From Cambridge to Vietnam: Teaching and Researching Anthropology in Today's Global World

Attending the presentation were Associate Professor Dr. Pham Quang Minh (Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities), staff and lecturers of the University and the Faculty of Anthropology, many domestic and foreign researchers, and students, graduate students and researchers of the Faculty of Anthropology.

In the first part of the presentation, Prof. Susan Bayly shared her experiences in teaching and researching Anthropology at Cambridge University; the process of shifting approaches in world Anthropology, from emphasizing macro issues such as social structure or system to emphasizing human experiences, the voices of the researched community, as well as the close relationship between field research and theory as two inseparable components of Anthropological research.

In the second part of the presentation, Professor Susan Bayly shared her personal experiences during her research in Vietnam over the past fifteen years, especially her interest in interesting topics of contemporary Vietnam, such as the experiences of intellectual families in Hanoi in Vietnamese history from the August Revolution to the present and the social concept of the concept of “achievement” in Vietnam today. Professor Bayly especially emphasized the importance of her long-term collaboration in particular and the University of Cambridge’s Department of Anthropology in general with the former Department of Ethnology and the current Department of Anthropology. According to her, although the two anthropological traditions of the two countries may have some differences in approach, there is one thing that both sides share: that is, the belief in the role of anthropology as a unique science, with a special sensitivity to human experiences and how they adapt to the ever-changing world, and always looking at those experiences with an attitude of sharing, respect and empathy.

During the discussion, Professor Susan Bayly shared openly with scientists and students present at the presentation, focusing on issues such as the role of Anthropologists in policy making and advising governments, the relationship between Ethnology and Anthropology, schools of Anthropology and the relationship between social and cultural Anthropology, and many other interesting issues of Anthropology in the world and Vietnam today.