About Me
I am a comparative political theorist completing my Ph.D at the University of California, Riverside. Starting the fall semester of 2020, I will be an Assistant Professor in the department of political science at Gettysburg College.
My research explores theories of colonialism, otherness/identity, freedom, and democracy through cross-cultural analysis that challenges and enhances the way we understand the canon of political theory. My work appears in The Review of Politics, Polity, The European Legacy, Montaigne Studies, and Contemporary Political Theory. Two of these articles are the first to introduce Vietnamese political thought to debates in political theory.
Many Americans think of "Vietnam" as a war, but Vietnam has been a cross-roads of empires and thus a site of rich cross-cultural intellectual exchange. My book project explores how five Vietnamese thinkers of the early twentieth century drew on Chinese philosophical and political thought in order to debate the utility of European Enlightenment ideas for self-determination from French colonial rule (1858-1945). I show the diverse ways they exert creative agency and do not fit easily into typecasts of "resistors" or "collaborators." Political theorists gain surprising lessons from these Vietnamese intellectuals who interpreted and adapted Rousseau, Tagore, Montesquieu, Nietzsche, Montaigne, and Marx for their own nation-building projects.
My teaching aims to cultivate global citizenship and leadership skills in young people through engagement with diverse perspectives. These aims are also pursued through my work with the Olive Tree Initiative, an award-winning program that provides undergraduates from numerous universities academic and experiential education for conflict analysis.
My parents are Vietnamese refugees who settled in San Jose, California where I was born and raised. Before coming to UC Riverside, I earned a B.A. in political science at UC Irvine, taught English in Vietnam, and earned a Master's in conflict analysis at the University of Amsterdam, supported by a Rotary Ambassadorial Fellowship.
You can reach me at kpham009@ucr.edu.
Click here for my CV:
My research explores theories of colonialism, otherness/identity, freedom, and democracy through cross-cultural analysis that challenges and enhances the way we understand the canon of political theory. My work appears in The Review of Politics, Polity, The European Legacy, Montaigne Studies, and Contemporary Political Theory. Two of these articles are the first to introduce Vietnamese political thought to debates in political theory.
Many Americans think of "Vietnam" as a war, but Vietnam has been a cross-roads of empires and thus a site of rich cross-cultural intellectual exchange. My book project explores how five Vietnamese thinkers of the early twentieth century drew on Chinese philosophical and political thought in order to debate the utility of European Enlightenment ideas for self-determination from French colonial rule (1858-1945). I show the diverse ways they exert creative agency and do not fit easily into typecasts of "resistors" or "collaborators." Political theorists gain surprising lessons from these Vietnamese intellectuals who interpreted and adapted Rousseau, Tagore, Montesquieu, Nietzsche, Montaigne, and Marx for their own nation-building projects.
My teaching aims to cultivate global citizenship and leadership skills in young people through engagement with diverse perspectives. These aims are also pursued through my work with the Olive Tree Initiative, an award-winning program that provides undergraduates from numerous universities academic and experiential education for conflict analysis.
My parents are Vietnamese refugees who settled in San Jose, California where I was born and raised. Before coming to UC Riverside, I earned a B.A. in political science at UC Irvine, taught English in Vietnam, and earned a Master's in conflict analysis at the University of Amsterdam, supported by a Rotary Ambassadorial Fellowship.
You can reach me at kpham009@ucr.edu.
Click here for my CV:
My book manuscript explores the political thought of these five influential Vietnamese intellectuals.
Phan Chu Trinh (1872-1926)
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Phan Van Trương (1876-1933)
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Phạm Qùynh (1892-1945)
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Hồ Chí Minh (1890-1969)
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Nguyễn An Ninh (1900-1943)
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La Cloche Fêlée (The Broken Bell), Nguyễn An Ninh's newspaper
The Task of Education and Learning for the Vietnamese People, by Phan Van Trương
