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In the West, L\u00ea \u0110\u1ee9c Th\u1ecd is recalled as Henry Kissinger\u2019s arch-nemisis at the Paris Peace Talks and the only person to have ever refused the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet L\u00ea \u0110\u1ee9c Th\u1ecd\u2019s influence extended well beyond Paris and Copenhagen. As a founding member of the Indochinese Communist Party and later the chief of the Party\u2019s powerful Central Organization Commission [Ban T\u1ed5 Ch\u1ee9c Trung \u01af\u01a1ng], L\u00ea \u0110\u1ee9c Th\u1ecd cast a long shadow over Vietnam for several decades, playing an integral role in such events as the so-called Anti Party Affair [V\u1ee5 \u00e1n X\u00e9t l\u1ea1i Ch\u1ed1ng \u0110\u1ea3ng] and \u0110\u1ed5i M\u1edbi [Renovation]. Nonetheless, he largely remains shrouded in mystery. Through Vietnamese newspapers, memoirs, archives, and interviews, in this talk Dr. Picard will examine two related questions. Who was L\u00ea \u0110\u1ee9c Th\u1ecd? And how do we account for his rise to power? Through this analysis, Dr. Picard will argue that scholars and observers need to reconsider the architecture of power in Communist Vietnam.<\/span><\/p>\n Dr. Jason A Picard is the Founding Assistant Professor of Vietnamese History and Culture. A historian of Southeast Asia by training, Dr. Picard received his PhD in History from the University of California, Berkeley and MA in Asian Studies from Cornell University. \u00a0Prior to arriving at VinUniversity, Dr. Picard served as lecturer of Modern Southeast Asian History at Loyola University Chicago\u2019s Vietnam Center, teaching a variety of courses on Vietnam and Cambodia. He has been a Fellow at both Vietnam\u2019s National Institute of Literature (2003-2004) and Institute of History (2007-2009). <\/span><\/p>\nSpeaker\u2019s Bio <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n