Lecture by Jacob Tropp, John Spencer Professor of African Studies

International and Global Studies Colloquium presentation by Jacob Tropp, John Spencer Professor of African Studies. Lunch is free for current Middlebury College students/faculty/staff; suggested $5 donation for others; RSVP by 4/4 to rcga@middlebury.edu.

Most accounts of how the United States became a major force in international development in the mid-twentieth century, particularly in the Global South, neglect an important dimension of the story: the impact of America’s enduring colonial relationship with its own indigenous peoples. Focusing on the “Indian New Deal” and World War II years, this lecture explores how U.S. government initiatives in Native American communities were at the center of significant transnational dialogues between American officials and a variety of foreign colleagues, particularly as state representatives from across Latin America and the British empire in Africa and South Asia engaged first-hand in development study tours of Native American reservations. Through these tours, American Indian policies and programs inflected larger transnational conversations about the nature of development “problems” around the globe and the role of state “experts” in implementing remedial measures.