rift, Gear VR, or Google Cardboard, the program will allow a user to experience a 3D nuclear detonation from the vantage point of a nearby witness. In its first iteration, we will create an application that allows the visualization of an arbitrarily-sized nuclear detonation occurring in midtown Manhattan, as viewed from someone standing across the Hudson River at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. This prototype will serve as a pilot study for measuring user reactions and determining the most effective way to use virtual reality technology as a tool to raise nuclear salience. Future iterations of this project will allow expansion in terms of viewer location, city of detonation, and weapon yield.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Nuclear Risk Communication Tools
Kristyn Karl and Ashley Lytle
The average American has little awareness of nuclear threats and, in the event of a nuclear detonation, is ill-prepared to take the actions needed to save preventable casualties (including their own). Broadly, research in psychology, communication studies, and political science has demonstrated that risk communications designed to influence the general public often fail. More narrowly, our understanding of the effectiveness and impact of existing communication tools regarding nuclear risk is woefully inadequate. Which types of communication attempts about nuclear threats promote message acceptance and increased knowledge? How can we communicate nuclear risk in a way that increases its salience in the minds of the public, shifts threat perception, and/or leads to a willingness to take action? This project seeks to leverage the causal power of experiments to quantitatively evaluate and compare the impact of existing communication tools regarding nuclear risk, leveraging emotional responses and individual characteristics, to determine the most effective tools under varying contexts. Ultimately, this project will serve as an important basis for comparison between existing communication tools and new tools developed in the future.
(This project is being generously funded through the aid of the Thompson Family Foundation.)
Game Development for Civil Defense
Nicholas O’Brien, Alex Wellerstein, and Susanna Pollack
The use of “serious games” for increasing understanding, awareness, and salience on issues of social import has been pursued on many different topics for several years now. Our project involves the creation of a “serious game” idea-laboratory at the Stevens Institute of Technology, harnessing the game development capabilities of the Visual Arts & Technology program and the subject-matter expertise of the Science and Technology Studies program, combined with the oversight and influence of the experienced Games for Change organization. The goal would be to lead students in miniature game studios to rapidly prototype game ideas for enhancing nuclear salience in a Civil Defense context, with the goal of identifying promising avenues for using this media as a means for engaging Millennials in particular.