Author: maavn

US Immigrant Visas in Vietnam: 2012-2021

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With a Vietnamese American population of over 2 million in the US, the "grass is greener" view is still powerful among many Vietnamese with relatives there. Here are the numbers from 2012 to 2021. 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 24,133 23,424 24,489 27,391 32,970 28,719 28,701 32,867 20,230 10,458 The … Continue reading US Immigrant Visas in Vietnam: 2012-2021

Cheating Without Borders

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As seen on Capstone Educational Consulting's Facebook page. The logo looks it was created by a free online logo generator. Love the color, too: shades of baby puke green. I recently came across Capstone Educational Consulting, a company in Myanmar with a familiar-sounding name. As their website points out, the company was founded "with the … Continue reading Cheating Without Borders

FY2022 US Student Visa Trends in Vietnam

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For those of you who follow these trends, i.e., recruitment colleagues, here's the picture so far for FY2022 in ascending chronological order. October 2021: 178 (HCMC); 60 (Hanoi) November 2021: 388 (HCMC); 121 (Hanoi) December 2021: 249 (HCMC); 231 (Hanoi January 2022: 168 (HCMC); 87 (Hanoi) February 2022: 87 (HCMC); 28 (Hanoi) March 2022: 115 (HCMC); 47 … Continue reading FY2022 US Student Visa Trends in Vietnam

Business as Usual at Fulbright University Vietnam

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Do As We Say, Not As We Do I was checking my LinkedIn feed and noticed a Fulbright University Vietnam (FUV) post about its new partnership with Columbia University. The phrase that jumped off the screen was Understand the Past, which I happen to take seriously. Thinking about the ill-fated appointment of self-confessed war criminal … Continue reading Business as Usual at Fulbright University Vietnam

Telling Truth in All its Complexity

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When I mentioned to an acquaintance in the southern U.S. state of Georgia that I shared some strands of DNA with a family of slaveowners there, he replied that I am "living proof of evolution to a higher state of being!" While that simple truth put a smile on my face, it also offers a … Continue reading Telling Truth in All its Complexity

American University of Science Sets Up Shop in Vietnam

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Gotta love the homepage video of an older white guy with a long flowing beard and three studs in his left ear dressed in a lab coat and goggles in one scene, young female assistant and all, and solo in a gray jacket in another. I guess he's supposed to represent a stereotypical intellectual and … Continue reading American University of Science Sets Up Shop in Vietnam

Public Urination: A National Embarrassment & a Misdemeanor

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You're on candid camera! Photo taken in Hanoi by MAA When ya gotta go, ya gotta go, right? This is a common sight in Viet Nam's cities. It's a perennial issue that's frequently covered by the nation's media, usually accompanied by healthy doses of teeth-gnashing and breast-beating. What will the tourists think? What about Vietnam's … Continue reading Public Urination: A National Embarrassment & a Misdemeanor

Why we do what we do: A US international educator’s moral quandary

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Stores that sell guns and related items are common in many US states.  I took this one a few years ago in my home state of Delaware. Here's my latest article for University World News. (The editor shortened the title to Gun Violence: An International Educator's Moral Quandary.) It was inspired, so to speak, by … Continue reading Why we do what we do: A US international educator’s moral quandary

Fact-Checking a Recent PIE News Article About Viet Nam

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Face-to-face key to recruiting Vietnam Gen Z This 8 July 2022 article by Helen Packer, which is essentially an advertorial for INTO, includes some facts and figures that are inaccurate. While I agree with the thesis, i.e., the importance of face-to-face recruiting, I feel compelled to offer these corrections in point/counterpoint fashion. Point #1: Approximately … Continue reading Fact-Checking a Recent PIE News Article About Viet Nam