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Shawn
MCHALE

History - United States

Contact details

Email.
mchale@gwu.edu
Personal Website.
https://history.columbian.gwu.edu/shawn-mchale

Research topics

SCIENTIFIC PROJECT

"Violence, Peace, and Vietnamese Engagements With 'Original' Buddhism in Asia, 1900-1989"

 

This project looks at three interlinked topics. First, it examines the broad reorientation of some Vietnamese Buddhists  during the twentieth century away from both Chinese Buddhist texts as well as highly localized beliefs and practices towards what they conceived of as a search for a purer "original Buddhism" with roots in South Asia. Second, it focuses on one example of this “turn to origins”by examining how Vietnamese engagement with Cambodia and Cambodian Buddhism from the 19th century until 1989 acted as a major catalyst for change. Third, my analysis addresses a seeming paradox: how did Khmer and Vietnamese engage in deep intercultural exchanges in the religious sphere, but also engage in extensive violence? And how does Buddhism fit into this story? This topic has implications for understanding more precisely the social role of religious belief in preserving peace or worsening conflict in the world. 

Activities / Resume

BIOGRAPHY

 

Shawn McHale is Professor of History, George Washington University (Washington, DC, USA). He received his doctorat from Cornell University (USA) in Southeast Asian history. He has authored two books on modern Vietnamese cultural and political history under French colonial rule. The recipient of numerous fellowships, his current research focuses on the Vietnamese search for "original Buddhism" in Asia in times of peace and war, 1900-1989.