The University of Chicago Library > Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the University of Chicago Committee for the Comparative Study of New Nations Records 1958-1975
© 2008 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | University of Chicago. Committee for the Comparative Study of New Nations. Records |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1958-1975 |
| Size: | 14.25 linear feet (26 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Formally established in 1960, the Committee for the Comparative Study of New Nations was a group of University of Chicago faculty from several social sciences departments, all of whom had an interest in the problems of developing countries. This collection contains meeting minutes, correspondence, reports, publications, research papers, and other material documenting the committee from its founding through the mid-1970s. |
Series VIII: Subseries 2: Student Papers, contains graded student work. This material is restricted for 80 years.
Series IX: Financial, contains budgets, salary information and other financial material. This material is restricted for 50 years.
Series X: Subseries 1: Personnel Administration, contains employment applications and terminations, letters of appointment, and salary information. This material is restricted for 50 years.
Series XI: Subseries 2: Applications and Awards, contains transcripts, and other protected student information. This material is restricted for 80 years.
Series XII: Course administration, contains grade reports. This material is restricted for 80 years.
The remainder of the collection is open for research, with no restrictions.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: University of Chicago. Committee for the Comparative Study of New Nations. Records, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Formally established in 1960, the Committee for the Comparative Study of New Nations was a group of faculty from several social sciences departments, all of whom had an interest in the problems of developing countries. In their own departments, many of these faculty members specialized in the study of Asian and African societies. In the committee, these faculty members explored inter-disciplinary approaches to problems shared by new nations. The committee's activities were supported largely through grants from major foundations.
Founding faculty members included Edward Shils, Clifford Geertz, McKim Marriott, Lloyd A. Fallers, Morris Janowitz, Manning Nash, and Max Rheinstein. While the membership was originally intended to be kept relatively small, the committee more than doubled in size over the next ten years, and included many of the university's leading faculty in anthropology, history, law, and education. The scope of the committee's interest also expanded to include studies of developing nations worldwide, issues of imperialism and colonialism, and broader research in the comparative development of societies. The committee dissolved in the mid-1970s, following the departure of key faculty members.
The committee did not award degrees, but supported graduate and post-doctoral study through a fellowship program. Fellows worked closely with committee members while conducting advanced study in comparative analysis of developing nations.
The committee's intellectual activities centered on weekly seminars, in which faculty and fellows of the committee discussed and presented research on broad topics. The committee also organized interdisciplinary conferences, and hosted public lectures by visiting scholars and dignitaries.
Series I: Correspondence, contains incoming and outgoing letters and memoranda of the committee chair and administrative support staff. Along with routing administrative correspondence regarding personnel and coursework, this series includes memos and internal correspondence related to the founding and development of the committee, along with related reports and proposals.
Series II: Meetings, contains minutes and agendas, as well as related correspondence, reports and notes. Topics discussed at meetings of the committee and the smaller Executive Committee included fellowships, committee members' research, publications, faculty appointments, and special events.
Series III: Grants, documents the funding of the committee through support from organizations such as the Carnegie Corporation, Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation. Materials in this series include grant proposals, applications, reports, and related correspondence.
Series IV: Publications, is divided into two subseries. Subseries 1: Editorial Files, includes drafts, proofs, correspondence and other material related to two collections of essays published by the committee: Old Societies and New States, the Quest for Modernity in Asia and Africa, edited by Clifford Geertz and published in 1963; and Economic Nationalism in Old and New States, edited by Harry Johnson and published in 1968. Subseries 2: Administrative Files and Publicity Material, includes correspondence related to the development of brochures and pamphlets, sample publications, publications of other university departments. Also included is correspondence related to requests for reprints and other committee publications.
Series V: Conferences, contains material related to two conferences organized by the committee: The Conference on Research for Development in West Africa, held in Ibadan, Nigeria in 1961; and the Conference on Lebanese Democracy, held in 1963. Organized according to conference, the materials in this series include programs, schedules, drafts of papers presented, and correspondence discussing organizational and administrative matters.
Series VI: Visitors, documents the many scholars and dignitaries hosted by the committee. This series contains correspondence, programs, broadsides, biographical material, schedules, and drafts of lectures and speeches. Most of this material is arranged alphabetically by visitor.
Series VII: Facilities, contains university administrative correspondence, reports and surveys. Subject matter includes the management of Pick Hall and other Social Sciences Division buildings; as well as university equipment and services.
Series VIII: Seminars, documents the weekly events that were the committee's central activity. Subseries 1: Chronological File, contains correspondence, drafts of papers, schedules, lecture notes, and other material related to the organization and conduction of seminars. Subseries 2: Student Papers, contains graded student work from 1966.
Series IX: Financial, is organized chronologically, and contains annual budgets and financial reports, as well as routine financial matters such as invoices, check requests, vouchers and statements.
Series X: Personnel, contains material related to faculty and non-academic staff associated with the committee. This series is divided into three subseries. Subseries 1: Staff and Faculty Files, includes letters of appointment, applications and termination forms related to the service of individual personnel. Subseries 2: Biographical Files, contains bibliographies, faculty reports, c.v.'s, drafts of research, administrative correspondence, and other material documenting the activities of many of the committee's faculty members. Subseries 3: Administrative Memoranda, discusses mainly routine university and divisional procedures and policies for salaries, appointments and benefits, as well as Affirmative Action programs and employment initiatives.
Series XI: Fellowships, is divided into two subseries. Subseries 1: Administration, contains mainly correspondence from prospective fellowship applicants, as well as internal memoranda and solicitations for applications. Subseries 2: Applications and Awards, contains application forms and personal statements, notifications of awards granted and denied, correspondence deliberating decisions, recommendations and transcripts.
Series XII: Course Administration, contains grade reports, syllabi and outlines from Social Sciences Division courses, including those given by the committee.
The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/select.html
Fallers, Lloyd A. Papers
Janowitz, Morris. Papers
Rheinstein, Max. Papers
Geertz, Clifford. Papers
Shils, Edward. Papers
Series I: Correspondence |
This series contains incoming and outgoing letters and memoranda of the committee chair and administrative support staff. University administrators and faculty members of the committee are the most frequent correspondents. Much of the subject matter is routine in nature, regarding personnel and organizational issues; however, this series also includes memos and other internal correspondence related to the founding and development of the committee, along with related reports and proposals.
| Box 1 Folder 1-10 | 1959-1974 |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | Initial funding and organization of committee, 1959-1960 |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Clifford Geertz, chairmanship and planning for future of committee, 1968-1970 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Clifford Geertz, mail register, 1968 |
| Box 2 Folder 3-10 | University administration, 1961-1974 |
| Box 2 Folder 11 | Bennington College Non-Resident Term program, 1968 |
| Box 2 Folder 12 | Invitations, 1971 |
Series II: Meetings |
This series contains material related to meetings of the committee as a whole, as well as meetings of the smaller Executive Committee. Found in this series are minutes and agendas for meetings, as well as related correspondence, reports and notes. Topics discussed at meetings often included fellowships, committee members' research, publications, faculty appointments, and special events.
| Box 2 Folder 13-16 | 1961-1970 |
| Box 3 Folder 1-3 | 1970-1973 |
Series III: Grants |
The committee's activities were supported largely through grants from major foundations. This series documents the committee's relationship to organizations such as the Carnegie Corporation, Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation. Materials in this series include grant proposals, applications, reports, and related correspondence.
| Box 3 Folder 4-9 | Carnegie Corporation, 1961-1975 |
| Box 4 Folder 1-3 | Carnegie Corporation, 1959-1972 |
| Box 4 Folder 4-5 | Ford Foundation, 1959-1974 |
| Box 4 Folder 6 | National Institutes of Health, 1968-1969 |
| Box 4 Folder 7 | National Science Foundation, 1969-1970 |
| Box 4 Folder 8 | Rockefeller Foundation, 1959 |
| Box 4 Folder 9 | Reports to foundations, 1970-1973 |
| Box 4 Folder 10 | Potential sources of funding, 1970-1971 |
| Box 4 Folder 11-12 | University administration, 1970-1974 |
Series IV: Publications |
Subseries 1: Editorial Files, includes drafts, proofs, correspondence and other material related to two collections of essays published by the committee: Old Societies and New States, the Quest for Modernity in Asia and Africa, edited by Clifford Geertz and published in 1963; and Economic Nationalism in Old and New States, edited by Harry Johnson and published in 1968.
Subseries 2: Administrative Files and Publicity Material, includes correspondence related to the development of brochures and pamphlets, sample publications, publications of other university departments. Also included is correspondence related to requests for reprints and other committee publications.
Subseries 1: Editorial Files |
| Box 4 Folder 4-16 | Old Societies and New States, the Quest for Modernity in Asia and Africa, edited by Clifford Geertz, 1961-1963 |
| Box 5 Folder 1 | Old Societies and New States, the Quest for Modernity in Asia and Africa, edited by Clifford Geertz, ca. 1963 |
| Box 5 Folder 2-6 | Old Societies and New States, the Quest for Modernity in Asia and Africa, essays, ca. 1961-1963
|
| Box 5 Folder 7-9 | Economic Nationalism in Old and New States, edited by Harry G. Johnson, ca. 1965-1968 |
| Box 6 Folder 1-6 | Economic Nationalism in Old and New States, edited by Harry G. Johnson, ca. 1965-1968 |
| Box 6 Folder 7 | Publication agreements, 1961-1966 |
| Box 6 Folder 8 | Unidentified drafts |
Subseries 2: Administrative Files and Publicity Material |
| Box 6 Folder 9-10 | Brochures, ca. 1960s |
| Box 6 Folder 11-12 | University publications and press releases, 1969-1972 |
| Box 6 Folder 13 | Foreign Report, 1963-1964 |
| Box 7 Folder 1 | Center for Urban Studies, 1965-1966 |
| Box 7 Folder 2-5 | Administration and requests for publications, 1961-1968 |
Series V: Conferences |
This series contains material related to the Conference on Research for Development in West Africa, held in Ibadan, Nigeria in 1961; and the Conference on Lebanese Democracy, held in 1963. Organized according to conference, the materials in this series include programs, schedules, and correspondence discussing organizational and administrative matters. Drafts of papers presented at the conference are also found: The files for the Conference on Lebanese Democracy include drafts organized alphabetically by presenter, and used for the preparation of conference proceedings for publications.
| Box 7 Folder 6-13 | Conference on Lebanese Democracy, 1963 |
| Box 8 Folder 1-10 | Conference on Lebanese Democracy, presenters, 1963-1964
|
| Box 9 Folder 1-12 | Conference on Lebanese Democracy, presenters, 1963-1964
|
| Box 10 Folder 1-10 | Conference on Research for Development in West Africa, 1960- 1961 |
| Box 11 Folder 1-16 | Conference on Research for Development in West Africa, 1960- 1961 |
Series VI: Visitors |
The committee hosted visiting scholars and dignitaries, often in conjunction with lectures, seminar presentations, and other special events. This series contains correspondence, programs, broadsides, biographical material, schedules, drafts of lectures and speeches. Most of this material is arranged alphabetically by visitor.
| Box 12 Folder 1 | Visitors, 1959-1961 |
| Box 12 Folder 2-22 | Visitors, A-E
|
| Box 13 Folder 1-32 | Visitors, F-W
|
Series VII: Facilities and Equipment |
This small series consists mainly of university administrative correspondence, reports and surveys. Represented is the management of Pick Hall, including security procedures, fire systems, and utilities service; space usage in Social Sciences Division buildings; and university equipment and services such as printing and shipping.
| Box 13 Folder 33 | Pick Hall, building procedures, services and systems, 1972-1974 |
| Box 13 Folder 34 | Space utilization surveys, 1963-1974 |
| Box 13 Folder 35-36 | University equipment and services, 1969-1974 |
Series VIII: Seminars |
This series documents weekly seminars, the committee's central activity.
Subseries 1: Chronological File, contains correspondence, drafts of papers, schedules, lecture notes, and other material related to the organization and conduction of seminars.
Subseries 2: Student Papers, contains graded student work from 1966.
Subseries 1: Chronological File |
| Box 14 Folder 1-11 | 1959-1962 |
| Box 15 Folder 1-8 | 1962-1964 |
| Box 16 Folder 1-10 | 1964-1969 |
| Box 17 Folder 1-7 | 1967-1974 |
| Box 17 Folder 8 | Undated |
Subseries 2: Student Papers |
| Box 18 Folder 1 | 1966 |
Series IX: Financial |
Arranged chronologically, this series contains documents related to the daily functioning of the committee, as well as material related to grant funding and budgets. Included in this series are routine financial materials such as invoices, check requests, vouchers and statements. Also included are the committee's annual budgets and financial reports.
| Box 18 Folder 2 | Ford Foundation, 1959-1960 |
| Box 18 Folder 3 | Social Science Research Council, 1960-1961 |
| Box 18 Folder 4 | 1960-1965 |
| Box 18 Folder 5-6 | Check requests, 1960-1967 |
| Box 18 Folder 7 | Financial reports, 1960-1974 |
| Box 18 Folder 8 | Independent contractor payments, 1960-1975 |
| Box 18 Folder 9-10 | Conference expenses, 1961-1962 |
| Box 19 Folder 1 | Conference expenses, 1961-1962 |
| Box 19 Folder 2 | Extra service payments, 1961-1964 |
| Box 19 Folder 3 | American Friends of the Middle East, 1963 |
| Box 19 Folder 4 | Travel advances and vouchers, 1963-1975 |
| Box 19 Folder 5-10 | 1964-1973 |
| Box 19 Folder 11 | National Science Foundation, 1969-1972 |
| Box 19 Folder 12 | Reports of money received, 1969-1975 |
| Box 19 Folder 13 | Marvin Zonis, research, 1970-1971 |
| Box 19 Folder 14 | Royalty statement, 1971 |
| Box 19 Folder 15 | 1971-1972 |
| Box 19 Folder 16 | Grant administration, 1971-1973 |
| Box 20 Folder 1 | Bills outstanding, 1972-1975 |
| Box 20 Folder 2 | 1973 |
| Box 20 Folder 3 | Telegrams, 1973 |
| Box 20 Folder 4 | Budgets, 1973-1974 |
| Box 20 Folder 5 | Check request receipts, 1975 |
Series X: Personnel |
This series contains material related to faculty and non-academic staff associated with the committee. This series is divided into three subseries.
Subseries 1: Staff and Faculty Files, contains material related to the employment of individual personnel, including letters of appointment, application and termination forms.
Subseries 2: Biographical Files, contains material related to many of the committee's faculty members. Most of this subseries is arranged alphabetically by faculty member, and includes individuals' bibliographies, faculty reports, c.v.'s, drafts of research, and administrative correspondence. This series also includes staff directories, faculty rosters, and committee bibliographies.
Subseries 3: Administrative Memoranda, contains mainly material sent by personnel administrators at the university and divisional level to committee administrators. Much of the content of the memoranda is routine, covering procedures and policies for salaries, appointments and benefits, as well as Affirmative Action programs and employment initiatives.
Subseries 1: Personnel Administration |
| Box 20 Folder 6 | Requisitions and applications, 1971-1972 |
| Box 20 Folder 7-26 | Non-academic staff, A-W, 1960-1973 |
| Box 20 Folder 27-28 | Non-academic staff reporting to Lloyd Fallers, 1970-1974 |
| Box 20 Folder 29 | Faculty salary and appointment material, ca. 1960-1974 |
Subseries 2: Biographical Files |
| Box 21 Folder 1-26 | A-R, ca. 1958-1974
|
| Box 22 Folder 1-12 | R-Z, ca. 1958-1974
|
| Box 22 Folder 27 | Bibliographies, ca. 1960s |
| Box 22 Folder 28 | Directories and rosters, 1965-1973 |
Subseries 3: Administrative Memoranda |
| Box 23 Folder 1-5 | 1964-1974 |
Series XI: Fellowships |
This series contains material related to the committee's fellowship program. Subseries 1: Administration, contains mainly correspondence from prospective applicants, as well as internal memoranda and solicitations for applications. Subseries 2: Applications and Awards, contains application forms and personal statements, notifications of awards granted and denied, correspondence deliberating decisions, recommendations and transcripts.
Subseries 1: Administration |
| Box 23 Folder 6-11 | 1960-1971 |
Subseries 2: Applications and Awards |
| Box 24 | Fellowships granted and denied, ca. 1960-1974 |
| Box 25 | Fellowships granted and denied, ca. 1960-1974 |
| Box 26 Folder 1-4 | Fellowships granted and denied, 1967-1973 |
Series XII: Course Administration |
This small series contains grade reports, syllabi and outlines from Social Sciences Division courses, including those given by the committee.
| Box 26 Folder 1-3 | 1961-1972 |