A McNair

Scholars
Journey
Sophal Ear, PhD
Assistant Professor
US Naval Postgraduate School
4 August 2011
Faculty Club of UC Berkeley
The views expressed do not reflect the views of the Department of Navy or the Department of Defense.
My Marching Orders
Journey from McNair scholar to faculty
member (which is the whole goal of the
program!)
McNair, Graduate School, and beyond
Anything else for staff, faculty, and students

Way back in 1994
The 3
rd
cohort of the McNair Scholars
program at UC Berkeley formed
Good old Dwinelle Hall
Picture taken on the day of my talk at
the McNair Symposium, Summer 1995
I hope that if you conclude
anything at all upon reading this
thesis, it is this: more needs to be
written on the Cambodian
economy.
Universities are based
on the illimitable
freedom of the human
mind for here we are
not afraid to follow
truth wherever it may
lead, nor to tolerate any
error so long as reason
is left free to combat it.
Fast-Forward to 2011
And on 18
March 2011, I
received a
letter from
James Rogers.
This was more planning than the
US invasion of Iraq!
(I can say this with some authority
because I teach courses to junior
military officers on how to rebuild
countries after conflict.)
Rewind to a couple of months
The June 4-10 print edition of
No less than the
act itself, the
politics of
genocide can be
heartbreaking.

Yours Truly

So genocide will
be something Ill
touch on today.

But how did I get to where I am?
A McNair Scholars Journey in Five Acts
1. Cambodia
2. Vietnam
3. France
4. America
5. Peoples Republic of Berkeley
I had six minutes to tell my story.
Today, I have a little more time to
reflect on my familys and my own
journey.
MY WIFE, 8 MONTHS PREGNANT
MOM
BILL
GATES
Act 1: Cambodia
There are no American combat
troops in Cambodia. There are no
American combat advisers in
Cambodia. There will be no
American combat troops or
advisers in Cambodia. We will aid
Cambodia. Cambodia is the Nixon
doctrine in its purest form.

President Richard Nixon,
November 1971
April 17
th
, 1975
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Evacuation of 2 million people
from Phnom Penh in three days
63
Once upon a time ... there was a regime so evil that it created an
antisociety where torture was currency and music, books, and love
were abolished. This regime ruled for four years and murdered
nearly 2 million of its citizens, a quarter of the population.
CAMBODIA
Michael Paterniti (2009)
Up to 16,000
66
70
71
One day in late-1975, circa
sunset
On the third day of our journey
towards Vietnam
1935-1975
Act 2: Vietnam
A VIETNAMESE CITIZEN,
A GOOD SAMARITAN
MOM
ME MY UNCLE AND AUNT
Act 3: France
A FRENCH CITIZEN,
A GOOD SAMARITAN
Act 4: America
ACT 5
To those whom
much is given,
much is
expected.
--John F. Kennedy
M.S., M.A., Ph.D.
There is no more noble endeavour
than the fight for social and global
justice, and for peace and
development.
Mark Malloch Brown
The Responsibility to Protect is a new
international security and human rights
norm to address the international
communitys failure to prevent and stop
genocides, war crimes, ethnic cleansing
and crimes against humanity.
136
HOLOCAUST: 11-17 MILLION
140
RWANDA: 800,000-1,000,000
143
BOSNIA: 200,000+
147
DARFUR: 300,000+
Returning to Cambodia and the
Khmer Rouge Tribunal
TUOL SLENGS DIRECTOR, DUCH, CONFESSED
AT KHMER ROUGE TRIBUNAL IN CAMBODIA, 2009.

VERDICT: GUILTY

DEATHS: 12,273+

SENTENCE: 35 YEARS
(REDUCED TO 19 FOR
TIME ALREADY SERVED)
APPEALING.
MADOFF: 150 YEARS
KILLED: 0; US$65 BILLION FRAUD
NOT APPEALING.
My mom, Cam Youk Lim
June 1936-October 2009
A photomosaic of
my mother, who had
seven years of
formal schooling,
spoke five
languages,
and saved lives.
20 Lives Saved
Steven Sophal Ear, born March 2009
Caitlyn Lim Ear, born March 2011