Archives You Can’t Google: 12 Years Inside The Vietnam Idea
Brynn Hatton, Kindler Family Associate Professor in Global Contemporary Art

The Vietnam Idea took 12 years to research and write — and almost none of that time was spent in traditional archives. Hatton will discuss the research and writing process behind her recent book, tracing how a project on global protest art led not to reading rooms and cold storage but to basements, kitchen tables, protest lines, and organizing meetings, where the real archive of "Vietnam" as a political symbol in the world turned out to be living in people’s memories and personal collections rather than institutional finding aids. In addition to introducing the book, Hatton will discuss how she slowly built a scholarly monograph from nontraditional sources, personal relationships, trust, and years of return visits, reflecting on the particular challenges of bringing a project with this kind of unconventional evidentiary base into the world as an academic publication.

This event is part of the Division of Arts & Humanities Fall 2026 Colloquium Series.

Refreshments provided.

All are welcome.