Methods of writing social history

On June 9, 2011, Professor Ho Tai Tue Tam (Faculty of History - Harvard University) gave a presentation, exchanged and discussed methods of writing social history with staff and students of the School.Through specific and vivid examples and practices, Professor Ho Tai Tue Tam discussed in detail issues related to local history and globalization in the ancient medieval period such as: interview methods to learn about biographies, using the concept of globalization to look back at the ancient medieval period... Exchanging and sharing experiences in practical research, Professor gave some notes when interviewing to learn about biographies through others, it is necessary to be careful, because there may be confusion because the information providers may remember wrongly or not remember enough, especially the elderly often do not remember the exact time. Besides, Professor also noted that when using memoirs to learn about biographies, memoirs are sometimes just descriptions, recounting events, but details, specific developments of events, events are rarely mentioned. Therefore, when researching and learning through memoirs, pay attention to asking questions related to the process and the way each event and incident happened... The professor emphasized that writing social history is writing about ordinary people in society. Social history has a wide scope, but the issues raised are very specific and need to raise questions in research and study... Professor Ho Tai Hue Tam has spent many years researching and teaching at Harvard University (USA), specializing in modern Vietnamese history. His most recently published book is "Passion, Betrayal and Revolution in Colonial Saigon - Memories of Bao Luong".