Duy Lap Nguyen

Associate Professor Duy Lap Nguyen is affiliated with the Department of World Cultures and Literatures at the University of Houston's College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Irvine (2012) and a B.A. in Comparative Literature from UC Santa Cruz. His research bridges critical theory, Vietnamese studies, and cultural critique, focusing on postcolonialism, Marxist political economy, and 20th-century cultural history.

• Education:
  • Ph.D., Comparative Literature, UC Irvine, 2012
  • B.A., Comparative Literature, UC Santa Cruz

Nguyen's work interrogates the political and cultural dynamics of South Vietnam, challenging conventional narratives of the Vietnam War. He examines how anti-colonial communism manifested in competing state projects and explores the intersection of culture, imperialism, and modernity. Key contributions include redefining Vietnamese revolutionary movements through a Marxist-humanist lens and analyzing Benjamin's critique of political economy.

His publications include The Unimagined Community (2020) and Walter Benjamin and the Critique of Political Economy (2022), which received acclaim for their interdisciplinary rigor. Nguyen’s scholarship spans Vietnamese spy fiction, surveillance studies, and global modernity critiques, with frequent engagement in journals like Philosophy Today and Science Fiction Studies.

Teaching focuses on world cinema and cultural theory, emphasizing postcolonial and Marxist frameworks. Research activities highlight transnational intellectual histories and the material conditions shaping cultural production under capitalism.