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Rockefeller Fellowship: The Vietnamese Diaspora
Project Diaspora: Study of the Vietnamese Overseas
An innovative and far-reaching academic endeavor, Project
Diaspora: Study of the Vietnamese Overseas has undertaken the comprehensive
task of studying the Vietnamese experience in diaspora. In many ways, Vietnam
was a cauldron for a host of the major issues of the Twentieth Century. The
irony of such a small country experiencing the conflicts of colonialism, nationalism,
the East-West conflict, religious disparities, neo-colonialism, modernization,
and communism has largely eluded a neat analysis.
The fragmentation of a country and its people suggests a diaspora in transition,
struggling with issues of identity, community, shared purposes, and a vision
of the future. The scars, fragmentation and dislocation underlying the diasporic
experience are all the focus of the project's theme "(Re)Constructing
Identity and Place in the Vietnamese Diaspora."
The fellowship program, which is funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, focuses
on (re)constructions of identity and place in the Vietnamese diaspora after
1975 and enables scholars to explore how diverse paradigms of Vietnamese identity
and community - through the study of history, literature and culture - are
being shaped and reshaped in the post-war and post-refugee era across generations.
Fellows working in either English or Vietnamese conduct research, interact
with faculty, visiting scholars, writers, students and the local Vietnamese
community during their residency.
Collaborating on the project with the Joiner Center are the Asian American
Studies Program, the East Asian Studies Program, the Institute for Asian American
Studies, the Coalition for Asian Pacific American Youth, and the Graduate
College of Education - all at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Rockefeller
Fellowship