The University of Oregon (UO) will host the 6th “Engaging with Vietnam – An Interdisciplinary Dialogue” Conference, Nov. 6-7. The two-day international conference promotes the study of Vietnam and dialogue between diverse communities of Vietnam scholars.
This annual event has been held for five times since 2009 in Vietnam, Australia, and the U.S., co-sponsored by Monash University, Vietnam National University, and University of Hawaii. The Sixth Conference will be held for the first time at the UO.
The conference will also be among the few general conferences on a broad range of Vietnam-related topics ever held in continental United States in recent years. It will feature keynote panels consisting of scholars and education leaders speaking directly to a number of issues, from cultural deconstruction to global perception of modern Vietnam.
Experts hope to address questions such as: Where have Vietnamese situated themselves when they think of the broader world around them? How has Vietnam’s peripheral or frontier status shaped its history, culture, society, politics, and the identities of its people? What characterizes the major patterns of Vietnamese interactions with the center/metropole as well as with other peripheral or frontier areas? How have Vietnamese rationalized such events? How do they integrate internal frontiers and peripheries in their thoughts and acts? Can we think of Vietnam as an empire?
The following keynote speakers have confirmed their participation at the Sixth Conference:
Bui Tran Phuong (Rector, Hoa Sen University), Christopher Goscha (History, University of Quebec), Erik Harms (Anthropology, Yale), Kimberly Hoang (Sociology, Boston College), Janet Hoskins (Anthropology, University of Southern California), Nguyen Tuan Cuong (Han-Nom Institute and Harvard Yenching), Pham Quang Minh (Vice Dean of Social Sciences, Vietnam National University), Michael Singh (Education, University of Western Sydney), Angie Ngoc Tran (Global Studies, California State University), Nu-Anh Tran (History, University of Connecticut), Peter Zinoman (History, University of California, Berkeley).
From University of Hawaii: Donald Young (Dean of Education, Hawaii), Liam Kelley (History, Hawaii), Ben Kerkvliet (Political Science).
From University of Oregon: Glenn May (History, UO), Sandra Morgen (Anthropology, UO).