KEVIN D. PHAM
Department of Political Science
University of California-Riverside
900 University Ave Riverside, CA 92521
kpham009@ucr.edu
RESEARCH INTERESTS
non-Western political thought, Asian and Vietnamese political thought, comparative political theory, empire, colonialism, cross cultural learning, Montaigne, liberalism, conflict, democracy.
EDUCATION
Expected June 2019 University of California, Riverside
Ph.D., Political Theory
2012 University of Amsterdam
M.Sc., Conflict Resolution and Governance
2010 University of California, Irvine
B.A., Political Science
Certificate in Conflict Analysis and Resolution
AWARDS, GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS
2017-2018 Graduate Research Mentorship Fellowship, University of California Riverside 2017
UC Berkeley-UCLA Graduate Workshop in Southeast Asian Studies Fellowship
2016 Graduate Research Award in Political Science, University of California- Riverside
2013 Chancellor’s Distinguished Fellowship, University of California-Riverside
2013 United States Congress and Việt Báo. Writing on America Essay Award
2011-2012 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, Rotary International
PUBLICATIONS
Works in Progress
“A New Account of National Shame: Nguyen An Ninh’s Decolonial Thought” (article under review).
“The Anti-Resistance? Vietnamese “Collaborators” in French-Indochina”
“Montaigne in Vietnamese Political Thought”
Articles
2019. "Phan Chu Trinh's Democratic Confucianism," The Review of Politics, (forthcoming).
2019. “Montaigne in American Political Theory: Two Generations” with John Christian Laursen,
Montaigne Studies (forthcoming).
2017. “Empires for Peace: Denis Veiras’s Borrowings from Garcilaso de la Vega” with John
Christian Laursen, The European Legacy 22 (4), 427-442.
Book Review
2017. “Ideologies of experience: Trauma, failure, deprivation, and the abandonment of the self, by Matthew Bowker,” Contemporary Political Theory 16 (4), 557-560
Translation
2018. (From English to French) “Spinoza et les ‘mensonges officieux’ dans les manuscrits
clandestins: Une question et un programme de recherche,” by John Christian Laursen, La
Lettre clandestine 26.
Other Publications
2019. “Indelible,” forthcoming in Do Better, Be Better: How Mentoring Happens, edited by
Hilary Holladay (Virginia: Jefferson Park Press, 2019).
2014. “Two Halves: on Vietnamese American Identity” (2013) Viết Về Nước Mỹ (Writing on
America) 8.
2010. “Growing Pains: Experiential Learning in Israel and Palestine” (2010)
Impression/Expression Journal, University of California, Irvine. Spring.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND PARTICIPATION
“Beyond Resistance and Collaboration: Pham Quynh, the ‘Architect’, in French Colonial Vietnam”
2018 November, Graduate Conference in Political Theory, Northwestern University, Chicago
“Nguyen An Ninh’s Decolonialism: a New Account of National Shame”
2018 June, International Asian Dynamics Initiative, University of Copenhagen
2018 May, Graduate Conference in Political Theory, Sciences Po, Paris, France
“Phan Van Truong and the fight for Quốc Ngử: Vietnamese self-strengthening through Romanized Script”
2017 September, Paradigms of Change Conference, Ghent University, Belgium
“Remaking the Self in Vietnamese Political Thought in the 1920s”
2017 June, 6th French Network for Asian Studies International Conference, Paris.
“The Political Thought of Nguyen An Ninh and Phan Chu Trinh”
2017 May, UC Berkeley-UCLA Graduate Dissertation Conference, Los Angeles
“Phan Chu Trinh: Democracy on Confucian Foundations”
2017 June, Graduate Student Political Theory Conference, Irvine, CA
“Meta Comparative Political Theory: Discourses of Self Remaking in French Colonial Vietnam in the Writings of Phan Chau Trinh and Nguyen An Ninh”
2017 April, Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago
“Montaigne’s Instinct for Peace”
2016 April Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago
“The Intervention of a Montaignean Political Philosopher”
2016 March, Graduate Political Theory Conference, London School of Economics, UK
“Peace-making Empires and the Practices of Coexistence: Denis Veiras’s Borrowings from Garcilaso de la Vega, el Inca”
2015 November, Society for Utopian Studies, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
“Learning About Intractable Conflicts through Experiential Education”
2015 July, Conference on Youth Participation in Politics, Paris, France
“Structuring Fugitive Democracy: Archê, Common Good and Non-Hierarchy in Occupy and Porto Alegre”
2015 April, Princeton Graduate Conference in Political Theory
“Fugitive Democracy as Rebellion”
2014 April, James C. Young Colloquium, University of California, Riverside
INVITED PRESENTATIONS
2018 June, Discussant for Leszek Sobolewski, Uyen Nguyen, and Li Zou (International Asian
Dynamics Initiative, University of Copenhagen)
2012 October, “The Olive Tree Initiative: Experiential Education and Conflict Analysis,” Rotary
Club, Nashville, TN
TEACHING
University of California, Riverside
Teaching Assistant
Introduction to Political Theory, Spring 2017. Instructor: John Medearis
Political Ideologies, Winter 2017. Instructor: Georgia Warnke
Skepticism and Liberalism, Fall 2016. Instructor: John Christian Laursen
American Politics, Spring 2016. Instructor: Bruce Bordner
World Politics, Winter 2016. Instructor: Eric Bordenkircher
Political Ideologies, Spring 2014, 2015. Instructor: John Christian Laursen
Contemporary Political Theory, Winter 2015. Instructor: Mandy Mitchell
Introduction to Political Theory, Fall 2014. Instructor: Farah Godrej.
University Writing Program Graduate Student Co-Instructor
Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Winter 2015, Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Fall 2018
University of California, Irvine
Instructor
The Anthropology of Tattoos: Culture and Politics of Identity, Spring 2010.
RELEVANT WORK EXPERIENCE
2008-present
The Olive Tree Initiative
University of California, Irvine
Cofounder, Alumni Coordinator
• The “Olive Tree Initiative” promotes conflict analysis by providing students (from eight U.S. universities and the University of Glasgow) academic training and experiential education on intractable conflicts.
• Staff member, mentor for students, and group facilitator on annual trips to Israel, Palestinian territories, and Jordan.
• Editor of the alumni journal and anniversary almanac.
• Director of alumni relations for over 400 alumni.
• Gave over 40 presentations about conflict resolution throughout California, Tennessee, the Netherlands, Egypt, and France.
2010-2011
North American English School
Nha Trang, Vietnam
Instructor of English as a second language
ASSOCIATIONS
American Middle East Network for Dialogue at Stanford (AMENDS)
American Political Science Association (APSA)
National Political Science Honor Society (Pi Sigma Alpha)
SERVICE
2014-2015 Secretary of Graduate Students of Political Science (University of California-Riverside)
2014-2017 Chairman of Center for Regional Engagement, an American, non- partisan organization with offices in Jerusalem dedicated to educating and empowering leaders on all sides of the Middle East conflict through regional engagement
LANGUAGES
English (native)
Vietnamese (proficient)
French (proficient)
REFERENCES
Dr. Farah Godrej, Department of Political Science, University of CA, Riverside.
Email: farah.godrej@ucr.edu
Dr. Daniel Brunstetter, Department of Political Science, University of CA, Irvine.
Email: dbrunste@uci.edu
Dr. John Christian Laursen, Department of Political Science, University of CA, Riverside.
Email: johnl@ucr.edu
Dr. Daniel Wehrenfennig, Executive Director, Olive Tree Initiative, University of CA, Irvine.
Email: wehrenfennig@gmail.com
