Frank Dhont, PhD (chairman)

Dr. Frank Dhont is Associate Professor, Department of History, National Cheng Kung University. He previously worked as Senior Lecturer in FASS-IAS, University of Brunei Darussalam. He obtained a PhD in History from Yale University specializing in history of Indonesia and Southeast Asia. He also holds an MHum in history from Gadjah Mada University (Indonesia) as well as an MA in Indonesian from Lund University (Sweden). As Indonesianist, he is regularly involved in multidisciplinary initiatives and is founder and chair of the International Indonesia Forum. His major research interests include the reactions of both indigenous rulers and ordinary people to Japanese colonialism in the Netherlands Indies and Southeast Asia during World War II. He is also interested in the history of both World Wars in Asia and the spread of ideologies such as nationalism and Islam, especially in the context of colonial empires in Asia.