Project Description

Ideas and concepts are a main driving force in human progress, and they are arguably the most important contribution of the United Nations. Yet, there has been little historical study of the origins and evolution of the history of economic and social ideas cultivated within the world organization and of their impact on wider thinking and international action. The United Nations Intellectual History Project is filling this knowledge gap about the UN by tracing the origin and analyzing the evolution of key ideas and concepts about international economic and social development born or nurtured under UN auspices.

Project Location

Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies
The Graduate Center
The City University of New York
365 Fifth Avenue, Suite 5203
New York, New York 10016-4309
212-817-1920 Tel
212-817-1565 Fax
UNHistory@gc.cuny.edu
www.unhistory.org

Project Co-Directors

Louis Emmerij is a senior research fellow at The City University of New York’s Graduate Center and co-director of the UN Intellectual History Project.
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Richard Jolly is a senior research fellow at The City University of New York’s Graduate Center and co-director of the UN Intellectual History Project, and honorary professor and research associate at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
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Thomas G. Weiss is presidential professor of political science at The City University of New York’s Graduate Center and director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, where he is co-director of the UN Intellectual History Project and chair of the Academic Council on the UN System.
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