Irish Ambassador congratulates first new students of International Development Studies

The Department of International Development Studies under the Faculty of International Studies was established on December 22, 2014. To support the development of the undergraduate training program, Irish Aid (Ireland) has provided funding for the two years 2016-2017 for the project "Collaborative capacity building in key areas of International Studies at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities" jointly implemented by the Faculty of International Studies and the Faculty of Food Business and Development of University College Cork (University College Cork, Ireland) on the basis of an official cooperation document between the two schools.

Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh thanked the Ambassador for the support activities of the Irish Embassy for the development of the Department of International Development Studies.

Up to now, the project has implemented many activities to develop subjects, a system of teaching materials, and improve the capacity of the department's teaching staff through a series of activities: international conferences "International cooperation for rural development in Vietnam: connecting policies and practices" (November 2016), "Urbanization and development: challenges and opportunities for Vietnam in the 21st century"; translation and compilation of some specialized documents; exchange of scholars from the two schools; implementation of field research trips by lecturers from the two schools to some provinces and cities of Vietnam...

Ms. Cáit Moran believes that new students of the International Development Studies major should be proud and optimistic about their major and future career opportunities.

In the 2018-2019 academic year, the Department of International Development Studies welcomed its first batch of students. This event marked a new development step for the Faculty of International Studies. Therefore, the Faculty of International Studies organized a meeting at the beginning of the academic year to welcome new students and express gratitude for the support of the Embassy of Ireland in building and developing this field of study.

Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh sent his congratulations to the Faculty of International Studies, professors, lecturers, especially the first students of the Department of International Development Studies. The Faculty of International Studies, USSH is proud to be the first address in Vietnam to train in this field. The Rector expressed his thanks to the Irish Ambassador to Vietnam - Ms. Cáit Moran for supporting the University in establishing this Department; thanked the lecturers and students of University College Cork (Ireland) - UCC for coming to work and practice in Vietnam.

Previously, the Faculty of International Studies only had three departments: International Relations, European Studies, and American Studies. With the establishment of the Department of International Development Studies, the Faculty has had a major change in scientific awareness in the field of international studies. This also reflects the general trend of the world academic community. The field of International Development Studies is quite developed in the world with a rich system of books, textbooks, and research works. Many universities in the world are training in this field at many levels. These are favorable conditions for students in this field in Vietnam.

In addition, for the International Development Studies major, training requires a connection between theory and practice. Students not only study in the classroom and library, but also have to be exposed to reality; find similarities and differences between the development of Vietnam and other countries and solutions to promote that development.

New students of the Faculty of International Studies impressed guests with their fluent English speaking ability.

The Rector recalled that in 2016, during his state visit to Vietnam, the President of Ireland spoke about this cooperation in a speech by the leaders of the two countries. And the cooperation between the University and Irish partners will contribute to the development of the bilateral relationship between Vietnam and Ireland. In the near future, the two sides will continue to discuss the possibility of establishing a master's program in International Development Studies, as well as moving towards opening an independent major at the undergraduate level; continuing to conduct joint research between the USSH and UCC in research and training.

More than 20 years ago, leading scientists of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities devoted themselves to laying the foundation for the International Studies major, which was completely new in Vietnam. Up to now, this major at the University has become a pioneer and a model for many other training institutions to study and train. Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh hopes that the collective of lecturers and students of the Department of International Development Studies will strive to prove to society the correctness and important position of this major in the present and future in Vietnam.

Irish Ambassador, Ms. Cáit Moran, thanked Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh and his Vietnamese colleagues for their support of the project over the past three years. The project was launched in 2015 to connect Vietnamese and Irish universities to promote International Development Studies. That was the beginning of a special partnership between the two sides.

“International development is a sector and a topic very close to our country and the Irish Embassy in particular. International development is a central part of Ireland’s foreign policy at both the national and global levels,” said Ms Cáit Moran.

Since Ireland established its Embassy in Vietnam 13 years ago, Vietnam has been a key and priority partner for Ireland. The close relationship between the two countries is reflected in the shared interests of the Vietnamese and Irish governments in poverty reduction and inequality reduction. Irish government and non-government organisations have supported Vietnam in its poverty reduction goals, even in remote and mountainous areas. One of the first steps in reducing poverty and inequality is to put in place appropriate policies. Universities are ideally placed to provide empirical data-based research to clarify context and inform policy. From an educational perspective, universities need to establish cross-border relationships, as USSH has done with University College Cork. During the working process, many agreements were signed, the most notable of which was the agreement signed between the Director of VNU and the Director of Cork University in 2016, witnessed by President Michael Daniel Higgins and President Tran Dai Quang.

Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh presented flowers to the Ambassador

Speaking about the wide-open career prospects of this International Development Studies major, Ambassador Cáit Moran said: students should feel proud and optimistic about the course ahead as well as their future careers. You can work at a non-governmental organization, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the United Nations, etc. In 2015, the United Nations completed the Millennium Development Goals framework, moving towards the transition to the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. By the time you graduate, sustainable development will have become an extremely important issue in the world. You need to think about this issue at two levels: first is the global perspective, where policies and agreements are implemented, and second is the local perspective. In this, the local perspective is central to development, because it involves creating and managing sustainable development in local communities, so that no one is left out, and everyone enjoys the fruits of economic development.

From left to right: Dr. Le The Que, Prof. Vu Duong Ninh, Prof. Pham Quang Minh and Ms. Cait Moran

Hopefully, with the efforts of the Faculty of International Studies, the international development research direction will become an independent field of study and have a worthy position in the field of social sciences and humanities in Vietnam.

New students take souvenir photos with delegates