Greg Whitesides

Ph.D., History, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2004
M.A., History, University of Colorado, Denver, 1999
B.A., Literature & Technical, James Madison University, 1994

My primary interests are the history of science, US foreign policy and twentieth century global history. My MA thesis contextualized the Tiangong Kaiwu – a well-known Ming Dynasty encyclopedia of science and technology. My PhD studies emphasized the history of science and I conducted archival research at the Human Genome Project, the National Institutes of Health and the National Archives (among others), eventually publishing on the regulation of genetics and biomedicine. After graduation, I worked for the University of Maryland and the Department of Defense in Japan and S. Korea before being hired by the University of Colorado in 2004; since then, I’ve taught over twenty different classes in the CU system.

My current teaching and research focus remains international. I directed the International Studies program from 2010 to 2012, led the International Perspectives core assessment team for the past two years and taught at the International College in Beijing. I tend to teach classes on US foreign policy or twentieth century histories, such as Globalization since 1945 or the Modern Middle East. My most recent publication was a small article for the Shanghai-based China Economic Review on contemporary Chinese science diplomacy; for far too long, I’ve been working on the postwar history of science and American foreign policy and hope to publish a text (tentatively titled Not Above the Fray: Science and American Foreign Relations since 1945) within a few years.

Science and American Foreign Relations since World War II, London: Cambridge University Press, 2019.

"Better Diplomacy, Better Science," China Economic Review 22 (Oct  2011):28-29.

"Religion, Genetics, and the Evolving American Experiment with Bioethics," Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology 3 (Summer 2009): 7-32.

Genes, Minds and Selves: Manufacturing American Science and Spirituality. Saarbrücken: VDM Verlag, 2008.

"Biomedicine," Research and Discovery: Landmarks and Pioneers in American Science. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2007. Also: "Cytology," "Deism," "Evolution," "Genetics," "Human Genome," "Molecular Biology."

"Zhores K. Alferov," Nobel Prize Winners Encyclopedia. New York: Salem Press, 2006. Also: "Alan G. MacDiarmid," "Alan J. Heeger," "Jack S. Kilby," "Herbert Kroemer," "Hideki Shirakawa."

"Bioethics," Dictionary of American History, 3rd ed. New York:Scribner’s Press, 2003. Also: "Euthanasia," "Genetic Engineering," "Genetics," "Persian Gulf Syndrome"

Review of Matthew Scully, "Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals and the Call to Mercy," in Science and Public Policy 30 (Feb. 2003): 67-68.

Review of Tom Koch, "Scarce Goods: Justice, Fairness and Organ Transplantation," in Science and Public Policy 29 (June 2002): 236-37. 

Review of Mikael Stenmark, "Scientism: Science, Ethics and Religion," in CTNS Bulletin 21 (Win 2001): 30-32.

At CU Denver's Auraria Campus​​

Anxiety & Affluence: US since 1929 (HIST 4219/52​)
Globalization since 1945 (HIST 4032/5032)
Introduction to Asian History (HIST 3470/5470)
Modern Chinese History (HIST 4421/5421)
Modern Middle East History (HIST 4461/5461)
Readings in Twentieth Century History (HIST 6931)
Readings in Environmental History (HIST 6931)
Science, Technology & Society (HIST 3606/5606)
Seminar on the Cold War (HIST 6100)
United States History since 1865 (HIST 1362)
United States History to 1865 (HIST 1361)
United States Foreign Policy since 1912 (HIST 4220/5220)
The 1950s: The Korean War and Cold War (HIST 4472/5472)
The Vietnam War (HIST 4475/5475)
Topics in Contemporary Asian History (HIST 3810)

​Taught at the International College in Beijing, China

World at War (HIST 3121)
World History since 1500 (HIST 1026)
World History to 1500 (HIST 1016)