It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so. -Mark Twain (1835-1910) This was the title of a 2018 article written by Mary Beth Marklein (MBM) for Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning (Volume 50, 2018 - Issue 1, pp. 63-70). The online … Continue reading Expanding the Fulbright Legacy in Vietnam (?)
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On the outside looking in: A US American in Vietnam
I have spent over 40 percent of my adult life outside of my home country, never content with having my soul controlled by geography, to paraphrase George Santayana. I carry a U.S. passport but it doesn’t define me. I am a U.S. ex-patriot and global citizen who calls Vietnam home. Follow this link to read … Continue reading On the outside looking in: A US American in Vietnam
New Approaches to University Education in Asia
While I will reserve judgement, the theme of this Fulbright University Vietnam (FUV) conference sounds like yet another example of US Americans telling others, in the case, Asian universities, how it should really be done a la Daddy knows best. Why not just New Approaches to University Education? Or, as one colleague put it, "It's … Continue reading New Approaches to University Education in Asia
EducationUSA Closed for Business
From the website of US Mission-Viet Nam: Lapse in U.S. Government Appropriations The Federal Government of the United States of America is currently in a Lapse of Appropriations period. Scheduled passport and visas services, and emergency services for U.S. citizens, will continue at the U.S. Embassy Hanoi and our Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City … Continue reading EducationUSA Closed for Business
About Viet Nam’s “gifting culture”
Giving gifts to people in authority has become normal, but we have to be aware it institutionalizes an 'underworld.' Also known as an "envelope culture" (văn hóa phong bì) because envelopes are used for more than sending letters, so passé in the digital age, and giving "lucky money" (lì xì) at Lunar New Year. A … Continue reading About Viet Nam’s “gifting culture”
English Proficiency in Viet Nam: Giving Credit Where Credit’s Due
An article entitled What is the real English profiency level of Vietnamese? (yes, the word "proficiency" was misspelled) recently graced the Internet in Viet Nam with this description: While an education organization has ranked Vietnam in the seventh position among 21 Asian countries in proficiency of English, some experts call the result ‘flashy’, saying it does not … Continue reading English Proficiency in Viet Nam: Giving Credit Where Credit’s Due
Happy Holidays from Viet Nam!
Wishing those of you who celebrate the holiday Merry Christmas and all of you a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous, & Peaceful Solar New Year! Shalom (שלום), MAA
The College of the Ozarks Patriotic Education Travel Program to Viet Nam: A Vietnam-Era Veteran Responds
I received a number of comments in response to my recent article entitled A “Patriotic” Education Study Abroad Program in Viet Nam: God Bless America, Right or Wrong!, mostly from US veterans of the war in Viet Nam, or "Vietnam-era" veterans. One who falls into the latter category decided to take it one step further … Continue reading The College of the Ozarks Patriotic Education Travel Program to Viet Nam: A Vietnam-Era Veteran Responds
“I Love America. That’s Why I Have to Tell the Truth About It”
I liked most of this recent Time magazine essay by Viet Thanh Nguyen (VTN). (The title is the very definition of patriotism, by the way.) I was, however, troubled by the parts in bold italics in the following statements. It's as if he's trying to sugarcoat his message in an effort to make it more … Continue reading “I Love America. That’s Why I Have to Tell the Truth About It”
A “Patriotic” Education Study Abroad Program in Viet Nam: God Bless America, Right or Wrong!
This is an essay I felt compelled to write about a US American study abroad program to Viet Nam that reinforces and indeed celebrates US nationalism. It is a textbook example of how not to structure such a program. The country of Viet Nam is but a sideshow, a prop that enables students and veterans to … Continue reading A “Patriotic” Education Study Abroad Program in Viet Nam: God Bless America, Right or Wrong!
An International Educator in Vietnam 
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