Dr. Brad Simpson meets with History Department faculty and graduate students as well as Indonesian Student Union representatives.
Dr. Brad Simpson recently visited Ohio University, kicking off the Contemporary History Institute’s fall semester speaker series.
Simpson teaches and researches 20th century U.S. foreign relations and international history in the History Department of the University of Connecticut and has a joint appointment with the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute.
CHI also hosted a discussion at Sing Tao Center with Simpson and about two-dozen graduate students and faculty from the History Department as well as Indonesian Student Union representatives. In a wide-ranging conversation, the group discussed current political and social realities of Indonesia, world history methodology, international source material, collaborative work, and new ways of developing academic careers. Simpson also provided insights from his current book project, an international history of self-determination beginning in the mid-20th century.
Bradley Simpson gives talk on “The Atlantic Charter Moment: Self-Determination and Global History.”
In his talk to a packed room later that afternoon, titled “The Atlantic Charter Moment: Self-Determination and Global History (1935-1945),” Simpson explored these ideas further, tracking the contested history of the concept of self-determination. His research traces varying interpretations of self-determination around the globe in places such as India, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Vietnam, and finds that no singular idea about the meaning of self-determination dominated.
Simpson fielded questions from the audience following his talk and argued that contested history of self-determination provides the means to reconsider contemporary notions of human rights, sovereignty, and international order as they intersected with the processes of decolonization, Cold War conflict, and globalization.
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