Faculty of Journalism and Communication - Integration and Development

Germinating from a great school of training and research in social sciences and humanities

In 1990, the Faculty of Journalism (now the Faculty of Journalism and Communication) was established, marking an important milestone for the first time, journalism training and research was placed in a university not in the Party school system, moreover, it is also the leading university in training and research in social sciences and humanities in Vietnam - Hanoi National University (now the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU Hanoi).

Since its inception, the Faculty of Journalism and Communication has gathered a team of dedicated and enthusiastic staff and lecturers, many of whom are famous and prestigious scientists such as Prof. Ha Minh Duc, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Duong Xuan Son, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dinh Van Huong, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Do Xuan Ha, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vu Quang Hao, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Do Quang Hung, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thien Giap, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Doan Huong, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Minh Thai, Dr. Trinh Ho Khoa, etc. Prof. Ha Minh Duc, the first Dean of the Faculty, is one of the leading professors in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities. The professor has published nearly 50 books, and was honored to receive a State Prize for Literature and Arts (2000), a State Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities Research (2001), and was especially awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Science and Technology (2012) with a cluster of works: Ho Chi Minh's literary and journalistic career and some theoretical and practical issues of Vietnamese culture and arts.

Faculty of Journalism and Communication and School leaders
on Vietnam Press Day June 21

The academic knowledge and professional experience of the early professors and doctors laid a solid foundation for the existence and development of the Faculty, helping the Faculty to grow rapidly and soon assert its position in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities of VNU. Following the career of previous generations, the current teaching staff of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication are mostly young, dynamic and enthusiastic, 100% of the lecturers have a master's degree or higher, of which 29% of the faculty's teaching staff are associate professors, 43% have a doctorate. Many staff have received professional training in the Soviet Union, UK, Australia, Korea, ... and are prestigious experts in the academic world, journalism and communication research. Many lecturers of the Faculty have many years of experience in journalism, have won Journalism awards, and many lecturers are still directly working, consulting, and providing professional support to central and local press agencies. In addition to the permanent staff, the faculty also has more than 50 part-time lecturers and invited lecturers who are experts in journalism, journalism management, and many prestigious and experienced journalists. In the leading training and research environment of social sciences and humanities in Vietnam, students of the faculty are exposed to and are imparted with the most basic, fundamental and profound knowledge of social sciences and humanities, important and valuable knowledge foundations that help future journalists write many articles that touch people's hearts with cultural depth and comprehensive social understanding.

Training innovation: Learner-centered, linking theory with practice

Currently, the Faculty of Journalism and Communication (University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU Hanoi) is one of the two largest training and research institutions for journalism and communication in Vietnam, training 3 levels from bachelor to doctorate in Journalism.

The difference of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication is that students are fully equipped with skills and expertise in all types of journalism and communication (from print, radio, television to electronic newspapers), rather than being divided into specialized departments right from the first year. This creates more opportunities for students when they graduate. Therefore, this model has been and is being applied by the Faculty of Journalism and Communication (University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU-HCM) and the Faculty of Journalism and Communication (University of Sciences, Hue University).

Students of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication practice with modern equipment at the Center for Journalism and Communication.

The Faculty of Journalism and Communication (University of Social Sciences and Humanities) is the first training institution to conduct joint training in journalism and communication with Guangxi University (China) at the undergraduate level, and is one of the first training institutions in Vietnam to organize international joint training in the master's degree in "Media Management" with Stirling University (UK).

Since 2013, after successfully establishing the Bachelor of Public Relations training program, the Faculty of Journalism and Communication (University of Social Sciences and Humanities) is the only faculty in Vietnam to train in both majors: Journalism and Public Relations.

The Master's program in applied journalism that the faculty has developed and is preparing to put into teaching will also be the first Master's program in journalism in Vietnam focusing on professional subjects and journalism skills.

The training program of the Faculty is designed according to the output standard approach, based on the requirements of society to build the modules of the courses. The Faculty of Journalism and Communication is the first journalism training institution in Vietnam to apply the credit-based training model (applied since 2009 and comprehensively adjusted in depth since 2012), creating conditions for learners to actively accumulate courses, proactively progress their studies and have the ability to graduate 6 months to 1 year earlier than the training process.

Since its establishment in 1990, the Faculty has trained more than 10,000 full-time and part-time bachelors, and more than 350 masters and doctors, effectively serving the Vietnamese press and the country's media industry. The number of students of the Faculty who have jobs after one year of graduation has always reached nearly 90%. More than 100 alumni of the Faculty have won national journalism awards and journalism awards of various sectors and levels. Many alumni of the Faculty are holding important positions in central and local press agencies, such as leaders of Vietnam Television, Voice of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City Television, editor-in-chief and deputy editor-in-chief of many press agencies such as Women's Newspaper, Vietnamnet electronic newspaper, Customs Newspaper, VietnamPlus Newspaper, etc.

Over the years, the Faculty of Journalism and Communication has trained thousands of reporters, editors, and media staff for many localities across the country, from Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Tuyen Quang, Thai Nguyen, Ha Nam, Thuong Tin, Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Ho Chi Minh City, ... to Ca Mau, effectively serving the improvement of professional qualifications, expertise, and professional skills for the team of journalists and media workers in the country.

The facilities have also undergone many changes, effectively and practically serving the teaching and research of journalism and communication. The Faculty has proposed an in-depth investment project to build a journalism and communication experimental training center, approved by the National University with a total investment of nearly 60 billion VND (phase 1 and 2) and become a journalism and communication training facility with the most modern and synchronous training equipment system in Vietnam today. Many products are major assignments of students in operational subjects, broadcast and posted on mass media channels, many students of the Faculty have chosen to produce journalism products instead of writing their university graduation thesis. The gap between training and practice of journalism is gradually narrowing, theory is being more closely linked with practice when the Faculty of Journalism is a miniature editorial office. At the same time, this modern and synchronous infrastructure system is one of the important factors that helps the faculty affirm its training conditions and quality in the negotiation process for student exchange and recognition of training credits with the network of 5 major journalism training schools in the region.

Professional research as the foundation for professional training

In addition to its training mission, the Faculty of Journalism and Communication is also one of the leading centers for journalism and communication research in the country. Although the faculty is not large, the faculty has conducted and accepted 12 research projects at the VNU-Hanoi level (with good and excellent results), and nearly 20 research projects at the school level, with good and excellent results.

Currently, the Faculty of Journalism and Communication is implementing 02 State-level scientific research projects, 6 VNU-Hanoi-level projects, 1 Asia Foundation project and 3 school-level projects. In the past 5 years, more than 200 scientific articles of lecturers and staff have been published in scientific, theoretical and specialized journals, or reported at conferences at home and abroad.

Scientific Conference organized by the Faculty of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU in collaboration with the KAS Institute (Germany)

Many domestic and international scientific conferences organized by the faculty in the past 5 years have attracted the attention and participation of hundreds of Vietnamese and foreign scientists. Many conferences have resonated in the research community, at the same time, providing many recommendations, solutions, and contributions to relevant agencies to manage and promote the improvement of the quality of journalism in Vietnam today, such as the conference "Mass media culture in the context of market economy and globalization', “Social responsibility and journalistic ethics in the digital age”, “Vietnamese and German economic journalism model”, “Social media, traditional media and public opinion”, 'Media management and information providers in the digital age”, “The role and impact of mass media culture on the public and Vietnamese society in the conditions of market economy and international integration”, “Working skills for industry newspapers”, “Participatory Discussion – When the Audience is Part of the TV Show" and "Legal issues in public relations activities”….

The faculty's teaching staff has compiled 20 textbooks and 24 specialized lectures, nearly 30 monographs, and translated more than 15 documents on foreign journalism. The books published by the faculty have systematically and methodically established the core issues in the research and practice of journalism and communication in Vietnam today, effectively serving the training and research of journalism, for example 'Journalism – Theoretical and practical issues” (9 episodes), “Time and Witness” (3 episodes), 'Theoretical basis of journalism and media” (reprinted 4 times), “News genres”, “Political genres”, “Genres of artistic commentary”, “Journalistic language”, “Marx - Engels - Lenin on literature and journalism”, “Ho Chi Minh's literary and journalistic career“… Many books have been reprinted many times, effectively serving the study and research of journalism and media in Vietnam. With the above results, the faculty has provided nearly 80% of textbooks, lectures, and specialized documents, in which many textbooks and monographs are not only bedside books for students of the faculty, but also handbooks for lecturers and students of many other schools.

Cooperation, integration and development

The Faculty of Journalism and Communication (University of Social Sciences and Humanities) is one of the major hubs in international exchanges on research and training in journalism and communication in Vietnam, with cooperative partnerships with many foreign press organizations such as Reuters (UK), AFP (France), many leading journalism training institutions in the world such as the University of Southern California (USA), City University London, Stirling University, Bournemouth University (UK),... foreign organizations such as the British Council, the Embassy of the UK, the US, Singapore, the Konrad Adenauer Institute (Germany)...

Richard Kilborn, professor at Stirling University (UK) discussed the topic "Participation Agreement - when the audience
is part of a TV show" with students of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication

Dozens of cadres were sent to attend long-term and short-term training courses in the UK, Australia, Korea, India, Sweden, the US, Japan, Thailand, China, etc. Many cooperation projects with foreign countries were implemented, typically the Project 'Supporting the development of journalism training schools in Vietnam' (sponsored by the SASAKAWA Peace Foundation, Japan), the Vietnam History Research Project (sponsored by the Toyota Foundation), the MediaPro Project - Building a framework for journalism training programs according to international standards (sponsored by the British Council), the Project to improve the capacity of young journalists (sponsored by the US Embassy)... The results of these cooperation projects are many monographs being published, dozens of cadres being trained to improve their qualifications and teaching skills at home and abroad, the framework for journalism training programs has also been gradually revised and improved to suit the development trends of the world and Vietnam's media industry.

The Faculty of Journalism and Communication is gradually joining the network of 5 major journalism schools in the region, and in the near future the 5 schools will exchange students and recognize credits for professional training in each other's bachelor's degree programs. This is one of the steps for the Faculty to increasingly improve the quality of training to regional and international standards.

After 25 years of construction and development, the Faculty of Journalism and Communication has achieved many encouraging achievements and was honored to be awarded the Third Class Labor Medal (2015), Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister (2009), Certificate of Merit from Hanoi National University (2000, 2005, 2010, 2013, 2015), Certificate of Merit from the Central Propaganda Department (2015), Vietnam Journalists Association (2015), Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee (2015). The profound lesson that brings about the success of the Faculty today is the spirit of solidarity, unanimity, and attachment of generations of teachers and students of the Faculty, the spirit of responsible, dedicated, dynamic, and effective work of the staff and lecturers, the efforts, seriousness, inquisitiveness, eagerness to learn, and creativity of the students and trainees of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication, and the joint efforts of many internal and external forces.

The Faculty of Journalism and Communication will continue to promote internal strength and collective power, maintain solidarity and stability, promote advantages, overcome difficulties to build and develop the Faculty in depth and in the direction of standardization and modernization of all aspects of work in the common development of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and Vietnam National University, Hanoi in the direction of a research university.