Information Session

The Vietnam Program Information Session will be hosted by Prof. Erin Collins, the 2027 Program Director, TBD

About this Program

Students enrolled in Developing Vietnam will explore the vibrant and exciting field of Vietnamese Studies. Our explorations of various aspects of Vietnamese society, culture and politics will be linked by a focus on the theme of development in contemporary Vietnam. We will adopt an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates methods and insights from Human Geography, Urban Studies, Environmental Studies, History, and Art History.

The format of Developing Vietnam is different from that of most other Dartmouth study away programs.  All students admitted to this program will enroll in two Developing Vietnam courses: (1) ASCL 70.22, which is the program's co-requisite course, and which will be taught on campus in Hanover at the 9L period during the regular fall term (September-November); and (2) ASCL 59.04, which is the one-credit, three-week intensive course that will take place in Vietnam during the December winterim period.  Both Developing Vietnam courses will be counted as fall term courses.  In order to be eligible to participate in ASCL 59.04 in December, admitted students must enroll in and successfully complete ASCL 70.22.  Besides the two Developing Vietnam courses, students are required to enroll in two additional regular fall term courses, making a total of four fall term courses (ASCL 70.22 + ASCL 59.04 + two additional courses). 

This innovative program is based on Dartmouth's partnership with Fulbright University Vietnam, a new liberal arts university in Ho Chi Minh City.  During the fall term, faculty at Dartmouth and Fulbright will each offer courses on Vietnamese Studies with similar learning goals and content.  During this time, students from the two universities will work in joint Dartmouth-Fulbright teams to design a research project related to one of the topics they are studying.  Then, during the December winterim period, the Dartmouth instructors and students will travel to Ho Chi Minh City for three weeks of intensive research collaboration and co-learning with their Fulbright counterparts.  During this time, the joint teams will conduct their field research and present their findings to their instructors and their peers.

Curriculum

• ASCL | 59.04: Intensive Foreign Study in Vietnam

Please note, participating students will need to take ASCL | 70 | 22: Developing Vietnam: History, Environment and Culture in the fall term that immediately precedes this program as ASCL 59.04 is a direct continuation of the coursework done in ASCL 70.22.

Prerequisites

To be eligible for participation students must have taken at least one ASCL course (or a non-ASCL course with significant Asian Studies content) prior to the start of the fall 2027 term.

ASCL Vietnam Fall Term + Academics

Student Life

The program gives students the opportunity to experience Vietnam through research and cultural immersion. We anticipate that students will live in a hotel with easy access to the Fulbright Vietnam campus, as they have in past years. Students should expect to share a room with one other Dartmouth student enrolled in the program; we expect that all rooms will have an ensuite bathroom and a small kitchenette. 

The program will incorporate multiple-day excursions which may include participation in a meditation session at Xa Loi Buddhist Temple, a visit to the Cần Giờ mangrove bioreserve, and a weekend trip to the Mekong Delta province of Bến Tre. Students will already be familiar with the environmental histories of these places from their work in the earlier course.