Olga Dror

Olga Dror is an American historian and scholar specializing in the modern history of Vietnam, Vietnamese religion, and cultural history. A professor at Texas A&M University, her research critically examines topics such as the cult of Hồ Chí Minh, the Đạo Mẫu (Mother Goddess religion), and the experiences of children during the Vietnam War. Her work is noted for its interdisciplinary approach, drawing from anthropology, religious studies, and sociology to provide nuanced perspectives on Vietnamese society and politics.

Biography

Olga Dror was born in the former Soviet Union and later immigrated to the United States. She pursued her higher education at Cornell University, where she earned her Ph.D. in History. Her academic trajectory was significantly shaped by her early interest in Southeast Asian studies and the complex cultural landscape of Vietnam. Her personal background and scholarly migration from the study of the Soviet Union to focusing on Indochina have informed her cross-cultural analytical lens, particularly in examining ideology and religion.

Academic career

Dror is a professor in the Department of History at Texas A&M University, a major research university within the Texas A&M University System. She has held various fellowships, including at the National Humanities Center and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. At Texas A&M, she teaches courses on Southeast Asia, modern Vietnam, and global history, mentoring numerous graduate students. She has also been a visiting scholar at institutions like the École française d'Extrême-Orient and has presented her research internationally, contributing to the growth of Vietnamese studies in American academia.

Research and publications

Dror's research focuses on the intersection of religion, politics, and culture in modern Vietnam. Her first major book, Cult, Culture, and Authority: Princess Liễu Hạnh in Vietnamese History, is a seminal study of the Đạo Mẫu tradition and the veneration of the goddess Liễu Hạnh. She later published Making Two Vietnams: War and Youth Identities, 1965-1975, which analyzes education and propaganda aimed at children in both the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). Her work on the deification of Hồ Chí Minh explores the construction of his posthumous cult within the context of Vietnamese communism and state-sponsored religion.

Awards and recognition

Her scholarship has been recognized with several prestigious awards and grants. She has received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Social Science Research Council. Her book Making Two Vietnams won the Harry J. Benda Prize from the Association for Asian Studies. She has also been awarded fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Mellon Foundation, supporting her archival research in Vietnam, France, and the United States.

Selected works

* Cult, Culture, and Authority: Princess Liễu Hạnh in Vietnamese History (University of Hawaii Press) * Making Two Vietnams: War and Youth Identities, 1965-1975 (Cambridge University Press) * Co-editor with Keith W. Taylor, Views of Seventeenth-Century Vietnam: Christoforo Borri on Cochinchina and Samuel Baron on Tonkin (Southeast Asia Program Publications, Cornell University) * Numerous articles in journals such as The Journal of Asian Studies, The Journal of Vietnamese Studies, and Modern Asian Studies.

Category:American historians Category:Historians of Vietnam Category:Texas A&M University faculty Category:Cornell University alumni