September 30, 2022
Upcoming presentation on conflict in Cold War Southeast Asia
The history department, Institute for Military History and security studies program invite you to attend "From Independent Kingdoms to Cold War Insurgencies: The Cultural Roots of Conflict in Uplands Southeast Asia or the So-called Golden Triangle" by Jane M. Ferguson, associate professor at Australian National University, at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 7, in person at 301 Calvin Hall or via Zoom. Meeting ID: 963 4318 6646
The Southeast Asian uplands are characterized as a patchwork of overlapping sovereignties. They are also home to some of the longest-running civil wars in modern history and emerged as an enduring production center for the world's supply of heroin and later methamphetamines. Following an overview of the colonial and post-colonial political dynamics of uplands Burma/Myanmar, this presentation focuses on the cultural project of nation-building of the Shan, a group that has been engaged in a separatist war since 1958.
Ferguson is an associate professor in anthropology and Southeast Asian history at the Australian National University. She is currently Fuller endowed visiting professor of Southeast Asian studies at Ohio University. She is author of the book "Repossessing Shanland: Myanmar, Thailand, and a Nation-State Deferred."