Scheduled time: one hour, including introduction and questions (presentation runs about 45 minutes).
Biography:
David Mould, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University, has traveled widely in Asia and southern Africa. Born in the UK, he worked as a newspaper and TV journalist before moving to the US in 1978. His travel essays and articles have been published in Newsweek, Christian Science Monitor, Times Higher Education, History News Network and other print and online outlets. His books include Postcards from the Borderlands (Open Books, 2020), Monsoon Postcards: Indian Ocean Journeys (Ohio University Press, 2019) and Postcards from Stanland: Journeys in Central Asia (Ohio University Press, 2016).
Kirkus Reviews describes David as “a genial travel guide … an academic who does not write like an academic.” Rick Steves, in an interview for his radio show, said: “Monsoon Postcards doesn’t really read like a guidebook, it reads like you’ve got a friend who’s really connected and committed to these cultures. It gives an intimate look at the people and the heritage.”
1. The Borders of Our Minds
In his latest book on travel, history and culture, Postcards from the Borderlands, historian and journalist David Mould explores the meaning of borders. Are they simply political and geographical, marked by posts, walls and fences, or should we think of them more broadly? Some borders, set by surveys and treaties, take no account of geography, language, and culture. There are borders within countries—physical, economic, or social. And finally there are the borders of our minds—the way we may think of unfamiliar places. David’s journey begins with maps and cartoons that poke fun at how we view cities and regions in the US and other parts of the world. He explores how the borders of Ukraine have changed over time. He moves on to the carve-up of Africa, the artificial (and often straight-line) borders drawn by colonial powers, and to Central Asia and the border casualties of the dissolution of the Soviet Union--that gerrymandered jumble of countries whose names end in -stan. He ends up in South Asia, with the tragic decision to partition British India along religious lines in 1947, and explores “the world’s craziest border” between India and Bangladesh.
2. First Encounters—Four Travel Vignettes
Wherever he travels, historian and journalist David Mould is constantly scribbling in his notebook or on whatever piece of paper he has handy—an airline boarding card, a restaurant menu. He records his first impressions so that he can connect the dots later. Even in a place filled with new sights, sounds, and smells, what is interesting and unexpected is more familiar the next time around, and less worthy of recording. Here are four vignettes based on first encounters—"Arriving in India,” “Paris with rice paddies” (Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo), “The traffic jam that never ends” (Dhaka, Bangladesh), and “Desperately Seeking SIM card” (trying to connect in Hyderabad, India).
3. Inexplicable India
In TV commercials and glossy tourism campaigns, it’s “Incredible India.” To historian and journalist David Mould, it’s a sub-continent so diverse that it defies description—simply inexplicable. India is an epic of epics, spanning thousands of years—of war and conquest, of the rise and fall of great civilizations, of architecture, literature, and art, of migration and settlement, of commerce with Asia, Europe and Africa. Faced with crowds, poverty, pollution, traffic congestion, crime and heat, some people find India too much to bear. But if you’re prepared to take India for what it is—often messy and disorganized, occasionally dangerous and always unpredictable—you will be well rewarded, and relish its smells, sounds, sights, culture and people.
4. Northeast India—the Chicken’s Neck
It’s the region few foreign or even Indian tourists visit—the northeast, almost encircled by China (Tibet), Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Cut off from the Bay of Bengal by the partition of British India, a narrow strip of land, the so-called “chicken’s neck,” connects the seven northeastern states to the rest of the country, or what locals sometimes call “mainland India.” The northeast has not shared in the economic boom of other regions, and remains mostly agricultural, but offers diverse landscapes and cultures. In Assam, David Mould travels along the wide valley of the Brahmaputra to the Hindu monasteries of Majuli Island and the fortresses and palaces of the Ahom empire, then heads south into the hills of Meghalaya—to the colonial hill station of Shillong, the “Scotland of the East,” and to Cherrapunjee, whose claim to fame is that it is “the wettest place in the world.”
5. Postcards from Madagascar
Cuddly lemurs, rare reptiles, baobab trees and tropical beaches. Or cartoon animals who escaped from a New York zoo. These are popular images of Madagascar, the world’s fourth-largest island. Historian and journalist David Mould came back with different impressions. From the traffic jams and crowded markets of the colonial-era capital, Antananarivo, which he describes as “Paris with rice paddies,” he wanders through the Central Highlands, the eastern rain forest and the savannah and desert of the southwest, offering glimpses of the history, culture and politics of a beguiling but desperately poor country.
6. Bangladesh—Land of Rivers
For a country about the size of Illinois, Bangladesh has a large population (about 168 million) and a lot of water, with three major river systems emptying into the Bay of Bengal. Every year, between one quarter and one third of the land area is under water, yet the rivers sustain agriculture and are highways for commerce. David’s journey takes him from Old Dhaka, with its narrow alleys, bustling riverside markets and decaying colonial-era buildings to Rajshahi on the Padma (Ganges) on the border with West Bengal, to the river ports of Khulna and Barisal in the delta region, and to the tea plantations of the northeast.
7. Postcards from Indonesia
It’s the world’s largest archipelagic state—17,000 islands (more or less) stretching more than 3,000 miles east to west. It has the fourth largest population in the world—more than 265 million—and the world’s largest Muslim population. Strung along the so-called Ring of Fire, Indonesia experiences more than its fair share of natural disasters—earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis. Historian and journalist David Mould’s journey begins in the province of Aceh in Sumatra—ground zero for the 2004 tsunami. Amid the urban sprawl and traffic jams of the capital, Jakarta, he finds refuge in the old colonial port of Batavia, once the capital of the Dutch East Indies with its thriving spice trade. In Bali, he avoids Australian surfers on his way to the back country and Hindu temples. Along the way he explores Indonesia’s history of colonialism and regional conflict, its politics, media and environmental challenges.
8. Postcards from Stanland: Journeys in Central Asia
Across the vast steppe and mountain ranges, to fabled Silk Road cities, the Soviet rust belt and the futuristic architecture of Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital, historian and journalist David Mould travels to a remote, diverse and strategically vital region--the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. That jumble of countries whose names end in -stan: Stanland. You'll meet teachers, students, politicians, entrepreneurs, journalists, cab drivers and market sellers to learn about their history, culture and struggle to survive in the post-Soviet era. You'll enjoy the stories and landscapes but be happy you skipped the dangerous flights and bad hotels.
9. Three Journeys in Central Asia
Historian and journalist David Mould, author of Postcards from Stanland, describes three overland trips in Central Asia. From Kazakhstan's surreal modern capital, Astana, to the mining and steel city of Karaganda, where thousands died in labor camps in the Stalin era. From Kyrgyzstan's less pretentious capital, Bishkek, to Karakol, on the shore of Issyk Kul, the second-largest alpine lake in the world and a rest stop for Russian explorers and Chinese traders. And a wild ride over three mountain ranges in a Lada (with vodka for ballast) from Bishkek to the ancient Silk Road city of Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan, a flash point for ethnic tensions in the post-Soviet era.
10. 1947—The Year of Conflict
In 1947 in the Indian sub-continent, almost two centuries of British rule was ending with the creation of Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, its two parts fatally separated by geography, language, and culture. In Indonesia, nationalist militias were battling the Dutch, who were trying to reclaim their largest and richest colony after the end of Japan’s World War II occupation. In Madagascar, the French were brutally suppressing an independence movement that threatened commercial interests, including plantations and mines. Historian and journalist David Mould traces key events of 1947, telling the stories of some who played their parts in this year of conflict and social change.
11. In Search of National Identity: Central Asia in the Post-Soviet Era
Central Asia has long stood at the crossroads of history. The steppe provided grazing lands for the armies of the Mongol Empire. The expanding Russian Empire and the British in India battled for geopolitical influence in the so-called Great Game of the 19th century. Today, the political and commercial competition is for the oil and gas reserves of the Caspian Sea, and control of the pipelines. Yet Central Asia is still, to many in the West, a terra incognita, a vast geographical blank.
For the five “stans”—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan—shaking off the legacy of 75 years of Soviet rule has not been easy. The transition to a market economy has been slow and difficult, social services and education have declined in quality, and many people, especially in rural areas and regional cities, feel worse off than in Soviet times. Soviet-era attitudes persist. Each country has attempted to define its national identity, although this has sometimes meant re-inventing history.
Historian and journalist David Mould, author of Postcards from Stanland, has been traveling to the region since the mid-1990s. In this presentation, he offers insights on landscape, culture, history, politics, environment, media, universities and other topics, as he grapples with the challenges of travel, work, shopping, eating, communicating and staying warm.
12. Lost in the development jungle: an academic’s journey
For more than a decade, college professor David Mould has worked with international agencies, including UNICEF and USAID, on projects to support universities and training organizations in Asia and Africa. He has designed curriculum, conducted workshops and led research studies in two main areas—journalism, and the use of communication in sectors such as health, nutrition, education, and environment.
From the jungles of Madagascar to India’s Deccan plateau and the flood plains of Bangladesh, it’s been an exciting but challenging journey. As an “itinerant academic worker” (David’s self-adopted title), he has had to bridge the cultures of academe and development agencies, whose priorities usually differ. He’s survived long road trips, bad food, power outages, long-winded monologues by French-trained theorists, language barriers, political infighting and tricky negotiations with deans and agency heads. Along the way, he’s found himself asking troubling questions. Who are we supposed to be helping? Is the support we are providing what they want—or do they need something else? Whose agenda are we serving?