A Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges to Promote Asian Studies
ASIANetwork
Center for Educational Exchange with Vietnam
American Council of Learned Societies
The Henry Luce Foundation
Academic Exchange Grants
2005-2007
Panel on "Teaching and Learning in Vietnam and the USA" at the 2007 Conference, Chaired by Paul Nietupski & With Vietnam Visiting Scholars as Participants (Photo by Roxie Ransom)
ASIANetwork, the Center for Educational Exchange with Vietnam, and the American Council of Learned Societies, with support from the Henry Luce Foundation, successfully implemented a grant program to promote academic exchange with Vietnam during 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. The program was originally proposed by Minh Kauffman, Director of the Center for Educational Exchange with Vietnam, a member of the American Council of Learned Societies. ASIANetwork was brought on board to provide appropriate host institutions in the United States and to promote long term academic relationships between Vietnamese and U.S. institutions. Paul Nietupski of ASIANetwork managed the institutional selection process and other academic aspects of the program. Sandra Bradley of ACLS was in charge of managing the grant monies and legal details.
ASIANetwork member schools were invited to submit applications to host visiting faculty from Vietnam for semester-long stays on their campuses. Colleges and universities selected as host institutions sponsored individual Vietnamese scholars for a semester-long visit in the fall. In the summer following the completion of the Vietnamese faculty members' studies, host colleges and universities sent representatives to Vietnam for month-long visits. The goals of this project were to enable visiting Vietnamese faculty to examine the academic environment, teaching methods, and curricula of the host institutions, and to stimulate academic exchanges and long-term relationships between ASIANetwork colleges and universities and Vietnamese schools. All expenses were covered by the Luce grant.
Since its inception in 1990, the Center for Educational Exchange with Vietnam has promoted professional and academic exchanges that contribute to Vietnam's development and provide links between Vietnam and the international academic community. CEEVN activities have included Ford Foundation-sponsored graduate studies, support for foreign language studies, opportunities for under-represented communities, and a broad range of international exchange programs. CEEVN is affiliated with the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences and the American Council of Learned Societies.
The American Council of Learned Societies is a private non-profit federation of 68 national scholarly organizations, encompassing over 200 colleges, universities and libraries. It was established in 1919 with the mission to promote the study of the humanities and social sciences and to maintain and strengthen relations among national societies engaged in these studies. ACLS supports research and initiatives in the United States and internationally in the humanities and social sciences.
ASIANetwork, founded in 1992, is a consortium of over 150 small and medium size colleges and universities that seek to develop the study and teaching of Asian topics in their curricula. Through the publication of a triennial newsletter, management of a website at www.asianetwork.org, convening of an annual spring conference, and sponsoring an array of foundation-funded student, faculty, and curricular development programs, ASIANetwork seeks to strengthen the role of Asian Studies within the framework of liberal arts education.
The hosting institutions and faculty and visiting scholars are as follows:
| Program Year | Hosting Institution and Faculty | Visiting Scholar from Vietnam |
| 2005-2006 | Hobart and William Smith College: Jack D. Harris | Tran Thi Phuong Phuong, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City |
| Pomona College: David Elliott | Pham Quang Minh, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi | |
| University of Puget Sound: Karl Fields | Ngyyen Quy Thanh, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi | |
| 2006-2007 | Edgewood College: Andrea Byrum | Nguyen Thi Tuyet Oanh, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City |
| University of Findlay: Hiroaki Kawamura | Tran Le Hoa Tranh, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City | |
| Marlboro College: Seth Harter (award deferred from 2005-2006) | Lam Thi My Dzung, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi | |
| Millikin University: Kevin Murphy | Truong Thi Kim Chuyen, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City | |
| Whitman College: Brian R. Dott | Nguyen Van Suu, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi |
For more details on the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 programs, please see these reports in ASIANetwork Exchange in PDF format:
- Paul Nietupski, Vietnam Visiting Scholars, 2005-2006 (Spring 2006 issue)
- Vietnam-ASIANetwork Faculty Exchange: Views from Both Sides, 2005-2006 Program (Spring 2007 issue) (scroll down the page for the beginning of the report)
- Vietnam Visiting Scholars, 2006-2007 (Spring 2007 issue)