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From: Judith Henchy
To: vsg@u
Cc: Elise DeVido
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 11:36 AM
Subject: Buddhist Research Institute Conference, July 15-16, 2006
Call for Papers: International Conference on Buddhism in the New Era: Chances and
Challenges.
Organized by the Vietnam Buddhist Research Institute, tp HCM. (Formerly known as Van Hanh
Unversity, rekno! wned in the 1960s)
Dates: July 15-16, 2006
Conference papers fall into two categories, World Buddhism and Buddhism in Vietnam.
Paper titles due Feb. 28; complete papers due May 30.
Languages: Vietnamese, English, French, Chinese.
Contact: Dr. Le Manh That, Vice-Rector, VBRI, vncphvn@yahoo.com
or Thich Nhat Tu, Conference Coordinator.
thichhnattu@yahoo.com
For Details and Registration form, see:
http://www.lib.washington.edu/southeastasia/vsg/news/Buddhism.html
From: Stephen Denney <sdenney@ocf.berkeley.edu>
To: Judith Henchy <judithh@u.washington.edu>, Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
I believe Le Manh That is the secular name of Thich Tri Sieu, a prominent
dissident monk who was sentenced to death along with Thich Tue Sy in 1988,
but whose death sentences were commuted after international protest. Nice
to see he is enjoying his freedom now.
From: Elise DeVido <aldi_tw@yahoo.com>
Date: Feb 23, 2006 5:58 PM
Subject: Re: [Vsg] Fw: Buddhist Research Institute Conference, July 15-16, 2006
Dear Stephen:
Yes when I visited him last week he did tell me this. He spent many years in jail...see
http://www.fva.org/bios/thichtrisieu.htm
However he is so positive and energetic, you would never believe he went through all that...
(Proof of his high degree of cultivation?)
He has been publishing profusely and collecting primary sources as well for the history of
modern VN Buddhism.
The govt has offered 60 acres as a site to build a new Van Hanh University; they will have
depts like art and architecture and public health as well as humanities.
I hope as many people can go to this conference as possible because I think it marks a
turning point for Buddhism and Buddhist Studies in Vietnam. The study of modern Vietnamese
Buddhism (as well as pre 20thc ) is wide open and waiting for scholars to plunge i! n!
Best,
Elise
From: T. Nguyen <nguyenthanhbl@yahoo.com>
Date: Feb 23, 2006 10:26 PM
Subject: Re: [Vsg] Fw: Buddhist Research Institute Conference, July 15-16, 2006
Dear VSG's Members:
In the last several years, Ho Chi Minh City's
Publisher has published some of Dr. Manh That's works.
Among them the most notable are Lich Su Phat Giao Viet
Nam (3 volumes, 2002), Tong Tap Van Hoc Phat Giao Viet
nam (3 volumes, 2002),Toan Tap Minh Chau Huong Hai
(2000), Toan Tap Tran Nhan Tong (2000), and The
Philosophy Of Vasubandhu (2003).
I am afraid that there is a typo in Thich Nhat Tu's
email address. It should be Thichnhattu@yahoo.com.
This is the address that I have used to contact him in
the last 10 years. Nhat Tu himself is also an
outstanding scholar in Buddhist Studies.
Best,
Thanh Nguyen
From: Elise DeVido <aldi_tw@yahoo.com>
Date: Feb 24, 2006 3:24 AM
Subject: Re: [Vsg] Fw: Buddhist Research Institute Conference, July 15-16, 2006
Dear Dr .Thanh Nguyen:
Thank you very much for the titles and noticing the typo for Ven. Nhat Tu!
Best
Elise
From: Tuan Hoang <thoang1@nd.edu>
Date: Feb 24, 2006 7:38 AM
Subject: Re: [Vsg] Fw: Buddhist Research Institute Conference, July 15-16, 2006
May I echo Prof. Elise DeVido's hope for the this possible turning point, if
only because from a historical perspective, I think it's long due. Known for
their protests and (to a lesser extent) social services, war-time southern
Buddhists haven't received the due credit for their contributions to
intellectual life in general and university education in particular. This was
especially true in the second half of the RVN era, when Van Hanh University was
looking to become a leading institution in the studies of Vietnamese Buddhism as
well as of wider Buddhist scholarship.
Sometimes last year, I came across a speech from the early 1970s by its then
Rector, Thich Minh Chau, that reported on greater fundraising and outlined a
number of exciting educational goals. In addition, the University's journal
"Tu Tuong" published long articles from leading Vietnamese scholars on a
variety of topics - not only Vietnam-related but also stuffs such as
Schopenhauer and Zen Buddhism, hence illustrating the growing contacts with
both the West and wider Asia. (One of the publishing arms, Kinh Thi, even
brought out a translation of Herbert Marcuse's _Eros and Civilization_.)
Because the end of the war put a stop to those vibrant activities, I imagine
the re building efforts up till now must have been tremendous. It is hence
doubly exciting to see Le Manh That, then a budding scholar, to get this
conference on the ground and running - and I'll cross my fingers for its
success!
Tuan Hoang
From: Stephen Denney <sdenney@ocf.berkeley.edu>
Date: Feb 24, 2006 8:11 AM
Subject: Re: [Vsg] Fw: Buddhist Research Institute Conference, July 15-16, 2006
As the Vietnam country specialist for Amnesty International USA, I work
with an AIUSA group that has adopted Ven. Thich Huyen Quang as a prisoner
of conscience. I believe he must be around 90 now. Over the years he has
issued many remarkably courageous statements about the state of religious
freedom and human rights in Vietnam and has been under house (or pagoda)
arrest in recent years. I know the leader of this AIUSA group has worked
very hard and tried many angles to secure his release, but it has been
very frustrating. I would hope the government could allow him full freedom
now, as it has to Ven. Thich Tri Sieu.
- Steve Denney
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