Convocation: Vijay Prashad

Dr. Vijay Prashad, a professor in South Asian History and Director of International Studies at Trinity College, is committed to intellectual extremism: nothing is forbidden to think about, everything is open to investigation. He is the author of twelve books, including two chosen by the Village Voice as books of the year: Karma of Brown Folk and Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting. His most recent books are The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World and Dispatches from Latin America: Experiments Against Neoliberalism. Dr. Prashad serves on the board of the Center for Third World Organizing, United For a Fair Economy, and the National Priorities Project. His convocation address examined Asian Americans, the Iraq War, and the upcoming election. With reference to Hawaii-born First Lieutenant Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq, the title of Dr. Prashad's presentation was "Watada's Election: Asian Americans and These Asian Wars."