WEAI Hosts Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City Conferences, “Understand the Past | Transform the Future”

This summer, 300 business leaders, politicians, scholars, and Columbia alumni assembled for a multi-city conference to consider a new vision of Vietnamese Studies. The conferences, “Understand the Past | Transform the Future,” were held on July 28 and 29 in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and highlighted prospects for advancing the study of Vietnam at Columbia University and beyond. Professor Lien-Hang Nguyen, Dorothy Borg Associate Professor in the History of the United States and East Asia and incoming director of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, led the delegation of Columbia faculty. 

This trip was made possible largely thanks to the efforts of Peter Mach (CC ‘95, SIPA ‘96), the president of the Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) of Vietnam, who shared his spectacular journey as an 8-year-old refugee from Vietnam to the Bronx, making his way to Columbia, Wall Street, and eventually finding success as an entrepreneur in Ho Chi Minh City where he has now lived for over 10 years. Mach’s transformation is emblematic of the changes in Vietnam and how it is studied. 

In reference to Vietnam’s dynamic growth––Vietnam is the 15th largest country and the fourth largest growing economy in the world––John Phan, EALAC Assistant Professor of Vietnamese Humanities and Cultures, explains, “The study of Vietnam has reached a global tipping point. Vietnam has transformed over the past few decades, and global interest in Vietnam has transformed accordingly.” Teaching at Columbia covers the relatively recent unification of a country divided for centuries by geography and ethnic groups; its complex linguistic history; and clarifies misunderstandings about a divisive war that many Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans are ready to move past. 

In appealing to the audience to support Vietnamese Studies at Columbia, Professor Nguyen argues, “Only by understanding the past can we strengthen relations between our institutions of higher education and between our two countries. From the ashes of a shared tragic history will emerge a brighter and more peaceful future.”

The conferences’ main panel showcased Vietnam Studies at Columbia through its team of professors, lecturers, and fellows. Nguyen, who founded the Vietnamese Studies Initiative with Phan in 2017, shared video interviews with recent Columbia students from the Vietnamese diaspora, who described the personal importance of studying Vietnamese history and literature. Bao-Yen Vu, a WEAI postdoctoral researcher, described her teaching on the Vietnamese colonial era and culture; and Chung Nguyen, Full-time Lecturer and Director of the Vietnamese Language Program; and Vinh Nguyen, Adjunct Lecturer of Vietnamese language, discussed the ways Vietnam’s language and culture are taught, highlighting as well the many events and opportunities in Vietnamese Studies at Columbia. 

Also in attendance, Professors Andrew Nathan and Eugenia Lean, former WEAI directors, both led previous trips to Southeast Asia over the last ten years as part of the Institute’s strong commitment to expanding its reach into the region.  At the conferences, Professor Lean (EALAC), now Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, described Columbia’s long engagement with Vietnam and Southeast Asia, and highlighted the strengths and needs of the Initiative to the audience.

The second half of the conferences showcased the importance of Vietnam in terms of its economic opportunities and new place in the world. Professor Nathan (Political Science), discussed Vietnam’s strategic role in the Asia Pacific; Paul Chamberlin (History) described his courses on “Vietnam and the World in the Twentieth Century.” Lien Hoang (CC ‘08, School of Journalism ‘10), the Vietnamese Business Reporter for Nikkei Asian Review and a CAA Vietnam board member, discussed the positive economic trends with Bill Stoops, head of Dragon Capital, a leading investment fund in the country. Fred Burke (SIPA ‘86, JD ‘87), founder of Baker McKenzie Vietnam and another CAA Vietnam board member, led a conversation about Vietnam’s role in ASEAN with the director of multilateral trade policy for Vietnam, Luong Hoang Thai. Closing remarks were given by Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc, who previously met with the Vietnamese Studies Initiative team when he was ambassador to the United States. US Ambassador Marc Knapper, who learned his now-fluent Vietnamese language skills from Columbia instructor Chung Nguyen, made closing remarks at the Hanoi conference. 

Columbia signed four Memorandums of Understanding at the conferences, an historic moment for all institutions. New partnerships were formed with the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam; the University of Social Sciences and Humanities Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City; and Fulbright University of Vietnam, where Professor Lien-Hang Nguyen is a board member and where a Vietnam-based center is planned. After the second conference, Peter Mach and his wife Sophia Woo opened up their home to a Young Presidents’ Organization dinner where delegation members discussed the Vietnamese Studies Initiative with local and international business leaders.