GloDec Hosts Spring Decolonization-in-Progress Seminar
The Global Decolonization Initiative (GloDec), a research initiative at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, hosted its spring seminar series, “Decolonization-in-Progress” in March 2021. These four workshop-style meetings brought together Ph.D. students, postdocs, and junior faculty to showcase cutting-edge research in history, anthropology, law, and cognate disciplines on decolonization.
On March 2, 2021, Dr. Andrew Bell, recent Ph.D. from BU History and incoming Marie Curie fellow at Sciences Po Paris, presented a chapter from his book manuscript. The chapter was entitled, “Archaeology, Heritage, and Settler Colonialism at Pajarito Plateau, 1880-1916.” Dr. Megan Black, associate professor of history at MIT and the author of the Global Interior, served as the discussant.
On March 16, 2021, Sean Case, Ph.D. candidate at BU American Studies, presented a dissertation chapter. The chapter was entitled, “Building the Balance, Maintaining the Peace: Power, Compromise, and the Creation of the Strategic Field.” Dr. Daniel Bessner, associate professor at the University of Washington and the author of Democracy in Exile, served as the discussant.
On March 23, 2021, Calynn Dowler, Ph.D. candidate at BU Anthropology, presented a dissertation chapter. The chapter was entitled, “Settling the fluid frontier: histories of migration and placemaking in the Sundarbans Delta.” Dr. Debjani Bhattacharyya, associate professor at Drexel University and the author of Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta, served as the discussant.
On March 30, 2021, Dr. Ann-Sophie Schoepfel, visiting fellow at Harvard’s Weatherhead Initiative of Global History, presented a chapter from her book manuscript. The chapter was entitled, “SOS Indochina: Anti-Imperialism, Subversion and the Human Rights Discourse in interwar Vietnam.” Professor Kim Wagner, professor of global and imperial history at Queen Mary University of London and most recently the author of Amritsar 1919, served as the discussant.
Being workshop-style meetings, the seminar sessions are not recorded.
The fall 2021 sessions will be held in November. The program can be found on GloDec’s website.
The Pardee School’s Global Decolonization Initiative (GloDec) brings together undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, and faculty to develop an intellectual community passionate about understanding the ongoing processes of decolonization through studying borders, borderlands, partitions, identities, race, citizenship, and political violence. Lear more about the initiative on GloDec’s webpage.