A group of students led by John Barnett, associate professor of social sciences, and Mark Daly, dean of international education, will be going to Hanoi, Vietnam over Winter Break from Dec. 27 to Jan. 13. The students will be taking “Experiencing Vietnam,” a three hour political science course.
“They’ll be attending a Vietnamese University, which is Vietnam National University of Agriculture, which I personally have had ties for the last 15 years,” said Barnett. “In the morning, they’ll be attending two to three hours of lecture, and then in the afternoon we’ll go out on excursions. Since it’s an agriculture university, we will go out into the rural areas. They’ll experience, first hand, village life and problems that villages are currently facing.”
Currently six students are signed up, according to Ciera Symmonds, administrative specialist in international education.
“This is an opportunity for Emporia State because Vietnam National University of Agriculture wants to create ties within Kansas,” said Barnett. “Emporia State and Kansas State are the two main schools they want to focus on.”
Barnett and a group of Vietnamese students that Barnett taught in Vietnam when he was a Fullbright Professor will translate for the group.
“(Vietnam) is my professional love,” Barnett said. “I’ve been focused on Vietnam since the early ‘80s when I was an undergraduate at Arizona State. It was part of my childhood growing up. It was the war. When I started growing up and started reading more and more about their history, I became very intrigued.”
Barnett hopes that this will also be a way to bring Vietnamese students back to ESU.
“I’m in love with the place,” Barnett said. “It’s very affordable. That’s one good thing about this.”
While there, the group will visit Ha Long Bay, according to Symmonds.
Ha Long Bay was recognized as a World Heritage site and is one of the New Seven Natural Wonders of the World, as named by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The deadline to join the trip was Friday.
