Author: Stockford, Lillian

Jason Chang, First Head of New Social and Critical Inquiry Dept.

On August 28th, 2024, Professor Jason Chang, professor of History and Asian American Studies and Director of Asian and Asian American Studies, became the head of the new Social and Critical Inquiry Department. The department brings together the areas of American Studies, Asian and Asian American Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, under the motto, “Transformation takes social and critical inquiry”. The department prioritizes education, community partnerships and engaged research, and university service, with research focused around “study social and cultural formations and their impact on public life”.Jason Chang, associate professor of history

As new department head, Professor Chang believes part of the emphasis of the department is on, “leveraging student experiences and faculty research so that the impact is not just on campus but in communities”. In the next five years, the department hopes to offer “a transformative educational experience that connects students to communities and addresses important societal problems in Connecticut and beyond”.

Professor’s Chang’s work as department head, and the goals of the new department are featured in UConn Today’s article, “Meet Jason Chang, First Head of New Social and Critical Inquiry Department”.

 

 

Gabrielle Westcott Successfully Defends Dissertation

On July 26th, Gabrielle Westcott successfully defended her dissertation, “Struggling for the Soul and Mind of a President: How Emotions and Personality Shaped Lyndon Johnson’s Vietnam Policy in 1968”. 

From the abstract: 

“In the summer of 1968, an irate President Lyndon B. Johnson lashed out at his senior foreign policy advisors, calling them “dupes” of a Soviet conspiracy to get him to stop bombing North Vietnam. His staffers reported that he grew “very pissed & emotional” in response to proposals for a bombing cessation because he believed stopping the bombing would endanger his sons-in-law, both of whom were serving in Vietnam. Johnson belittled and berated Vice President Hubert Humphrey for deviating from the administration’s position and sidelined Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford when he continued to advocate a cessation. LBJ’s personality and emotional outbursts set the parameters of foreign policy debates and his emotions surrounding events in his personal life shaped U.S. policy toward Vietnam. Behind the scenes, Johnson’s senior advisors waged a fierce battle for the “soul and mind” of the president. Conscious of the role emotions played in LBJ’s thinking, they crafted their policy proposals to appeal to his emotional state. The decision-making process quickly deteriorated. Filled with angry outbursts, private lamentations, and personal conflict, the final year of Johnson’s presidency illustrates how emotions and personality influence foreign policy.” 

 

Congratulations Dr. Gabrielle Westcott on her successful dissertation defense! 

Frances Martin’s Successful Dissertation Defense

Congratulations to Frances Martin who successfully defended her dissertation, “From the Ambassadors of Little Saigon: The Nation-Making and Grassroots Diplomacy of Vietnamese Refugees in the United States, 1975-1997″, on June 7th!

From her abstract: 

“Following the collapse of the Republic of Vietnam, many left Vietnam as refugees and resettled in the United States. However, for the Vietnamese refugees living in the United States, the formal dissolution of their nation-state did not sever their allegiance to their countrymen and the ties that bound them together as a nation. This dissertation examines how stateless individuals organized and advocated for themselves in the international system and replicated the functions of a nation through this activism. Using three Vietnamese refugee groups in the United States, The National United Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (The Front), The Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association (FVPPA), and Project Ngoc, this project examines how Vietnamese refugees in the United States reproduced different structures of a nation (the state, family, and civil society). The Front sought the overthrow of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the creation of an anti-communist Vietnam. In doing so it recreated the state structures of military and government in the Vietnamese refugee population in the United States. The FVPPA, by raising awareness of the issue of Vietnamese re-education camp prisoners and fighting for their release, immigration, and resettlement process, ensured the reestablishment of the Vietnamese family in the United States. Finally, Project Ngoc, a student activist organization through advocating for Vietnamese refugees and protesting the policy of forced repatriation, participated in and strengthened the civil society of the Vietnamese refugee population. These three organizations are examples of the way stateless peoples use their activism to protect themselves from international neglect and advance their agendas in the nation-state system.”