Seminar "Approaches to Humanities Research in Modern Korea and Vietnam"

The seminar was held over two days, August 26th and 27th, 2008, at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. This was one of the collaborative activities between the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and Inha University (South Korea).

[img class="caption" src="images/stories/2008/8/28/img_5129.jpg" border="0" alt="Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Xanh (Faculty of History) presents the first report of the seminar" title="Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Xanh (Faculty of History) presents the first report of the seminar" width="147" height="220" align="right" ]

The symposium was divided into three discussion sessions based on the following main topics: issues concerning modern history and thought; issues concerning modern language and literature; and other issues.

In the first session, delegates discussed specific topics including: core issues in modern Vietnamese history, Vietnamese intellectual movements in the modern era; perceptions of the world and Vietnam's position through some works by Nguyen Truong To, the encounter between Dong-hak (Eastern learning) and Christianity...

In the second session, the reports focused on clarifying: the basic methodology of comparative study of Sino-Korean and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary; the development of the Vietnamese language in the modern period; the formation process of the concept of modern Korean literature; East-West interaction and the transformation of literary paradigms...

In the third session, the main topics of discussion were: a survey of novels based on the Korean participation in the Vietnam War; the origins and characteristics of the "blind chanting" ritual in Korean folk beliefs...

The seminar is a meaningful collaborative activity in an effort to identify common research directions between the two universities through the practical application of social sciences and humanities research in Korea and Vietnam.