Eugene B. Ford
5th year Ph.D. candidate
My work is broadly concerned with the role of Buddhism in the Cold War. In my dissertation entitled "Cold War Monks: Regionalism and Religious Politics in Thailand and Mainland Southeast Asia, 1945-1973" I explore how Theravada Buddhist abbots and institutions throughout this region became involved in Cold War politics. One of my main interests is in the reaction of Buddhist monks in Thailand and in neighboring countries to the self-immolations of South Vietnamese monks starting in 1963. I also examine how the U.S. attempted to cultivate relationships with Buddhist clergy in order to advance its strategic interests in the region (this work was carried out in part through the Asia Foundation).
I have done archival research in the National Archives of Thailand, in the monastic libraries of several Thai Buddhist temples, and in archives in the United States. I have also conducted a series of oral interviews with Buddhist abbots in Bangkok, northeastern Thailand and Laos. Ben Kiernan is my adviser. I also work closely with John Lewis Gaddis and Seth Fein.
Before beginning my graduate work at Yale, I earned a B.A. in history from the University of Chicago and spent two years in Thailand's rural northeast as a Peace Corps volunteer. My teaching interests include modern Southeast Asian history; Indian Ocean history; modern U.S. international history; and the history of the global Chinese diaspora.
