VNU JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, so c , SCI . HUMAN . N03E, 2004

APPROACHES TO AMERICAN STUDIES - SOME ISSUES
TO BE RAISED
V u D u o n g N in h
natu rally
not
concerned
with
international affairs. In th e early years of
the 20th century French colonial education
system w as esta b lish ed in V ietnam . New
know ledge and m ethods w ere introduced
and w ere tau gh t eith er by French teachers
or V ietn am ese teach ers who w ere trained
in
French
ed u ation al
in stitu tion s.
Kowledge o f H istory w as tau gh t so that
colonial stu d en ts could understand French
history a s a resp ectab le “M other C ountry.”

S tartin g from the point o f view th at
V ietnam is part o f th e world and the
V ietn am ese revolution is part o f th e world
revolution.
Ho
Chi
M inh
explained
carefully to h is stu d en ts som e o f the
rep resen tative revolu tion s in th e world.
One o f the aim s o f h is book is "to take other



Professor, Department of International Studies.
College of Social Sciences & Humanities. VNU.

9


Vu Duong Ninh

10

W ith n early 700 w ords in 3 m edium '
* form atted p ages, th e w ritin g sk etch es the
b ases of th e stru g g le o f the Am erican
people
a g a in st
the
B ritish
for the
in d ep en d en ce o f N orth of A m erica during
the second h a lf o f the 18,h century. It is
possible to recognize th ree m ain id eas in
the writing:

First,

th e people in th e N orth o f
A m erica
fou gh t
a g a in st

S ystem

III:

W ash in gton -V ersailles

C h a p te r V II: In tern ation al R elation s
leading to W orld W ar II (1929*1939)
C h a p te r V III: World War II (1939 1945)
C h a p te r EX: In tern ation al R elation s
from 1945 to th e F irst H a lf o f th e 1970s
C h a p te r X IV : In tern a tio n a l relation s
from the Second H a lf o f th e 1970s to 1995.
From w h a t h a s b een m entioned in
th ose ch ap ters, it is p ossible to m ake the
follow ing judgm ents:

V N U . Journal o f Science. Silt'.. S i t . Human.. N , J E . 2004

regional superpowers.
Secondly,

glorious
p a g es
o f the
A m erican people in th e figh t ag a in st
colonialism for liberation to esta b lish the
U n ited S ta tes a s w ell as th e stru g g le to
abolish sla v ery play an im p ortan t part in
the curriculum w ith w ell-k n ow n nam es

papers by stu d en ts of th e F acu lty of
In tern ation al S tu d ies still tried to exp loit
th e p ositive sid es o f th e V ietn am -A m erica
relations. T h ese w ere th e topics o f the
m eetin gs, th e d em o n stra tio n s held by
stu d en ts, in tellectu a ls and all w a lk s o f life
in A m erica, d em an d in g th e A m erican
A dm in istration
to stop
th e w ar in


Vu Duong Ninh

1 2

V ietn am . In P articu lar, th e period of 19441946 w a s m ost freq u en tly m en tion ed . T he
V iet M inh led by P re sid en t Ho Chi M inh
w ith A m erican officers from T he O ffice o f
S tra teg ic S erv ices (O SS) in Kun*M ing
(C hina), joined to fig h t th e J a p a n e se in
Indochina. L ivin g in difficult con d ition s in
th e forestry and m o u n ta in o u s a rea s o f th e
N orth ern m ost B a se o f V ietn a m , officers of
th e O SS w ere th e o n ly foreign ers w ho
trained V ietn a m ese rev o lu tio n a ry arm ed
forces. T h ey w ere also a m o n g th e e a r lie st
m en to ap p ear in H anoi so m e d a y s after
the genera] u p risin g and th e victory o f th e
A u gu st R evolu tion . On th o se d ays, m any

S cien ce
and
H u m a n itie s,
V ietn am
N ation al U n iv ersity ,
H anoi in
1998.
T w en ty th ree y ea rs a fter th e V ietn am
War, 3 y ea rs after th e e s ta b lish m e n t o f
V ietn am -A m erica
d ip lo m a tic
relation ,
sch olars o f litera tu re o f th e tw o co u n tries
gath ered tog eth er to d isc u ss th e in flu en ce
of th e
V ietn am
W ar on
A m erican

literatu re,
cu ltu re
and
the
critical
approach to non -literary d o cu m en ts... [4].
The e sta b lish m e n t of A m erican S tu d ies as
a d iscip lin e w as a lso raised for discu ssion
in th e C onference.

3. The Establishment of American


e sta b lish m e n t

of

A m erican S tu d ies in V ietn am is raised in a
favorable condition: th e V ietnam -A m erica
diplom atic rela tio n h a s been norm alized
and sch o la rs h a v e b een exch an ged , and it
su its th e a sp ira tio n s o f th e two countries:
for a stro n g er friendly relation and an
effective co-operation.
H ow ever, in order to im p lem en t the
d iscip lin e su ccessfu lly , th e first issu e
raised is to s e t up a “Program on A m erican
S tu d ies,” m ob ilizin g research ers in this
field th rou gh ou t th e country to follow a
general program w ith concrete assignm ents.
At th e sa m e tim e, in tern a tio n a l relation s
in A m erican S tu d ies netw ork should be
esta b lish ed reg io n a lly a s w ell a s w orld­

V N U , Jo u rn a l o f Science, Soc.. Set.. Hitman.'

2004


Approaches to American

stu d ies

im portance. There should be an Am erican
S tu d ies R esource C enter w hich includes
new spapers, m a teria ls, and m edia relating
to A m erican S tu d ies.
T he
third
issu e
is
to
prom ote
exch an ges am ong stu d en ts o f th e two

13

co u n tries th rou gh su m m er c la sse s or som e
other k in d s of m eetin g so th a t young
people w ill h a v e m ore op p o rtu n ities to
u n d erstan d each o th er and su b seq u en tly
to u n d ersta n d a sp e c ts o f each o th e r s
country. T here is a rea lity th a t due to the
lo n g -la stin g w ar in V ietn a m , p oin ts o f view
about each country m ay be more or less
refracted w hich w ould m ake it im p ossib le
to h a v e a full u n d e rsta n d in g o f each other.
As sc ie n tists, w e sh ou ld n ot avoid th is
reality b u t to rem ed y the problem we
should esta b lish a p ictu re o f each nation
exa ctly a s it is th rou gh ed u cation al
a ctiv ities or cu ltu ral ex ch a n g es.
A lth ou gh it m ig h t be a b it late, th e

VN U , Journal o f Science. Soc.. Sri.. Human , N,fSE, 2004