Faculty of Oriental Studies - remarkable growth after 20 years of development

The Faculty of Oriental Studies was established by the decision of the Director of Vietnam National University, Hanoi in 1995. The establishment of the Faculty stemmed from the need of society at that time to train a class of scientists, managers, and people working in the field of relations between Vietnam and Eastern countries.

When it was first established, the Faculty of Oriental Studies had only a small staff of about ten people, mostly transferred from other units; facilities, especially teaching materials, were lacking. However, after 20 years of establishment, the Faculty of Oriental Studies has quickly become a prestigious training unit in the country, highly appreciated by international scholars. The Faculty has contributed to affirming the position and importance of Oriental training and research in the university system; at the same time, contributing to making Oriental Studies a major with its own brand and identity of the University of Science and Humanities.

Over the past 20 years, the Faculty has trained nearly 2,000 bachelors, hundreds of masters and doctors for the country. Former students and trainees of the Faculty are currently working in many central agencies and provinces across the country, at embassies, cultural and educational organizations, domestic and foreign enterprises. They have been and are making significant contributions to the process of international integration and socio-economic development of the country.

Prof. Dr. People's Teacher Nguyen Van Khanh (Principal of the University) awarded the Certificate of Merit from the Director of VNU to the Faculty of Oriental Studies.

Regarding staff, from the time of establishment there were only 3 departments, now the Faculty has 5 departments with 33 permanent lecturers.

Currently, the Faculty of Oriental Studies is undertaking a Bachelor of Oriental Studies, a Master of Asian Studies and two PhDs in Chinese Studies and Southeast Asian Studies. Notably, in October, the Faculty completed the accreditation of its training program according to the Southeast Asian regional standards - AUN.

In addition to its achievements in training and scientific research, the Faculty of Oriental Studies is also one of the very successful units in international cooperation activities with many domestic and foreign partners, including international funds and leading universities in the world such as Peking University, National Taiwan University, University of Tokyo, National University of Seoul, Ne Woo University, Teran University, National University of Singapore, Japan Foundation, etc.

The Faculty's veteran teachers in the early period: Professor, People's Teacher Le Quang Thiem, Associate Professor, People's Teacher Nguyen Quoc Hung, Professor, People's Teacher Phan Huy Le

Representatives of embassies, organizations and international partners attended the celebration.

Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. Luu Tuan Anh (Head of the Faculty of Oriental Studies) expressed his gratitude to generations of teachers and scientists who founded and contributed to the development of the Faculty in the early days. These teachers are: Professor, People's Teacher Phan Huy Le, Professor, People's Teacher Le Quang Thiem, Associate Professor, People's Teacher Nguyen Van Hong, Associate Professor, People's Teacher Nguyen Quoc Hung, Professor, Meritorious Professor Mai Ngoc Chu, Associate Professor Le Dinh Chinh... They are the ones who have devoted much effort to the formation and development of Oriental Studies in Vietnam.

Dr. Luu Tuan Anh (Head of Oriental Studies Department) spoke at the ceremony.

Dr. Luu Tuan Anh also expressed his gratitude to generations of staff, students and trainees who have united and contributed to building the Faculty of Oriental Studies as it is today; thanked the partners who have supported the Faculty in the fields of training and research: organizing seminars, workshops, cultural and educational activities, practical exchange programs for lecturers and students, providing scholarships to support volunteer teachers and building a professional documentation room for the Faculty...

Dr. Luu Tuan Anh emphasized: The Faculty will persistently carry out the mission of training high-quality human resources in regional studies and country studies, meeting the needs of society in the trend of integration and globalization; developing research to provide necessary knowledge about Oriental studies for domestic and foreign scientific research. In the future, the Faculty will expand its scale of development, constantly improve the quality of training and research to match its potential.

Prof. Dr. People's Teacher Nguyen Van Khanh speaks at the ceremony

Congratulating the remarkable results achieved by the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Prof. Dr. People's Teacher Nguyen Van Khanh (Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities) also assigned specific tasks to the Faculty: researching the development trends of science and university sectors, especially Oriental Studies in the world; actively learning from the experiences of advanced universities to develop a number of majors into independent training majors such as Chinese Studies, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies, Indian Studies, Southeast Asian Studies, African Studies, etc.; forming the Oriental Studies Institute to train at all three levels of bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees; enhancing innovation in training content and methods towards regional studies in the trend of integration and globalization; rapidly developing a team of staff with doctoral degrees and the titles of Professor and Associate Professor. On that basis, the Faculty will develop rapidly and sustainably, affirming its pioneering role and leading position in training and research on Oriental Studies in the country.

Prof. Dr. Phan Huy Le - former first Head of the Faculty of Oriental Studies shares memories of the early days of the Faculty's establishment.

Prof. Dr. Phan Huy Le shared his memories of the difficult early days of establishing the Faculty of Oriental Studies, and expressed his joy at witnessing the growth of the Faculty after 20 years. He also expressed his belief in the future development of the Faculty: with the advantage of a young, qualified staff and strong international cooperation, the Faculty will grow stronger and meet the requirements of training and research in Oriental Studies, serving the development and integration of the country.

Gratitude to generations of teachers and scientists of the Faculty of Oriental Studies

• Some other photos at the ceremony:

Mr. Mullath Sri Kumar - Deputy Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to Vietnam - speaking at the ceremony

Mr. Kim Jin Woo - General Director of Human Resources Department of Samsung Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd. - spoke at the ceremony.

Dr. Vo Xuan Vinh - former student of the Faculty of Oriental Studies spoke at the ceremony.