"Digital Anthropology in Vietnam: Trends, Potentials and Prospects"

In the face of technological integration in the 21st century, the world is facing many major changes. Inventions such as mobile computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) have established a multi-layered interface between the individual and the world. Therefore, Anthropology must also abandon the perspectives proposed in the previous period, which were based on subjective classifications of colonial thinking. Anthropology must adopt more empowering, collaborative perspectives and approaches of the decolonial period. Anthropological practice must become more comprehensive, and works more social. In this new anthropology, researchers aim to apply digital tools and methodologies to create community projects that are comprehensive, participatory, and empowering.

In this context, the workshop "Digital Anthropology in Vietnam: Trends, Potentials and Prospects" was organized to assess the ability of Vietnamese Anthropology to respond to the digital development. Specifically, the workshop focused on clarifying the following issues:

• The State of Anthropological Practice in Vietnam in the Face of New Digital Possibilities

• Core issues in participatory anthropological practice in Vietnam in the shift to digital anthropology

• Theoretical and practical issues in developing collaborative digital anthropology in Vietnam

• New interdisciplinary approaches and innovative themes to promote nuanced Digital Anthropology in Vietnam

• Current digital tools and methods for creating change in Anthropology in a globalized context

On behalf of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh (Rector of the University) delivered the opening speech at the conference.

From the perspective of international cooperation, the President highly appreciated the significance of the conference and said that this event is an indicator of the internationalization strategy that the University is implementing. The conference was attended by many international scholars and researchers from RMIT University in particular and Australia in general. This created an atmosphere of integration for the conference.

From a scientific perspective, the Faculty of Anthropology, University of Social Sciences and Humanities in particular and Vietnamese anthropology in general have created a historical turning point when approaching a new issue such as digital anthropology. Starting with ethnology and then conventional anthropology, to keep up with the digital age, Vietnamese anthropology has transformed itself according to that trend.

From a technological perspective, digital technology brings both opportunities and challenges to anthropological researchers. Digital technology contributes to expanding the research space, with many rich sources of documents. On the other hand, it creates difficulties in preserving confidential and private information; giving rise to ethical issues in research. Therefore, anthropological researchers in Vietnam need to predict and respond appropriately to the strengths and weaknesses of digital technology.

After the opening session, the workshop was divided into 3 sessions with 11 reports:

Session 1: “Theoretical studies” with presentations: “Digital Anthropology in Vietnam, from theory to practice”, “A different mode of recognition for multi-faceted Digital Anthropology in Vietnam – Grasping the world through personal empowerment”, “Breakthrough in Social Sciences and Humanities in Vietnam with Digital Anthropology”, “Towards an index of digital inclusion”, “Application of digital anthropology in disaster research in ethnic minority areas”.

Session 2: “Trends” with presentations: “Nowhere to be without a phone: Ethnic minority youth’s experiences of online communities”, “Knowledge, online media and the spread of social trends in Vietnam”, “Digital empowerment for socially and culturally disadvantaged groups in ethnic minority tourism in Vietnam”.

Session 3: “Potentials and prospects” with presentations: “Potentials of digital anthropology in Lao Cai”, “Evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of some digitalization methods in museums”, “Digital anthropology and its impact in the field of museology: The case of the Museum of Ethnology in Vietnam”.