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Vietnam Studies at UCR

The University of California, Riverside has more research faculty in Vietnamese Studies than any other university in the United States (Australia National University, Canberra is the only other campus outside of Vietnam that has an equivalent number). Traditionally, Vietnam Studies was a field dominated by Cold War-era historians, political scientists and others focused primarily on political issues during the Vietnam War.  With a new generation of Vietnamese Americans in American universities and Vietnam’s economic renaissance, Vietnam Studies has opened a much broader area of study to researchers, including anthropologists, environmental historians, cultural critics, environmental economists, human rights researchers, and gender and sexuality specialists. UCR’s young faculty, its substantial language program in Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian languages; its focus on the arts, humanities, and social sciences (rather than military history and socialist economies) by way of SEATRIP; and a keen interest in diasporic linkages, distinguishes it not only in the UC system, but also nationally.

SEATRIP stands for Southeast Asia: Text, Rituals, and Performance. According to Lan Duong, Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies and Media and Cultural Studies, SEATRIP a program that looks at Southeast Asia through a cultural lens of literature, religion, and performance, which includes visual art, theatre and dance.  Since the Cold War, Southeast Asia has been viewed by American universities through the historical lens of the US. “There is a cultural component in the program that is very appealing to me,” Duong said.

Professor Duong’s research includes postwar cultural productions of the Vietnamese and Vietnamese Diaspora.  She interprets films and literature through the themes of nationalism, betrayal, and collaboration, against the historical background of Vietnam, France, and the US. She says she is especially interested in the representation of gender and sexuality within her works. 

Assistant Professor of Anthropology Christine Schwenkel’s research focuses on the intersections of transnationalism, visual culture, and historical memory in Vietnam. According to Professor Schwenkel, her research traces the transnational flows of images of the US/Vietnam War and shifts in the aesthetics of memory at Vietnamese museums, war monuments, art and photography exhibits, and tourist sites. 

Mariam Lam, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature/Vietnamese, specializes in Southeast Asian literature and visual cultures, postcolonial criticism, diasporic expressive forms, gender and sexuality, ethnic studies, translation, tourism, and community politics.  One of her on-going projects includes an analysis of the development of Southeast Asian and Southeast Asian American studies in the US academy, and of the politics of transnational scholarship.

David Biggs, Assistant Professor of History, is currently doing his research on the Mekong Delta, located in the southern-most region of Vietnam, from where half the rice in the country is produced. His research focuses on the relativity of the region’s environmental past, including studies of the Vietnam War’s impact on the environment and development since the war’s end in 1975. He will also be heading a trip with UCR Summer Sessions to the ancient imperial capital in Hue, where he will be teaching a course on the Vietnam War (History 184) that will incorporate visits to key historical sites. According to Professor Duong, students will have the opportunity to “immerse themselves within the language, culture and history of Vietnam,” as well as get hands-on experience within and outside of the classroom. “Besides learning a new language, which I find is always important since we live in a globalized world; there is the added benefit of being in another culture that you can learn from,” said Professor Duong.

For any questions on any of the classes students may be interested in taking next quarter on Vietnam studies or on the Hue trip this summer, please go to the SEATRIP website at http://www.seatrip.ucr.edu.

AAC&U Reduced Rate Subscriptions

AAC&U is offering two, new, reduced rate subscriptions.  For participants who attended AAC&U’s 2007 Annual Meeting, the publications are under cost.  While AAC&U members may also enjoy a substantial discount, the cost for others is slightly higher.  Information on ordering Making a Real Difference with Diversity: A Guide to Institutional Change and DIVERSE: Issues in Higher Education follows.   

Making a Real Difference with Diversity: A Guide to Institutional Change

The guide, Making a Real Difference with Diversity: A Guide to Institutional Changeis newly released and available to participants of AAC&U’s 2007 Annual Meeting at a substantial discount – just $10 per copy (the cost for others is $20; $15 for AAC&U members).  A complete description and excerpt are available at http://aacu-secure.nisgroup.com/acb/stores/1/product1.cfm?SID=1&Product_ID=128.   To purchase the publication, please enter “diversity” when you provide the Promo Code on the order form.  The code is active through June 15, and the discount applies to single sale, not bulk, purchases.

DIVERSE: Issues in Higher Education

For conference participants who desire a one-year subscription to DIVERSE: Issues in Higher Education, the reduced rate is $15.  (The regular subscription rate is $40.)  To take advantage of this offer, visit the DIVERSE web site at http://www.diverseeducation.com/aacu/. 

AAC&U 2008 Annual Meeting

AAC&U’s 2008 Annual Meeting, Intentional Learning, Unscripted Challenges:  Knowledge and Imagination for an Interdependent World, will be held January 23-26, 2008, in Washington, DC.  The Call for Proposals will be available at the end of May (with a July 23 deadline), and interested individuals are encouraged to submit a proposal and/or participating in the meeting.  Additional information is available at www.aacu.org.