Di sản văn hóa & Căn tính Việt
Vietnam today confronts an urgent question: how to balance the imperatives of developing sustainably and of safeguarding its cultural heritage and identity? The goal of building “a progressive Vietnamese culture deeply imbued with national identity” has guided Vietnamese policy since 1998 and figures into the SRV Constitution and into national strategies for sustainable development for the coming decades. Similar challenges have faced many countries around the world as they undergo rapid industrialization and post-industrialization. Responding to those challenges, an array of international treaties has been developed to support national efforts and international cooperation.
This 300-level course provides an overview of the development and evolution of concepts of “cultural heritage” over the past century and around the world, examines the existing international legal framework, and analyzes Vietnamese responses (legal and regulatory as well as practical). The course approaches heritage from the perspectives of anthropology and critical heritage studies, combining intensive analyses of heritage policy with case studies of how such policies are applied on the ground. Special attention will be given to examining recent controversies in Vietnam over different aspects of cultural heritage. The focus will be on built cultural heritage (monuments and relics) and intangible cultural heritage.
The course seeks to prepare students to be effective citizens both of Vietnam and the larger world. It emphasizes the roles of Vietnamese citizens, communities, officials, and scholars to address contemporary issues and shape a sustainable future. The instructor’s background working with the United Nations, with the Smithsonian Institution in the U.S., and with various high-level Vietnamese institutions and senior scholars can inspire students seeking careers in public service (locally or globally) or in scholarship.
Prerequisite: Completion of all Core courses.
Course Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of the course, students will be able, at the Mastery level, to:
CLO1: Situate Vietnam’s approach to cultural heritage within global trends and frameworks, highlighting the Vietnamization of those international concepts and approaches;
CLO2: Develop critical reading skills as applied to international treaties, Vietnamese domestic laws, and Vietnamese implementing regulations, emphasizing responsibilities of citizens and the state;
CLO3: Research and analyze current cases and controversies in Vietnam’s application of international heritage treaties and domestic heritage laws, highlighting critical contributions of leading Vietnamese scholars;
CLO4: Understand how issues of heritage and identity pose fundamental challenges to Vietnamese citizens, especially young ones, as they seek to ensure a sustainable future.
Assessment of Learning
All students will be expected to complete all required readings and to participate actively in course discussions and peer review of proposals and papers. Absences will result in an automatic penalty (see policy below), as will disruptive use of mobile phones during course sessions.
A mid-term paper of 3-5 pages (1050-1750 words) will be required of all students. Papers are due without fail on March 22, 2024; late papers will not be accepted. Specific instructions on the choice of topics and the formal requirements for the paper will be provided during the third week of the course. Students will also engage in peer review of others’ papers and will provide constructive feedback to the authors.
A term paper of 6-8 pages (2100-2800 words), on a topic agreed between student and professor, will be required of all students. During the tenth week of the course, the student will submit a one-page proposal of her or his topic, will integrate peer review and feedback, and will meet with the professor to discuss the proposal. Papers are due without fail on May 14, 2024; late papers will not be accepted. Specific instructions on the choice of topics and the formal requirements for the paper will be provided during the seventh week of the course.
Course Materials:
All required and supplementary readings for the course can be found on the Canvas site for this course (https://fuv.instructure.com/courses/877); they are named so that each week’s readings begin with the number of that week. You may wish to download these so that you can add highlights or notes. Each week, you will also receive reading hints or questions to help focus your reading; these notes will be available week-by-week on the Canvas site.
Tentative Course Schedule
Week one: introduction and objectives of the course
Introduction of professor and students; review of syllabus and course requirements
Gleason, Philip. 1983. Identifying identity: A semantic history. The Journal of American History 69, 910-931.
Week two: The heritage impulse
Bendix, Regina. 2009. Heritage between economy and politics: An assessment from the perspective of cultural anthropology. In Intangible Heritage, ed. Laurajane Smith and Natsuko Akagawa. Pp. 253-269. London: Routledge.
Byrne, Denis. 2008. Heritage as social action. In The Heritage Reader, ed. Graham Fairclough, Rodney Harrison, John H. Jameson Jr., John Schofield. Pp. 149-173. London: Routledge.
Week three: Monuments, landscapes, and vestiges
Bùi Xuân Đính. 2003. Cha ông ta với việc bảo vệ di sản văn hóa [Our ancestors and safeguarding cultural heritage]. Tạp chí Di sản Văn hóa 2/2003, 67-71.
French Republic. Law on historic monuments, promulgated 31 December 1913 [Loi sur les monuments historiques promulguée le 31 décembre 1913]. [Excerpt: Ch. 1 and 2 only]
Athens Conference, 21-30 October 1931. Athens Charter for the Restoration of Historical Monuments.*
International Council on Monuments and Sites, Second International Congress of Architects and Technicians of Historic Monuments. 1964. International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites (The Venice Charter).*
Week four: How to read a Convention: 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
UNESCO. 1972. Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.* [Preamble, Articles 1-14, 19-29]
UNESCO. 2013. Managing Cultural World Heritage. Paris: UNESCO, World Heritage Centre. Pp. 7-52. [pp. 7-52]
***Tết holiday***
Week five: Case studies and current controversies in preserving tangible heritage in Vietnam
Hoi An Centre for Monuments Managements and Preservation. 2008. Impact: The Effects of Tourism on Culture and the Environment in Asia and the Pacific: Cultural Tourism and Heritage Management in the World Heritage Site of the Ancient Town of Hoi An, Viet Nam. Bangkok: UNESCO. [Pp. 13-25; pp. 45-77]
Students will be organized into sections, each reading one of the following three essays and reporting back to the class:
Logan, William. 2014. Making the most of heritage in Hanoi, Vietnam. Historic Environment 26(3), 62-72.
Nguyen Ky Nam and Quang Anh Phan. 2021. The management of minority heritage: critical challenges to Vietnamese Catholic heritage seen from the case study of Bui Chu Cathedral. International Journal of Heritage Studies 27:7, 734-751.
Nguyen Ky Nam, Quang Anh Phan, and Ngoc Minh Ngu. 2022. Archaeological site management and the legislation challenge in Vietnam: a case study of Vuon Chuoi. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development.
Week six: Cultural heritage in the face of rapid industrialization
Seeger, Charles. 1953. Folk music in the schools of a highly industrialized society. Journal of the International Folk Music Council 5, 40-44.*
Kakiuchi, Emiko. 2014. Cultural heritage protection system in Japan: current issues and prospects for the future. GRIPS Discussion Paper 14-10. Tokyo: National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
Week seven: Toward the concept of “intangible cultural heritage”
Aikawa-Faure, Noriko. 2009. From the Proclamation of Masterpieces to the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. In Intangible Heritage, ed. Laurajane Smith and Natsuko Akagawa. Pp. 13-44. London: Routledge.
Proschan, Frank. 2015. Community involvement in valuing and safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. In Community Involvement in Heritage, ed. Koen Van Balen and Aziliz Vandesande. Pp. 15-22. Antwerp: Garant.
Week eight: How to read a Convention: 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
UNESCO. 2003. Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.* [Preamble, Articles 1-24, Article 31]
Blake, Janet. 2009. UNESCO’s 2003 Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage: The implications of community involvement in “safeguarding”. In Intangible Heritage, ed. Laurajane Smith and Natsuko Akagawa. Pp. 45-73. London: Routledge.
Week nine: Mid-Term break
Week ten: Domesticating international law: the Vietnamese Law on Cultural Heritage and its implementing regulations
Socialist Republic of Vietnam. 2001, amended 2009. Law on Cultural Heritage. Law # 28/2001/QH10 and 32/2009/QH12. Hanoi: National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.*
Socialist Republic of Vietnam. 2010. Decree #98/2010/ND-CP on the detailed regulations to implement the Law on Cultural Heritage and its 2009 amendments.* [Articles 1-10]
Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. 2010. Circular 04/2010/TT-BVHTTDL. Regulations on inventorying intangible cultural heritage and compiling scientific dossiers on intangible cultural heritage for inclusion in the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.*
Week eleven: Case studies and current controversies in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in Vietnam
Salemink, Oscar. 2013. Appropriating culture: The politics of intangible cultural heritage in Vietnam. In State, Society and the Market in Contemporary Vietnam, ed. Hue-Tam Ho Tai and Mark Sidel. Pp. 158-180. London: Routledge.
Trần Hoài. 2021. Doing Gong Culture: Heritage politics and performances in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Halle studies in the anthropology of Eurasia 48. Berlin: LIT Verlag. [Pp. 1-19; pp. 77-83; pp. 107-143; pp. 169-175]
Proschan, Frank. 2023. Media Views of Intangible Cultural Heritage: Effective Advocate or Contributor to Misunderstandings? In Achievements in Safeguarding ICH over the Past Two Decades and Further Prospects. Proceedings of the 2023 World Forum for Intangible Cultural Heritage. Pp. 45-52. Jeonju: International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (ICHCAP).
Students will be organized into sections, each reading one of the following five essays and reporting back to the class:
Hoàng Cầm. 2023. “We know only our Po Then Luang”: Heritagization, religious inculturation and resistance in post-đổi mới Vietnam. Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 18:2.
Hoàng Cầm and Nguyễn Thị Hiền. 2023. She is the Mother Goddess Po Ina Nagar, Thiên Y A Na, and Bodhisattva: Religious Pluralism in the Bà Stupa, Nha Trang City. Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 18:2.
Nguyễn Vũ Hoàng and Nguyễn Văn Huy. 2022. Impulsions for Invention of Tradition in Vietnam: Case of Ném Thượng Village Festival in Bắc Ninh Province. Vietnam Social Sciences 2022(3), 75-92.
Nguyen Ky Nam, Quang Anh Phan, Van Duoc Mai and Hoai Giang Dang. 2023. Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Controversies over Contested Intangible Heritage in Vietnam Seen from the Case Study of Lady Phi Yen. Millenial Asia 14(4). DOI: 10.1177/09763996231193203
Week twelve: Culture and sustainable development
World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission). 1987. Chapter 2: Towards sustainable development. In Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (The Brundtland Report). Transmitted to the United Nations General Assembly as an Annex to document A/42/427 - Development and International Co-operation: Environment.
United Nations, General Assembly. 2014. Culture and Sustainable Development. Report of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Document A/69/216.
United Nations, General Assembly. 2015. Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution A/RES/70/1. [Selection: search for “culture”, “cultural”, “heritage”, etc. to see if/how cultural heritage is included or excluded]
Weeks thirteen, fourteen: Cultural heritage and sustainable development
General Assembly of the States Parties to the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. 2018. Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage and sustainable development at the national level. Chapter VI of the Operational Directives for the Implementation of the Convention. Resolution 7.GA 10.*
Maags, Christina and Heike Holbig. 2016. Replicating elite dominance in intangible cultural heritage safeguarding: The role of local government-scholar networks in China. International Journal of Cultural Property 23, 71-97.
General Assembly of the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention. 2015. Policy for the integration of a sustainable development perspective into the processes of the World Heritage Convention. Decision 20 GA13.
English Heritage. 2008. Sustaining the historic environment: New perspectives on the future. In The Heritage Reader, ed. Graham Fairclough, Rodney Harrison, John H. Jameson Jr., John Schofield. Pp. 313-321. London: Routledge.
Week fourteen: conclusion
Summary review of the content of the course; evaluation of the professor and course.