Social Science Research Council

From February 22-29, 2004, Craig Calhoun, SSRC President, was in Vietnam to work with high-ranking Vietnamese officials and the Council's long-term partner organizations to examine ways to further social science research and training and their interface with the policy process in Vietnam. Meetings were designed to give President Calhoun a hands-on feel for our projects in Vietnam and the environment in which we are operating, make use of his interaction with academics and ranking officials who have social science as part of their portfolios to enhance the visibility of the SSRC and contribute to our ability to work in Vietnam with local partners, and raise the profile of social science in relationship to public knowledge and policy. Dr. Calhoun also spoke at and participated in the International Conference on Poverty Alleviation, Migration, and Urbanization: Ho Chi Minh City in Comparative Perspectives.

In Hanoi, Craig Calhoun met with members of the SSRC-VASS Project Management Board (Dr. Nguyen Giang Hai, Dr. Le Huy Hoang, Mrs. Tran Thi Lan Anh, and Ms. Dang Anh Phuong). President Calhoun's itinerary also included working meetings with high-ranking members of each of the relevant sectors in

Hanoi:

• Mr. Pham Gia Khiem, Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam
• Mr. Dang Xuan Ky, Vice President of the Party's Theoretical Council
• Ms. Ton Nu Thi Ninh, Vice Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly
• Mr. Le Van Bang, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hung, Vice-Deputy of the International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Education and Training
• Mr. Nguyen Xuan Vang, Vice Rector of Hanoi University of Foreign Studies and Director of the ESP Resource Centre
• Mr. Graham Alliband, Facility Manager of the CEG Facility and former Australian ambassador to Vietnam
• Mr. Raymond Burghardt, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam

Dr. Calhoun discussed with our local ministerial level partner, the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences (formerly the National Center for Social Sciences and Humanities), building a new phase of cooperation based on the Interdisciplinary Social Science Research Training Program. Pham Gia Khiem and Dang Xuan Ky expressed appreciation for the valuable work that the Council has been carrying out in Vietnam since the mid-1980's and hoped for the Council's continued involvement. They encouraged the Council to explore health issues in Vietnam along with potential partners in the public health sector.

Dr. Calhoun also met with the faculty and trainees of the research training program and representatives of the Ford Foundation, the funder for our current programs in Vietnam. Other activities included touring the newly excavated site of Vietnam's ancient royal capital, the Old Quarter of Hanoi, and the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first national university (built in 1070).

In Ho Chi Minh City, Dr. Calhoun worked with our partner's (Southern Institute of Social Sciences) Steering Committee members (Dr. Nguyen The Nghia, Prof. Mac Duong, Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh, Dr. Phan Van Dop, Mr. Nguyen Thu Sa, and Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan Mai). Craig Calhoun and Mary Byrne McDonnell also met with Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan, the Vice-Chairman of the People's Committee of HCMC who oversees the social sciences.

While in Vietnam, Dr. Calhoun and other members of the research team were interviewed by multiple local newspapers and appeared on national television on several occasions.