Minutes of the VSG Meeting 2006

Vietnam Studies Group

Annual Meeting April 7, 2006

Minutes

At 7:05 pm Chair Michele Thompson called the 2006 Vietnam Studies Group annual meeting to order. The chair and VSG Executive Committee members present briefly introduced themselves (Pam McElwee, George Dutton, Patricia Pelley, Frank Proschan, Hang Nguyen, Ed Miller, Lorraine Paterson, Truong Huyen Chi and Judith Henchy). The minutes from 2005 were mentioned by the chair as having already been approved and she asked if there were any questions about them.

The chair then reported on the 2006 SEAC meeting. Two main issues that came up in this meeting include voting and dues. SEAC will start requiring country groups to have membership lists. It also was announced that VSG’s request for $3,020 for web services and the establishment of web-based voting for the VSG board and chair was approved by SEAC. In fact, SEAC members were impressed with the proposal and requested that VSG help other members develop similar web services. Christoph Giebel (also on SEAC) confirmed this and noted VSG is now the largest and most active of the Southeast Asian groups.

Treasurer George Dutton then reported that 53 members paid a total of $950 in membership dues during the year, bringing the total amount in the VSG account to $1567.64.

Judith Henchy then reported on the list serve and website. She noted that the scholar directory was being updated and encouraged people to list themselves. She noted a student may soon become involved in establishing a blog of some sorts for the website. She also noted that we may soon move to web-based voting for VSG board members once the system is tested and working. She noted that some new sections of the website may soon come on line, including links to a Cham photo series and a section on graduate schools with Vietnam studies options.

Lien Hang Thi Nguyen then made a report as the VSG liaison to Texas Tech. She noted an upcoming conference at Texas Tech on intelligence in the Vietnam War on October 22-21, 2006 and a conference entitled, “The Impact of Culture, Ethnicity, Race and Religion in the Vietnam War” on March 23-24, 2007, and the successful March 2006 conference on ARVN.

The chair then discussed the upcoming AAS to be held in 2007 in Boston. She said that it would be nice to exceed the number of Vietnam panels held this year (10 individual papers, 3 posters and 5 panels). Panel and paper submissions are due August 4, 2006. Anyone wishing to try to obtain VSG sponsorship needs to send their submission to the Chair by July 15, 2006.

The chair then called for new business to be presented. The chair noted that the VSG board has decided to establish an ex officio position on the Executive Committee for an editor of the new Journal of Vietnam Studies. The chair also noted that a launch party for the Journal will be held the following evening. The chair then called on the voting committee to discuss new procedures for voting for VSG Executive Committee (Ex Comm) members. Dutton explained that VSG hopes by 2007 to move to an online system whereby dues paying members of VSG would be allowed to make nominations and vote online, thereby assuring anonymity. The system will be run on passwords and will be hopefully operational by next membership year. At this point, Larry Ashmun asked if VSG membership also required AAS membership. Dutton explained that this was assumed but that as there was no way of checking, it was not a requirement. Christoph Giebel explained AAS may be more vigilant in the future about ensuring all subgroup members are also paying AAS membership dues. Erica Peters asked for a clarification of what the dues were for and asked if the listserv would still be open for all. The chair assured her that this would be the case and that dues are used to determine voting eligibility and that dues would be spent on projects determined by the dues paying members and by the Executive Committee. At this point, the chair also proposed that the dues structure take into account students and retirees with a reduced fee of $10 per year (rather than the usual $20). The chair moved to vote on this issue and Patricia Pelley seconded it. A show of hands was taken and the motion passed unanimously that retirees should also get the reduced dues rates.

Then the chair noted that two members of the Executive Committee had terms ending in 2006, Pam McElwee and Truong Huyen Chi. The chair called for nominations from the floor for two people for these positions. Pam McElwee nominated David Biggs, and Lien Hang Nguyen seconded the motion. Peter Zinoman nominated Ken MacLean and Lorraine Patterson seconded it. No other nominations were submitted, so a vote was taken on Biggs and MacLean and both were voted unanimously to a three year term on the Executive Committee.

The chair called for other new business and George Dutton brought up the issue of dues. Now that VSG has instituted dues, we are growing a pot of money and it needs to be determined by VSG members how it will be spent. Dutton noted that the executive committee had met prior to the VSG meeting and discussed options for this money. One suggestion was that the dues money be used for website and listserv needs. Another suggestion of the VSG Ex Comm was a prize for best graduate student paper during the AAS. Dutton called for other options to be discussed by the VSG membership. Peter Zinoman suggested food and drink for VSG meetings. The chair clarified that previous meetings where food and drink were present were paid by outside organization, not by VSG. Christoph Giebel asked what the policy would be if people were opposed to VSG money being spent on alcohol. Frank Proschan suggested spending money to subsidize the purchase of JVS for Vietnamese libraries and institutions. The chair noted that she will investigate the approximate cost of these and report back to the Ex Comm. Wynn Wilcox suggested a travel grant for a graduate student to travel to the AAS meetings. Christina Firpo noted that AAS already provides a general subsidy to grad students who are presenting but that it is usually not enough to cover the cost of the trip. Dutton noted that these suggestions were potentially feasible but that he would like to decide on VSGs subsidization of the website, given that SEAC just provided a cash infusion to VSG with the recent $3020 grant. He noted that it might be a gesture of good will if VSG committed a certain amount of dues to the website as a sign of long term support for the website (which SEAC would presumably look favorably on in future grant proposals). The chair called for further discussion of the website. Hue Tam Ho Tai suggested using half the dues each year to support the web site and saving the other half for a rainy day and special projects. Judith Henchy noted that spending only ‘half’ would vary by year (according to dues collected) and did not leave much room for discretion. Hue Tam noted she was thinking primarily in the short term only. George Dutton made a motion to set aside a fixed amount for the following year of $500 from dues to go toward the website and listserve. The chair seconded the motion. It was passed unanimously. The chair noted that the other suggestions of food and drink, awards and stipends for graduate students, and sending JVS to Vietnam will be researched by the Ex Comm who will make a report at the 2007 VSG meeting on the cost and feasibility of these options.

The chair then moved on to announcements and awards. She noted that Ed Malesky won a prize from the American Political Science Association for his dissertation, and that Shawn McHale was shortlisted for the Benda prize this year. The chair noted an upcoming Nom conference meeting in June in Hue, and that the Nom Preservation Foundation would be having a meeting on Saturday of the AAS. The chair also reported on the recent medical history conference in Cambodia which had several papers focusing on Vietnam as did the meeting of ISHEASTM in Munich. Wynn Wilcox reported on a Dec 2005 conference on New Approaches to Vietnam and the West, and Lien Hang Nguyen reported on a March 2006 conference at the Vietnam Center of Texas Tech. The topic was ARVN and nearly 120 people attended and transcripts are available on the Texas Tech website. Ed Miller reported on the Berkeley conference titled ‘Vietnam Studies: States of the Field’ which was held before the AAS on Thurs, April 6. He noted there were panels on politics, women and gender studies, a debate on the Vietnam war with Keith Taylor, Vietnamese American studies and Confucianism. Pam McElwee reported on a March 2006 conference on Agent Orange held in Hanoi and said that the papers at the conference would probably not be published or put online but that anyone interested in a copy should contact her. Dan Duffy reported on the Vietnam Literature Project and noted there was new content on Vietnamese literature in translation on the websites to make it more teachable to non-experts. Other announcements from members included a note that a book by Nhung Tuyet Tran and Anthony Reid on Vietnam was in proofs and for sale by the University of Wisconsin press. Irene Norlund asked if anyone had information about the upcoming International Vietnam Studies conference to be held in Vietnam. George Dutton said he had heard it would be in 2007 or 2008 in Danang. Irene noted the second conference had not seen much attendance from outside Vietnam. Pam McElwee noted that proceedings from the first conference were available in publication from The Gioi in Hanoi but there did not seem to be any available for the second conference. Chris Giebel announced a workshop series at the University of Washington on ‘Alternative Voices in Modern Vietnamese History’. He said the series would include workshops on ‘Beyond Teleology: Alternative Voices to 1960’ ‘Beyond Dichotomies: Voices from 1950-on’ and ‘Beyond Borders: Diasporic Voices’. The first part will begin in 2007 and extend to 2008. Further announcements of the series will be posted on the VSG listserv. Frank Proschan announced that the annual Smithsonian Folkways gathering would in 2007 be focused on the Mekong region and will include more than 250 traditional performers who will travel to the event on the Mall in DC. Patricia Pelley asked for an update on “Sources of Vietnamese Tradition.” George Dutton explained that it is a series from Columbia University Press, that the series already includes volumes on Japanese, Chinese, and Indian traditions, that the work will focus on translation through a grant from the Luce Foundation. The first book will likely come out in summer 2008. Stephen Denney announced that he runs a listserve with daily updates of Vietnamese news for anyone who is interested. Pam McElwee announced an upcoming deadline (April 15) for participants wanting to join the Vietnam Update at the Australian National University in Nov 2006. Judith Henchy then asked what had happened to the debate which had erupted on the VSG listserve over the archiving of documents at Texas Tech’s Virtual Vietnam archive which had included putting personal information and names on their website that might be potentially harmful to people still living in Vietnam. Lien Hang Nguyen reported that no resolution had been reached. VSGs concerns had been presented to the people at Texas Tech and they will meeting October to discuss the problem. Frank Proschan asked Lien Hang to provide an update after this October meeting to VSG and she agreed to do so.

With no more news and announcements, the chair concluded and adjourned the meeting at 8:20 pm.

Persons attending 2006 VSG meeting:

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