imported>Senapatiji: /* growthexperiments-addlink-summary-summary:3|0|0 */

2025-03-14T10:48:19Z

growthexperiments-addlink-summary-summary:3|0|0

New page

{{short description|American writer and scholar|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{distinguish|George Chiga}}
'''George Chigas''' is an American writer, scholar and expert on [[Cambodia|Cambodian]] culture and the crimes of the [[Khmer Rouge rule of Cambodia|Khmer Rouge]]. He is currently an associate teaching professor in the World Languages and Cultures department at the [[University of Massachusetts Lowell]].<ref>[http://www.uml.edu/FAHSS/Cultural-Studies/faculty/chigas-george.aspx George Chigas Faculty Page]</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/16f95826-4850-11e6-8d68-72e9211e86ab|title=Cambodia authors forge Khmer language literary revival|last=Little|first=Harriet Fitch|date=2016-08-05|website=www.ft.com|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-02-27}}</ref>

{{Infobox person
| name = George Chigas
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = [[Tufts University]] (B.A., 1980) [[Cornell University]] (M.A., 1997) [[University of London]] (Ph.D., 2002)
| occupation = {{hlist|[[Author]]|[[Professor]]}}
| known_for = Expert and political commentator on [[Cambodia|Cambodian]] culture and crimes of the [[Khmer Rouge]]
}}

== Early life and education ==
Chigas graduated with a B.A. in [[Classical studies|Classical Studies]] from [[Tufts University]] in 1980. Subsequently he obtained an M.A. in Asian Studies from [[Cornell University]] in 1997 and a PhD in Southeast Asian Languages and Cultures from the [[SOAS, University of London|University of London SOAS]] in 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uml.edu/FAHSS/Peace-and-Conflict-Studies/faculty/Chigas-George.aspx|title=George Chigas {{!}} Faculty {{!}} Peace and Conflict Studies {{!}} UMass Lowell|website=www.uml.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-09-25}}</ref>

== Career ==
Following his B.A., in the late 1980s, Chigas worked at Lowell's International Institute and subsequently with a refugee processing center in the Philippines and in different refugee camps along the Thai/Cambodian border.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.uml.edu/News/stories/2010-11/george_chigas.aspx|title=Chigas Names Lecturer in Cambodian Language, Culture|access-date=2018-10-05|language=en}}</ref>

Chigas was the Associate Director of the [[Cambodian genocide|Cambodian Genocide]] Program at [[Yale University]] from 1998-2001.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theconversation.com/profiles/george-chigas-458524|title=George Chigas|website=The Conversation|date=4 April 2018 |language=en|access-date=2018-09-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archives.news.yale.edu/v28.n8/story13.html|title=Yale Bulletin and Calendar - Current Issue|website=archives.news.yale.edu|access-date=2018-10-05}}</ref> Working on the program he was involved in collecting evidence against [[Khmer Rouge]] leaders, who were later put [[Khmer Rouge Tribunal|on trial]] in [[Cambodia]].<ref name=":0" /> In 2009 Chigas worked on a project with the Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports to publish the first nationally used textbook on the Khmer Rouge.<ref name=":0" />

In 2010 he was named lecturer in the Cultural Studies Department at [[University of Massachusetts Lowell|UMass Lowell]], where he had served as visiting professor before.<ref name=":0" />

== Political commentator ==
Chigas is regarded an expert and noted political commentator on Cambodian culture and on the crimes of the [[Khmer Rouge]] that took place in [[Cambodia]] during the 1970s.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://scua.library.umass.edu/umarmot/category/ethnicity-immigration/page/2/|title=Immigration & ethnicity – Page 2 – Special Collections and University Archives|website=scua.library.umass.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-10-05}}</ref> He has spoken out on the regime's crimes in their time and today still is requested for statements in public news outlets on different issues regarding Cambodia, its people, culture and related issues.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2009Mar13/0,4675,CambodianMonkPoems,00.html|title=FOXNews.com - Late Cambodian monk's poems detail homeland terror - Local News {{!}} News Articles {{!}} National News {{!}} US News|website=www.foxnews.com|language=en|access-date=2018-10-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.voacambodia.com/a/mixed-opinions-on-vietnam-historical-role-in-cambodia-spark-debate/4328811.html|title=Mixed Opinions on Vietnam's Historical Role in Cambodia Spark Debate|last=Khemara|first=Sok|work=VOA|access-date=2018-10-05|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.voacambodia.com/a/david-chandler-receives-prestigious-award-for-asian-studies/4336025.html|title=Historian of Cambodia, David Chandler, Receives Prestigious Award for Asian Studies|last=Chap|first=Chetra|work=VOA|access-date=2018-10-05|language=en}}</ref>

== Works ==

=== Literature ===
He completed an English translation of the Cambodian verse novel ''The Story of [[Tum Teav]]'', and is co-author with Susan Cook of "Putting the Khmer Rouge on Trial", which appeared in the ''[[Bangkok Post]]'' on October 31, 1999.<ref>[http://www.asiaquarterly.com/content/view/61/40/ Harvard Asia Quarterly – Building a Case Against the Khmer Rouge: Evidence from the Tuol Sleng and Santebal Archives] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928052142/http://www.asiaquarterly.com/content/view/61/40/|date=September 28, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.aupp.edu.kh/2015/06/12/american-prof-chigas-promoter-of-cambodias-classic-love-story-tum-teav-is-in-phnom-penh/|title=American Prof. Chigas, Promoter of Cambodia's Classic Love Story Tum Teav, is in Phnom Penh - American University of Phnom Penh|date=2015-06-12|work=American University of Phnom Penh|access-date=2018-10-05|language=en-US}}</ref>

Other works include:

==== Books ====

* Cambodia's Lament: A Selection of Cambodian Writing<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5121948-cambodia-s-lament|title=Cambodia's Lament|website=www.goodreads.com|access-date=2018-10-05}}</ref>

==== Articles ====

* The politics of defining justice after the Cambodian genocide, [[Taylor & Francis]], Journal of Genocide Research<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chigas|first=George|date=June 2000|title=The politics of defining justice after the Cambodian genocide|journal=Journal of Genocide Research|language=en|volume=2|issue=2|pages=245–265|doi=10.1080/713677600|s2cid=71690689|issn=1462-3528}}</ref>
* Cambodia's lost literary life, Mekong Review (2016)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://mekongreview.com/cambodias-lost-literary-life/|title=Cambodia's lost literary life - Mekong Review|date=2016-02-10|work=Mekong Review|access-date=2018-10-05|language=en-US}}</ref>
* Bearing witness to Cambodia's horror, 20 years after [[Pol Pot]]'s death (2018)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://theconversation.com/bearing-witness-to-cambodias-horror-20-years-after-pol-pots-death-94541|title=Bearing witness to Cambodia's horror, 20 years after Pol Pot's death|last=Chigas|first=George|work=The Conversation|access-date=2018-10-05|language=en}}</ref>

=== Photography ===
Chigas created The George Chigas Collection, a small collection of photographs featuring Cambodian sites and ceremonies in the city of [[Lowell, Massachusetts|Lowell]], [[Massachusetts]], and has also displayed photos of Cambodia.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=George+Chigas+Collection,+1987&f%5Binstitution_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=University+of+Massachusetts+Amherst+Libraries+Special+Collections+and+University+Archives|title=Collection: George Chigas Collection, 1987 / Institution: University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries Special Collections and University Archives - Digital Commonwealth Search Results|website=www.digitalcommonwealth.org|language=en|access-date=2018-10-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://credo.library.umass.edu/search?q=mums180|title=Search results: mums180|website=credo.library.umass.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-10-05}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
George Chigas is married to Thida Loeung with whom he has two children. He's an American who speaks Khmer.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chigas, George}}
[[Category:Cambodian literature]]
[[Category:Translators from Khmer]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:University of Massachusetts Lowell faculty]]
[[Category:American male poets]]
[[Category:American translators]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:Cornell University alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of SOAS University of London]]
[[Category:Yale University faculty]]
[[Category:Political commentators]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]

George Chigas - Revision history

imported>Senapatiji: /* growthexperiments-addlink-summary-summary:3|0|0 */