Frank Dhont, PhD (chairman)

Dr. Frank Dhont is a Professor of Southeast Asian History at National Cheng Kung University (Taiwan). He previously worked as a Senior Lecturer in FASS-IAS, University of Brunei Darussalam (Brunei). He obtained a PhD in History from Yale University (USA). He also holds an MHum in history from Gadjah Mada University (Indonesia) and an MA in Indonesian from Lund University (Sweden). As an Indonesianist, he is regularly involved in multidisciplinary initiatives and is the founder and chair of the International Indonesia Forum. His research focuses on the struggle of the Indonesians against Dutch colonialism from the early days of European colonization, through the 20th century, culminating in Indonesian independence. He is particularly interested in the Japanese occupation of Indonesia and Southeast Asia and the socio-political changes this brought about in society, especially for ordinary people, including the memory of World War II in the region.