The Challenges of Peace: US-Vietnam Relations since 1975 International Symposium
Organized by the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of California-Berkeley and the US-Vietnam Research Center at the University of Oregon
Symposium Date: September 18-19, 2025
Location: University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
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US-Vietnam relations have changed significantly since the fall of Saigon in April 1975. This year marks the 50th anniversary of that historic event and offers an important moment for the two countries to reflect on the progress of bilateral relations in the past and directions for the future.
This Symposium gathers scholars from across the US, in Vietnam, and in the diaspora, to present their latest research that offers interdisciplinary perspectives on the history and politics of the relationship. Participants also include former diplomats and officials as well as civil society activists to help enrich the discussion.
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First day, Thursday, September 18, 2025,
Welcome Addresses, 8:30 – 9:00 AM:
- Lisandro Claudio, Professor and Director, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley
- Peter Zinoman, Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley
- Tuong Vu, Professor & Director, US-Vietnam Research Center, University of Oregon
Panel 1: Looking Backward and Forward: Lessons from a Past Partnership, 9:00 – 10:45 AM
- Moderator: Tuong Vu, Professor & Director, US-Vietnam Research Center
- Bui Kien Thanh, adviser to President Ngo Dinh Diem, Republic of Vietnam, and adviser to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s government (virtual from Vietnam)
- Amb. John Negroponte, Vice-Chair, McLarty Associates, former Deputy Secretary of State and Deputy National Security Adviser (virtual from Washington DC)
- Hoang Duc Nha, former Private Secretary to President Nguyen Van Thieu, and Minister of Mass Mobilization & Open Arms, Republic of Vietnam
- Vũ Thanh Thuỷ, CEO, Saigon-Houston Radio, former RVN war correspondent
Coffee Break, 10:45 – 11:00 AM
Panel 2: Collaboration and Normalization, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
- Moderator & discussant: Edward Miller, Associate Professor, Dartmouth College
- Thanh Nguyen, PhD candidate, Yale University: “US Civil Society and the Reconstruction of Vietnam: The Case of Scientific Cooperation”
- Ha Tien-Dung, PhD candidate, Stanford University: “Governing the Dead: Transnational Politics in the Identification of Vietnamese Martyrs”
- Zachary Tayler, PhD candidate, Ohio University: “The Path Forward: The United States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 1986-1988”
Lunch, 12:30 – 1:30 PM
Panel 3: Challenges to Reconciliation, 1:30 – 3:00 PM
- Moderator & discussant: Lien-Hang Nguyen, Associate Professor, Columbia University
- Pham Thi Hong Ha, PhD, Senior Researcher, Institute of History, Hanoi: “The Evolution of Vietnam’s Policy toward Overseas Vietnamese in the 1970s-1990s Period and Beyond”
- Vincent Tran, PhD student, University of California, Berkeley: “Divided Transnational Vietnamese Anti-Communism: The Question of Reconciliation and Harmony”
- Alex-Thai Vo, Assistant Research Professor, Texas Tech University: “Reframing Reconciliation: Hóa Giải and the Challenges of Resolving the Past”
Panel 4: Bilateral Relations from Cultural and Individual Perspectives, 3:00 – 4:30 PM
- Moderator & discussant: Y Thien Nguyen, Assistant Professor, California State University-Dominguez Hills
- Christina Schwenkel, Professor, University of California, Riverside: “Walking in Hanoi: The Cultural Dynamics of an Elevated Friendship”
- Alisa Freedman, Professor, University of Oregon: “Telling the Stories of Vietnamese Women and US Fellowships: The Cultural Power of Study Abroad”
- Thi Nguyen, PhD candidate, University of Minnesota: “Beyond Nation-State Rhetoric: Exploring the Transnational Mobility Narratives of Vietnamese International Undergraduate Students in the US”
Coffee break, 4:30 – 4:45 PM
Keynote Panel, 4:45 – 5:45 PM
- Moderator: Peter Zinoman, Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley
- Keynote speaker: Elizabeth Phu, Chancellor for the College of Information and Cyberspace, National Defense University, Washington DC (in personal capacity)
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Second Day, Friday, September 19, 2025
Panel 5: Politics of Economic and Defense Relations, 9:00 – 10:30 AM
- Moderator & discussant: Duyen Bui, PhD, Lecturer, Hawaii Pacific University
- Nguyen Duc Thanh, PhD, Vietnam Center for Economic and Strategic Studies, Hanoi and Department of Political Science, University of Oregon: “Political Determinants of US-Vietnamse Economic Relations”
- Khang Vu, PhD, Visiting scholar, Boston College: “Unlikely Comrades: The Limits of US-Vietnam Security Cooperation”
- Bang Tran, PhD candidate, University of Paris 2 Pantheon: “Vietnam defense thinking and its impact on US-Vietnam defense and security cooperation”
Coffee break, 10:30 – 10:45 AM
Panel 6: Ideology, Discourse, and Understanding, 10:45 AM- 12:15 PM
- Moderator & discussant: Nhu Truong, Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Nguyen Khac Giang, PhD, Visiting Fellow, Ishak-Yusof Institute, ISEAS, Singapore and US-Vietnam Research Center, University of Oregon: “From Communism to Pragmatism: Tracing the Ideological Roots of Vietnam’s Bamboo Diplomacy”
- Thuy Nguyen, PhD, US-Vietnam Research Center, University of Oregon: “How Vietnamese Youth Today Understand the Vietnam War: A Semantic Analysis of Reddit Discussions”
- Nguyen Thuc Cuong, PhD candidate, McGill University & Hoang Cam Thanh, PhD, Lecturer, USSH-HCMC: “The Evolving Legitimation Discourse in Vietnam: Impacts on Regime Preservation and US-Vietnam Relations”
Lunch, 12:15 – 1:15 PM
Panel 7: Civil Society, Activism, and Bilateral Relations, 1:15 – 2:45 PM
- Moderator & discussant: Thuy Nguyen, PhD, US-Vietnam Research Center, University of Oregon
- Hoang Thi Minh Hong, Environmental & Human Rights Defender, Obama Scholar, Former Political Prisoner: “From Allyship to Imprisonment: Navigating the Uneven Terrain of US–Vietnam Relations as a Civil Society Leader”
- Dinh Phuong Thao, PhD student, University of Michigan: “Between Principles and Pragmatism: Democracy Promotion and the Role of Activists in US-Vietnam Relations”
Coffee break, 2:45 – 3:00 PM
Panel 8: Hopes from Cultural Trends for Bilateral Relations, 3:00 – 4:15 PM
- Moderator & discussant: Alex-Thai Vo, Assistant Research Professor, Texas Tech
- Andrew Wells-Dang, PhD, formerly Senior Expert, US Institute of Peace: “Overcoming Consequences of War? A Journey of Cultural and Political (Mis)Understandings with the War Remnants Museum.”
- Vinh Phu Pham, Assistant Professor, Bard HSEC: “The Literature of Peace: Cultural Power and the Future Politics of Vietnamese-American Writing Beyond the War”
Concluding Panel: Plans for going forward, 4:15 – 5:00 PM
- Peter Zinoman, Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley
- Tuong Vu, Professor & Director, US-Vietnam Research Center, University of Oregon
- US-Vietnam Research Center Team
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Watch Panel 1 below:
For the full conference, check out this link.
