Timeless lessons on the role liberal arts education in today’s world from Fulbright’ international conference on Vietnam’s Tonkin Free School

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The international academic conference “Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc (Tonkin Free School) and the Vietnamese Liberal Education Model” was organized by Vietnam Studies Center, Fulbright University Vietnam, and took place on November 19 and 20, 2022. With five sessions filled with engaging discussions brought by 21 Vietnamese and international scholars, the conference presented valuable findings drawn from in-depth historical, philosophical, and cultural research. This has greatly contributed to the general knowledge of Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc, and identified key implications for the development of Vietnamese education in today’s world .

The conference was honored to welcome Prof. Trần Đức Cường, President of the Vietnam Historical Association, as its distinguished keynote speaker. “Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc has left behind a pioneering model of liberal education in Vietnam, which still serves as a valuable reference that invites everyone of us to draw our own lessons and build a modern liberal educational system whose foundation is based on the willingness to learn from other countries, while preserving our national identity and the humanistic values highly regarded by the people of our nation as sacred and worth protecting,” said Professor Trần Đức Cường, stating the unrivaled position of Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc in the history of Vietnamese cultural and educational fields.  

Prof. Trần Đức Cường delivering his opening remarks

Furthermore, he also underlined the highly treasured values of literary works which were voiced and composed by the patriotic intelligentsia at the time as an effort to agitate the spirit of patriotic enthusiasm aimed towards an independent, prosperous, and modern Vietnam. As many of these great texts and documents had fallen into obscurity due to the tumults of time, the conference also provided a unique opportunity for the general public to discover for the first time these rare treasures, or get reacquainted with them.  

The academic event was held when the world has witnessed and is undergoing major economic, social, political, military and cultural upheavals that have direct impacts on every single individual, no matter who they are, what they do, or where they live. Amid such complex and pressing global contexts, Fulbright’s conference on the Tonkin Free School, a patriotic movement which happened in Vietnam more than a hundred years ago, had proven to be timely, and pertinent to the country’s contemporary issues. As Dr. Nguyễn Nam, Director of Fulbright’s Vietnam Studies Center, asserted: “Lessons learned from Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc from the beginning of the last century always remind us that any efforts to pursue progress, equality, collaboration, and national independence will never be considered outdated, but on the contrary, they have been proven to be even more urgent and necessary in our global age”.

Dr. Nguyễn Nam asserts the importance of lessons learned from Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc in the current context

Liberal spirit is the foundation of a progressive educational philosophy

More than one hundred years ago, the Văn minh tân học sách (“New Learning Strategies for the Advancement of Civilization”), often considered the manifesto of Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc, had advocated for the popularization of common scientific knowledge to the general public of Vietnam, so that they could better understand the world and the conditions of their motherland at the time, and consequently, develop themselves into well-rounded citizens through the means of “unfettered discussion and open dialogue with one another”, following the spirit of self-reflection, critical thinking, and open mindedness as set forth by liberal education.

Panel discussion on “The liberal spirit of Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc”

Despite its modest scale, this international conference had proven to be scholarly enriching by nature. The Fulbright campus was honored to welcome scholars from various cities and provinces of Vietnam, including Hanoi, Nghe An, Hue, Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City, An Giang, as well as scholars from countries near and far such as Japan, Australia, the United States, and Canada. Many important issues presented by the scholars from their research papers became topics of fervent and in-depth discussion with Fulbright students and the attending public, such as if Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc was actually related to the Keio Gijuku of Japan; what “practical learning” meant in the early 20th century as well as in the global market economy of the 21st century; how the promotion of nationalism was associated with that of commerce and business management and the role of Vietnamese businessmen; how the concept of “hygiene” was introduced to Vietnam and employed by Confucian literati to promote the sense of citizenship in building a “clean and healthy” society; or how Vietnamese educational traditions were and have been linked to the development of regional and world educations.

Panel discussion on “Lessons from Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc for Contemporary Vietnamese (higher) education”

Panel discussion on “Cultural exchanges between Vietnam and East Asian countries from the late 19th to the early 20th centuries”

Although there remain debatable and contentious points left open for further discussion, the five panels of the conference all reached a general consensus on the importance of liberal education, in which  critical thinking, an open-minded attitude, and empathy were emphasized as fundamental factors that made up the spirit of independent thinkers and learners of a nation who wished to pursue a progressive educational approach. As such, when certain aspects of liberal arts were to be understood within and adapted to Vietnam’s society and its particular historical contexts, they were incubated on the basis of the people’s wishes for national sovereignty, their patriotism and humanistic values, of which the Tonkin Free School was a prime example.  

The final discussion on “Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc in national, regional, and global contexts”

Organized by and at Fulbright University Vietnam, a Vietnamese university that actively integrates Vietnamese educational traditions with the liberal arts traditions well-developed in the Western world,  the conference was an opportunity for students, scholars, and the general public to look back and delve into historical remnants oftentimes overlooked regarding what can be considered the seeds of liberal arts traditions in Vietnam’s education history through the Tonkin Free School, and to re-contextualize them in today’s world and its evolving demands for education.

Reconstructing Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc through the lens of students as scholars and researchers to be

In 1907, Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc left a strong impression on the country’s compatriots when it hung high on its walls a large map of Vietnam, so that everyone could see a complete and unified image of their country. The act was to arouse in their fellow countrymen the spirit for national independence and patriotism. As an homage to that gripping image, at the conference, participants were treated to interactive digital artworks created by Fulbright students that hopefully reconstructed the scenic ambience, the historical stories, documents, photos and spirit of the time surrounding the Tonkin Free School and its founders.  

Student display featuring images and historical contexts related to Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc.

Participants got to see an animated footage of Hang Dao Street, wherein the founders of Tonkin Free School held their first classes; two digital maps with interactive features; and a QR-coded display in which photos of the school’s luminaries were linked to audio recordings of their seminal writings. Humble as they were, these artworks reflected Fulbright students’ passion and total dedication to the pursuit of knowledge, and their creative self-expressions.    

Dr. Nguyễn Nam is demonstrating the interactive features of the digital map to a participant

“Walk the Walks of Founders” audio display

This conference was not an event exclusively reserved for scholars. Instead, it was an event truly conducted in the spirit of Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc, in which Fulbright students were encouraged to assume the role of scholars and researchers themselves – in their efforts to excavate historical archives, reconstruct a time gone by through creative means, and debate with the conference’s panels the many issues revolving the Tonkin Free School. As we believe, our young people should nurture and develop, especially at Fulbright, their faculties for open-mindedness, critical thinking and research from the very first years of college.    

“There would be no liberal education without a reciprocal relationship between the instructor and the learner. The digital humanities projects related to Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc implemented by students have shown their creativity and studious spirit in inheriting and continuing the tradition according to the trends of social development and contemporary education,” Dr. Nguyễn Nam proudly shared. He also asserted his determination towards the interdisciplinary development of digital humanities in Vietnam Studies at Fulbright, which fosters the application of digital tools and methods in the study of the humanities as the alternative media for knowledge production and distribution.

As such, the international academic conference “Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc and the Vietnamese Liberal Education Model” has demonstrated the very best of the values of  interdisciplinary studies and international academic collaborations, which we believe as quintessential to Fulbright in our continued pursuit of liberal arts education in Vietnam. With lively dialogues between scholars from both Eastern and Western hemispheres; the presentation, revelation, and examination of rare historical documents; together with students’ artworks which blended the past and present, the traditional and contemporary – the conference was truly an an enriching and enlightening academic experience to all participants.

An Bình

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About Vietnam Studies Center, Fulbright University Vietnam

The Vietnam Studies Center at Fulbright University Vietnam was established under the management and leadership of Dr. Nguyễn Nam, Director of the Center and Faculty of Vietnam Studies. It was officially launched in April 2022 with the initial support from C+P Consulting Foundation to sustain and promote Vietnamese cultural values.

The Vietnam Studies Center collaborates with the State Records and Archives Department of Vietnam in major projects in 2022 – 2023 such as the “Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc and the Vietnamese Liberal Education Model” conference , building a prototype in preparation for the development of Saigon’s Geographic Information System (GIS) through historical periods as documented in the archives, and structuralizing the French Cochinchina’s Sino-Vietnamese characters system (sổ bộ Hán – Nôm Nam kỳ) (1819-1918).

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(English below) MODERN VIETNAMESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY - HỌC LỊCH SỬ ĐỂ CÓ MỘT GÓC NHÌN CẢM THÔNG VÀ KHÁCH QUAN VỀ QUÁ KHỨ Modern Vietnamese Culture and Society - MVCS (tạm dịch: Văn hóa và Xã hội Việt Nam Hiện Đại) là một trong 5 môn học Nền tảng tại Fulbright. Lớp học này giúp sinh viên trang bị những hiểu biết về Việt Nam hiện đại, từ các khía cạnh văn hóa xã hội, chính trị đến quan hệ quốc tế trong bối cảnh khu vực và toàn cầu. “Học MVCS giống như việc liên tục đi tìm câu trả lời “vì sao” của những điều đang diễn ra tại Việt Nam - những điều mình từng cho là hiển nhiên và chưa bao giờ đặt dấu chấm hỏi để hiểu ra tiến trình đạt được và ý nghĩa của những điều đó,” Trúc Anh, sinh viên Khóa 2024 chia sẻ. Cuối kỳ, các sinh viên sẽ thực hiện những dự án cuối kỳ để nghiên cứu về những chủ đề đa dạng nhưng không kém phần thực tế, ví dụ như: vì sao thời ông bà và ba mẹ nghe bolero; vì sao giới trẻ không còn thích nghe Cải lương như ông bà; vì sao chữ “Hiếu” đứng hàng đầu; vì sao hát Quốc ca vào sáng thứ Hai; vì sao nước ta tên là Việt Nam,... Hãy cùng tìm hiểu về môn học này thông qua những trải nghiệm và góc nhìn của Trúc Anh nhé! Ở Fulbright, phương pháp học lịch sử luôn thúc đẩy sự chủ động của sinh viên. Những sự kiện khó nhớ trong sách giáo khoa thời học sinh lại trở nên sinh động và có tính liên kết giữa các giai đoạn khi mình học MVCS. Lịch sử trở nên hay hơn khi mình được “sống” trong câu chuyện một cách đầy đủ chứ không còn là những lát cắt. Một kĩ năng quý giá mình học được từ lớp MVCS là đánh giá khách quan bằng việc khai mở nhiều góc nhìn và quan điểm từ trong nước đến quốc tế. Thông qua việc đào sâu bối cảnh, lắng nghe đa dạng quan điểm, tiếp xúc với những học giả dành cả sự nghiệp nghiên cứu về một đất nước hình chữ S, mình đã hiểu vì sao cùng một “hiện thực” nhưng lại có nhiều góc nhìn khác biệt. Học lịch sử một cách khách quan cũng giống việc học cách trở thành một công dân thấu cảm về những trăn trở, khó khăn của cha ông ta khi đưa ra các quyết định quan trọng trong lịch sử, từ xưa và kể cả ngày nay. Vì vậy, khi nhìn những điểm tốt hay điểm hạn chế của đất nước, mình đều thấy tự hào vì đó là nét đẹp của một quốc gia đang đi lên. Nhờ đó, mình vừa giữ vững lập trường lịch sử của bản thân nhưng cũng có một cái nhìn cảm thông hơn với lịch sử ở nhiều phương diện khác nhau. Từ đó, nếu mình thấy điều gì đó chưa tốt, mình sẽ tìm hiểu tình huống đằng sau sự lựa chọn chưa tốt ấy, để thấu hiểu và có một đánh giá đúng đắn hơn. Hình ảnh mình nhớ nhất trong lớp MVCS là khi các bạn sinh viên trò chuyện cùng những người lớn tuổi hoặc nhỏ tuổi hơn rất nhiều, hay là điều kiện và hoàn cảnh sống khác nhau. Điểm chung duy nhất để gắn kết là chúng ta đều là người Việt Nam. Những cuộc trò chuyện ấy đưa tụi mình đi qua những trang cuộc đời khác nhau: những người bán hàng rong, những Việt kiều xa quê hương, những nghệ nhân xưa,… Từ đó, chúng mình đã lớn lên với sự thấu cảm ở mảnh đất này nhiều hơn. Mỗi ngày học là một khoảnh khắc “a-ha” khi được khai phá nhiều góc độ sâu sắc cho những chủ đề mà mình từng nghĩ là vô cùng bình thường. Khi thực sự tìm hiểu, mình mới hiểu để có được một hiện thực “bình thường” như vậy, đã có rất nhiều nỗ lực”‘phi thường” diễn ra. Đặc biệt hơn nữa là cách mà các bạn truyền tải những cuộc trò chuyện lên thành phim tài liệu báo cáo cuối khóa. Mình rất nể phục cách phim tài liệu của các nhóm thể hiện sự kính trọng với mọi người, mọi đối tượng. Đối với một người bán vé số trên đường chẳng hạn, họ có thể chỉ cảm thấy mình đang “tám chuyện” với một đám trẻ nào đó. Tuy nhiên, những lời nói của họ đã thực sự trở thành nguồn học hỏi, dữ liệu quý báu, và được tái hiện với rất nhiều sự kính trọng trong các dự án cuối kỳ của chúng mình. MVCS thực chất bao quát rất nhiều khía cạnh của một đất nước, không chỉ riêng lịch sử của những trận chiến vũ trang. Các đề tài cuối khóa MVCS là các nhóm tự do lựa chọn, tùy vào mức độ yêu thích và chuyên môn của các bạn. Vì vậy, kiến thức dùng để phân tích trải dài từ kinh tế, công nghệ, tâm lý học, văn học, nghệ thuật,... Lên năm Hai, khi học các môn Khám phá thuộc rất nhiều nhóm ngành, mình nhận thấy thầy cô cũng hay ra những câu hỏi ứng dụng với bối cảnh Việt Nam. Điều này đã hình thành nên nếp tư duy trong mình cho đến bây giờ. Nếu môn học nào có dạng bài tập được tự chọn chủ đề, mình sẽ chủ ý đặt câu hỏi về Việt Nam. Hơn nữa, những vấn đề xã hội ở Việt Nam cũng đang cần nhiều sự chú ý trong khoa học để tìm kiếm những giải pháp phù hợp. Mình tin rằng người sinh ra và lớn lên ở Việt Nam như tụi mình chính là nhóm người tiên phong mạnh dạn làm điều đó. --- **MODERN VIETNAMESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY - STUDY HISTORY TO HAVE A SYMPATHETIC AND OBJECTIVE VIEW OF THE PAST** Modern Vietnamese Culture and Society - MVCS is one of the five Core course at Fulbright. This course equips students with an understanding of modern Vietnam, from cultural, social, political aspects to international relations in the regional and global context. "Studying MVCS is like constantly seeking the answer "why" of what is happening in Vietnam - things that I used to take for granted and have never questioned to understand the process and significance of those things," Truc Anh, a student of the 2024 cohort, shared. At the end of the semester, students will implement final projects to research various but practical topics, such as: why our grandparents and parents listened to bolero; why young people no longer like Cai luong as their grandparents do; why the word "Hieu" ranks first; why we sing the National Anthem on Monday morning; why our country is called Vietnam,... Let's explore this class through the experiences and perspectives of Truc Anh! At Fulbright, the method of studying history always encourages student's initiative. The hard-to-remember events in the textbooks from high school become lively and interconnected between periods when I study MVCS. History becomes more interesting when I get to "live" fully in the story instead of just seeing snippets. One valuable skill I learned from the MVCS is objective assessment by opening up multiple perspectives and viewpoints from domestic to international. Through deep analysis of the context, listening to diverse perspectives, interacting with scholars who dedicated their careers to studying the S-shaped country, I understood why the same "reality" can have different perspectives. Studying history objectively is also like learning to become a citizen who is empathetic to the worries and difficulties of our ancestors when they made important decisions in history, from the past and even now. Therefore, when looking at the strengths or limitations of the country, I still feel proud because that is the beauty of a rising nation. Thanks to this, I have maintained my historical stance while also having a more sympathetic view of history from various aspects. From there, if I see something not good, I will investigate the situation behind that choice, to understand and have a more accurate assessment. The image I remember most in the MVCS class is when students chat with people who are much older or younger, or have different living conditions and circumstances. The only commonality to connect us is that we are all Vietnamese. These conversations took us through different pages of life: street vendors, overseas Vietnamese away from their homeland, ancient artisans,... From there, we grew up with more empathy in this land. Each day is an "a-ha" moment when exploring deep perspectives for topics that I thought were extremely ordinary. When really studying, I understand that to have such a "ordinary" reality, there have been many "extraordinary" efforts taking place. Especially the way students convey those conversations into documentary films for final projects. I greatly admire the way the documentaries of the groups show respect to everyone, every subject. Take a lottery ticket seller on the street for example, they may just feel they are "chattering" with some kids. However, their words have actually become a source of learning, valuable data, and are reproduced with a lot of respect in our final projects. MVCS actually covers many aspects of a country, not just the history of armed battles. The MVCS final project topics are freely choosing, depending on the level of interest and expertise of the students. Therefore, knowledge used for analysis ranges from economics, technology, psychology, literature, arts,... In the second year, when studying Exploratory courses, I realized that professors also often ask application questions with the context of Vietnam. This has formed my thinking pattern until now. If any subject has an assignment type that allows choosing the topic, I will intentionally ask questions about Vietnam. Furthermore, social issues in Vietnam also need much attention in science to search for suitable solutions. I believe that people who were born and grew up in Vietnam like us are the pioneering group who dare to do that.

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(English below) ✨ LỜI CHÚC NĂM GIÁP THÌN 2024 ✨ Bước sang thềm năm mới Giáp Thìn, Đại học Fulbright Việt Nam xin được gửi đến mọi nhà lời chúc tốt đẹp nhất 🐉 Với trái tim tràn đầy hy vọng hoà cùng niềm vui đầu năm, chúng tôi vô cùng trân trọng sự tin tưởng và hỗ trợ vô giá Fulbright nhận được trong hành trình vừa qua, là động lực hướng đến những điều tuyệt vời sẽ tiếp nối trong năm nay 🌟 Nhân dịp năm Rồng, Fulbright xin kính chúc vạn sự hanh thông, mọi niềm mong thành hiện thực 🌟 --- ✨ HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR 2024 ✨ As we step into New Year, the Year of the Dragon, Fulbright University Vietnam would like to extend our best wishes to everyone 🐉 With hearts filled with hope and joy as we embark on the new year, we deeply appreciate the invaluable trust and support Fulbright has received on our journey thus far, serving as motivation towards the wonderful things that will continue in the year ahead 🌟 As the Dragon's year unfolds its tale, Fulbright extends wishes, setting sail. Prosperity's breeze, in every gale, May dreams come true, without fail 🌟

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