Prof. Dr. Do Quang Hung: Creative nuances

Professor Do Quang Hung has made many contributions to the development of subjects and fields of study in Vietnam. He has been teaching Modern Vietnamese History for students of the Faculty of History for a long time. When the country entered the Doi Moi period, he quickly built the subject of East-West Cultural Contact in Modern Vietnam to equip students with cultural knowledge to proactively integrate into the world. Professor Tran Quoc Vuong and a number of other teachers, including him, built the Department of Vietnamese Cultural History (now Cultural Studies and Vietnamese Cultural History), under the Faculty of History. He was one of the three founders of the Faculty of Journalism and was the Head of the Department of Journalism History for 10 years. Realizing the complex issues of religion, he actively built the field of Vietnamese Religious Studies. He was one of the founders of the Vietnam Institute of Religion, and was the Director of the Vietnam Institute of Religion for 10 years. In recent years, he has been contributing to the development of the Political Science sector, and is currently the Head of the Department of International Politics, Faculty of Political Science. His flexibility, creativity and pioneering in the development of new subjects, majors, training and research units originate from his sensitivity to new things and especially from the practical demands of the country. He always upholds the ideology ofpracticalin education and training.

Professor, Dr. Do Quang Hung

Professor Do Quang Hung cannot remember how many students and trainees he has guided in their theses and graduation dissertations. He has guided 23 domestic and international researchers (of which 2/3 were independent guides) to successfully defend their doctoral theses in many fields such as Vietnamese History, Cultural History, History of Journalism, Religious Studies, Political Science, etc. What is special is that no matter what research direction or creative style he guides students, trainees and postgraduates to approach, his historical thinking and historical qualities are always prominent in the content of his students' theses, dissertations and theses.

Students respect his polite and delicate behavior, the behavior imbued with the character of a person from Trang An. He teaches with a gentle voice like the character and soul of a person from Hanoi. He does not teach by cramming knowledge, focusing on memorization, but guides students to approach new problems, new trends, new theories, and ways to conduct scientific research. He instills a passion for science, arousing the potential and creativity of his students through each lecture. The source of knowledge that students receive from him is diverse and abundant, such as the history of resistance, ideology, politics, culture, religion, and society.

Coming from a history background, Professor Do Quang Hung's research works do not stop at history, but from history he ventured into other research fields. In every field, he left a deep scientific mark. Solid historical knowledge became the support and foundation for him to develop and create in other scientific fields. Readers see the historical quality and historical depth in each of his scientific works. From the mother river, he knew how to open the source for other rivers of knowledge to flow.

Professor Do Quang Hung studies Vietnamese history, but specializes in modern history. He is one of the first to research the Party and President Ho Chi Minh. In addition, he is also interested in other historical issues such as ideology, culture, intellectuals, workers, etc. He is the first historian to exploit documents on the Communist International in archives in France and the Soviet Union. He successfully defended his doctoral thesis in history on the topicStrategy and tactics of the Communist International in the Vietnamese revolutionary movement 1919 - 1945in the Soviet Union. In addition to many research articles published in newspapers and scientific journals at home and abroad, he published a series of books related to modern Vietnamese history such asRed Guild,More knowledge about Ho Chi Minh,Ho Chi Minh with the working class and trade unions(editor),History of Christianity in Vietnam,History of journalism(editor),Publication history(editor),Modernity and the transformation of modern Vietnamese culture(editor).

Professor Do Quang Hung has achieved many outstanding achievements in religious research. In addition to many research articles published in domestic and foreign scientific journals, he has published many books on religion. One of his typical achievements in religious research is the trilogy of books:1. The religious issue in the Vietnamese revolution: theory and practice;2. Religious policy and the rule of law;3. State, religion and lawThis trilogy of books is over 1,500 pages long, summarizing theoretical issues of religious cognition and religious policy. In which the bookReligious policy and the rule of lawbearing the mark of history, history of thought and epistemology of religion, the religious views of leaders such as Ho Chi Minh and Le Duan. There are also a number of other very valuable religious books such asRelations between the State, the Church and the Rule of Law;Research on religious figures and events;Comparative study of French and Vietnamese religious life(editor-in-chief, bilingual book);Ho Chi Minh and the issue of ethnicity and religion;Religion and some religious issues in the South;Catholicism in my eyes;Dao Duy Anh, Nguyen Van Nguyen on religion;…

The general spirit in the religious studies of Professor Do Quang Hung includes the following three issues: First, research on basic theory, mainly religion and politics (three books). Second, modern religious issues, theories of religious studies. Third, some specific issues on Vietnamese religion, especially Catholicism, Protestantism and Buddhism.

Prof. Do Quang Hung actively participates in many social activities. He is a member of the Central Theoretical Council; a member of the Central Presidium of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (Chairman of the Religious Advisory Council); a member of the National Heritage Council; a member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Historical Association... Through these organizations, he has contributed many important scientific voices in building policies for the country's development in politics, culture, ideology and religion. He participates in buildingOrdinance on religion and belief2004,Decree on Protestantism(Directive 01 - 2005).

In the context of deep international integration, he has proactively built international scientific cooperation relationships. The State, Religion and Rule of Law program designed and built by him over the years has brought about practical results. This program has been introduced to a number of universities in Europe and the US. He is the one who laid the foundation for religious law in Vietnam. He proactively invited prestigious international religious scholars to Vietnam to share international religious knowledge, and at the same time helped them understand more clearly and objectively the religious situation in Vietnam. Through teaching activities and scientific seminars, he has created a religious information channel between Vietnam and many countries in the world, with the aim of helping the world understand correctly about religion and religious policies in Vietnam.

Continuing the religious awareness exchange program between the US and Vietnam established in 2013. In May 2015, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, in collaboration with BYU (USA), the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) organized a conferenceRule of law and religion: A comparative study of religious law in Vietnam and the United Statesin Washington DC. In addition to scientists, the conference was attended by representatives of the National Assembly of Vietnam, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Vietnamese Embassy in the US, etc. The success of this conference was closely linked to his role as a connector and organizer. The initiative to establish a religious relationship channel with the US contributed to enhancing the common awareness of the two countries about the religious situation on both sides. He persistently fought with the US on religious human rights, and fought for the US to remove Vietnam from the list of countries of particular concern on religion (CPC).

A short article cannot fully describe the contributions of Professor Do Quang Hung to training and scientific research. His creativity is strong. His writing is abundant. His desire to contribute to the country is intense. He wants to spend time passing on knowledge to young cadres; training, guiding and supporting them on the path of scientific creativity. He also wants to spend time so that the scientific ideas he is nurturing become scientific works to serve society. From the source of national history, he has inspired the nuances of scientific creativity.