VIETNAM: CULTURE, ECONOMY, AND POLITICS

DATES: January 2 - 17, 2012.

Program full for 2012. Check back for Winter 2013.

Students should plan to depart the United States on January 2 to arrive to Hanoi, Vietnam the evening of January 3.

Return flights to the United States should depart Ho Chi Minh City on January 17, 2012

COST: $3,620

This fee includes 3 credits of tuition, all meals, double-occupancy rooms, all in-country travel, pre-departure orientation and materials, an International Student Identity Card (ISIC) and emergency evacuation and repatriation insurance.

International airfare not included.

UNDERGRADUATE CREDITS: 3 Credits

Students choose one of the following 3 credit courses to be included in the program fee:

GOVT 398
ECON 492 (for ECON majors and minors only)
HIST 398
GLOA 480
ANTH 398
NCLC 399

GRADUATE CREDITS: 3 credits

GOVT 739

HIST 598

CONTACT: Greg Seiler at (703) 993-2641

Reserve your spot early!

APPLY NOW!

Your study tour will be led by two professors, one from George Mason University and one from Vietnam’s Diplomatic Academy.

You will be lectured by some of Vietnam’s leading experts and interact with students at the Diplomatic Academy and the Department of International Relations at Ho Chi Minh National University

You will visit Vietnam’s most important political, cultural, and economic centers: Hanoi, the nation’s capital; Ho Chi Minh City, the southern economic hub; and the Mekong Delta, the country’s fruits and rice basket.

You will experience the sights and sound of ancient Vietnam in Hanoi’s Old Quarters and the Temple of Literature; the breathtaking view of Ha Long Bay, a world’s heritage site; the mighty Mekong River and its tributaries; and the charming highland resort of Sapa where some of Vietnam’s hill tribes make their home at the foot of the country’s highest mountain.

Vietnam is a major country in Southeast Asia. It sits on an important sea lane through which more than 50 percent of international commerce passes. It is located in an area where conflict and cooperation have major implications for the world. Together with China, it is experiencing a process of socialism transition combining free market economy with an authoritarian system of government in the context of economic globalization and democratic transformation.

This course will examine Vietnamese culture and its influence on present day society and politics. The process of economic renovation, political development, and Vietnams’ foreign policy, especially its relations with the United States, will also be discussed.

The tour is a combination of theoretical study with field trips and discussion to allow students to experience and compare for themselves what has been written in books and discussed in the media with lectures by Vietnamese scholars and officials and things they can see with their own eyes.

In addition to the overall leadership and instruction of Professor Nguyen Manh Hung of the Department of Public and International Affairs, George Mason University, Professor Ta Minh Tuan of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam will accompany the group throughout the whole tour to explain and answer questions raised by students.

Tentative Studytour Itinerary:

Monday, Jan 2

Departure from the United States

Tuesday, Jan 3

Arrival in Hanoi in late evening

Hanoi Traffic

Wednesday, Jan 4

Lecture: Vietnamese History and Culture
Visit the Temple of Literature (guided tour)
Guided tour of Hanoi’s Old Quarter
Water Puppet Show (Optional)

Hanoi Old Quarter

Lake of the Restored Sword, Hanoi

Thursday, Jan 5

Lecture: Vietnamese Government and Politics
Visit the Museum of History (guided tour)
Lecture: The Role of the Communist Party of Vietnam
Visit the Museum of Ethnicity (guided tour)

Temple of Literature

Friday, Jan 6

Briefing at the National Assembly
Lecture: Vietnam’s Foreign Policy
Visit Van Phuc Silk Village (guided tour)
Leave Hanoi for Sapa (night train)

Sat, Jan 7- Sunday, Jan 8       

Field trip to Sapa: Life and Experience of Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam.
Leave Sapa for Hanoi (night train)

Sapa landscape

Tuesday, Jan 9

US-Vietnam Relations (Briefing at the American Embassy)
Exchange with students at Vietnam’s Diplomatic Academy
Visit Bat Trang Ceramics Village (guided tour)

Wednesday, Jan 10

Leave Hanoi for Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO world heritage site
Lunch on boat
Arrive in Hanoi

Ha Long Bay

Wednesday, Jan 11

Depart for Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City: The Southern Economic Hub (Briefing by the HCM City’s External Relations Department)
Exchange with students of the Department of International Relations,
University of Social Sciences and Humanities

Ho Chi Minh City

Thursday-Sunday, Jan 12-15

Field trip to the Mekong River Delta, Vietnam’s Rice Bowl and Fruits Land (Can Tho, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, and Long Xuyen)

Fruits of the Mekong Delta

Floating Market on the Mekong

Rice field in the Mekong Delta

Monday, Jan 16

Tour of Ho Chi Minh City’s Major Sites
Visit the American Consulate General
Jazz Club: Featured Saxophonist Trần Mạnh Tuấn (optional)

Tuesday, Jan. 17

Depart for the United States

*CGE reserves the right to make changes to a program in light of currency fluctuations, changing security and safety conditions, or any other unforeseen circumstances.