11:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.: Greetings and Opening Remarks
- Lien-Hang Nguyen, Director, Weatherhead East Asian Institute
- John Phan, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures
- Duy Linh Tu, Professor of Professional Practice in the Faculty of Journalism, Graduate School of Journalism
- Tony Bui, Artist in Residence, Weatherhead East Asian Institute and Adjunct Professor, School of the Arts
11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: New Histories of the Republic of Vietnam and the South Vietnamese Diaspora
Chair: Lien-Hang Nguyen, Columbia University
Moderator: Edward Miller, Dartmouth College
Speakers:
- Mai Elliott, Pomona College (emeritus)
- Sean Fear, Leeds University
- Adrienne Le, Columbia University
12:45 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.: Beyond Legacy, Beyond Memory: South Vietnamese Literature from the Fall into the Future
Chair and Moderator: John Phan, Columbia University
Speakers:
- Thuý Đinh, editor, literary translator, critic; Co-editor, Da Màu, Editor-at-Large, Asymptote; freelance critic, NPR Books
- Olga Dror, Professor, Department of History, Texas A&M University
- Trinh Luu, U.S.-Vietnam Research Center, University of Oregon
- Nu-Anh Tran, Associate Professor, Department of History & Asian and Asian American Studies Institute, University of Connecticut
With video contributions from:
- Phan Nhật Nam, soldier, writer, critic, former officer in the Republic of Vietnam’s Airborne Division and author of War's Embers (Dấu binh lửa), among other seminal works chronicling war and exile.
- Nhã Ca, celebrated poet and novelist, author of Mourning Headband for Hue (Giải khăn sô cho Huế), among many other works.
2:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.: Sartorial Retrospective on the Republic of Vietnam: First Ladies’ Ao Dai
Chair: Lien-Hang Nguyen, Columbia University
Moderator: Laurel Kendall, Columbia University; Curator, Asian Ethnology, Curator-in-Charge of African and Pacific Ethnology, American Museum of Natural History
Speakers:
- Ann Marie Leshkowich, College of the Holy Cross
- Martina Nguyen, Baruch College
- Tuong Vu, University of Oregon; Founding Director, US-Vietnam Research Center
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.: From the Fall of Saigon to Political Participation in the U.S.
Chair and Moderator: Duy Linh Tu, Columbia University
Speakers:
- Lan Cao, Chapman University School of Law
- Hoi Trinh, Lawyer and Executive Director, Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment
This event is hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and co-sponsored by Columbia Journalism School. This event is part of the three-day series 50-30: From War to Peace in Vietnam and the United States, April 30 – May 2, 2025.
Registration:
- To attend this event in-person, please register HERE.
