Wednesday Nite at the Lab
press release: WN@TL goes hybrid both with Zoom and with in-person (Room 1111) presentations. The zoom registration link is still go.wisc.edu/240r59. You can also watch a live web stream at on YouTube.
On May 17 Nam C. Kim of Anthropology returns to Wednesday Nite @ The Lab to speak on “Exploring the Legendary Foundations of Ancient Vietnam”
Description: In contemplating the foundations of cultural and historical identity, many people in Vietnam point to the Bac Bo (northern) region of the present-day country. Colorful tales describe the birth of powerful kingdoms over two thousand years ago in this region, and one of the most enduring accounts tells of the Au Lac Kingdom and its capital city, known as Co Loa. Situated in the Red River Valley, the defensive stronghold represents one of the earliest examples of urbanism in Southeast Asia. Its massive system of fortifications suggests unprecedented military power, as well as concerns over outside, predatory threats, namely the early empires of Chinese civilization. To this day, Co Loa holds a deep national significance as a national symbol of fabled dynasties and resistance against foreign aggression. This lecture presents new and ongoing archaeological research that addresses this fascinating early history of Vietnam.
Bio: Nam C. Kim is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the current Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies on its campus. He holds degrees in anthropology (PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago), political science (MA, New York University) and international relations (BA, University of Pennsylvania).
As an anthropological archaeologist, he has conducted research in various countries. His research deals with early civilizations and the significance of the material past for modern-day stakeholders. He is especially interested in the archaeological history of organized violence and warfare. Since 2005 he has been conducting archaeological fieldwork in Vietnam at the Co Loa settlement in the Red River Delta. A heavily fortified site located near modern-day Hanoi, Co Loa is connected to Vietnamese legendary accounts and is viewed as an important foundation for Vietnamese civilization.
Professor Kim’s work has been featured in various podcast interviews and a documentary (on the History Hit website). He has also authored several articles and books. The Origins of Ancient Vietnam (2015) provides a glimpse into the foundations of Vietnamese civilization, as seen through the archaeological record. Emergent Warfare in Our Evolutionary Past (2018, co-authored with Marc Kissel) provides a comprehensive view on the origins of war within the history of humanity. It seeks to answer questions about the antiquity of warfare, and whether or not organized violence is somehow innate within our species.
Explore More:
https://www.anthropology.wisc.
“Legendary Cổ Loa: Vietnam’s Ancient Capital” (2020). Interview with Tristan Hughes, part of History Hit TV’s podcast series The Ancients
(https://play.acast.com/s/the-
Violence and Warfare in Humanity’s Past. Lecture given for PBS Wisconsin’s University Place (March 3, 2021)
https://pbswisconsin.org/
Matters of the past mattering today. Oxford University Press Blog post, July 22. http://blog.oup.com/2016/07/
The Origins of Ancient Vietnam (Oxford University Press, 2015)
https://global.oup.com/
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