SATA Vietnam Spring 2010

Hanoi, Vietnam will once again be the campus for a small group of Connecticut College students during the Spring 2010 semester.  This will be the ninth SATA program in Vietnam and will be particularly special as it will take place during the year-long celebration of the 1000 year anniversary of the city of Hanoi.  The program will be led by Rolf Jensen, Professor of Economics.

Informational Meetings

The first SATA Vietnam Spring 2010 Informational meeting will be held on Thursday, February 5, 2009 from 4:30 to 5:30 pm in the Alice Johnson Room in Crozier-Williams. Additional meetings will take place in 205 Blaustein on Thursday, April 16, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. and on Tuesday, April 21, 4:30 p.m.

Posters and the Online Calendar will give notification of any additional meeting times and places through out the Spring and Fall 2009 semesters.

For more information, students may contact Professor Rolf Jensen or Shirley Parson in the Office of International Programs, Fanning 113.

To read more about a student's perspective of life in Vietnam, be sure to check out Kelly Appleton's SATA blog on Camels Abroad 2009.

Arrangements

As in all SATA programs, each student's financial arrangements and obligations, including the comprehensive fee and financial aid, are the same as they would be if he or she were staying at Connecticut College for the semester. The SATA Vietnam 2010 program includes round-trip travel from New York, room and board in Vietnam, and all group field trips in Vietnam.

Students live in a foreign-student residence hall on the campus of Vietnam National University in single rooms with private bath, air-conditioning, and a refrigerator. Multiple restaurants and cultural attractions of Hanoi are within easy walking distance; the city also has an extensive and inexpensive bus system for ease of travel throughout the metropolitan area.

Courses

SATA Vietnam promises to be both a challenging and flexible program that can be individualized to support a variety of majors. Therefore, students of all majors are encouraged to apply to this interdisciplinary program.

Students will have the opportunity to take at least four courses.

REQUIRED COURSES INCLUDE:
• Vietnamese History
• Vietnamese Language and Culture

ELECTIVE COURSES
Two courses will be offered by Professor Rolf Jensen from the following list. The final determination of which courses will be offered will be made later on the basis of student needs and interests.

ECO 208 Economics of the Informal Sector in Vietnam – 4 credits. The course analyzes the role of the urban informal sector in Vietnam’s ongoing process of development. It also includes survey work in the informal sector of Hanoi’s economy.

ECO 216 The Political Economy of Post-War Vietnam – 4 credits. This course covers the recent economic history of Vietnam and introduces students to the remarkable changes that have occurred since the economic reforms of 1986.

ECO 236 Gender and Development – 4 credits This course will look at important gender aspects of Vietnam’s recent development and will analyze these in the context of the larger body of theoretical literature on gender and development.

ECO 406 Political Economy Seminar – 4 credits. The course will consider a variety of texts on different aspects of globalization.

Independent Studies with CC faculty can be arranged according to the needs of the student's major.

Schedule, Travel, Excursions

SATA Vietnam 2010 students are expected to leave as a group from John F.Kennedy Airport in New York sometime in January, shortly before the start of the Spring 2010 semester.  While in Hanoi, they will follow an academic calendar similar to that of Connecticut College.

In addition to classes will be scheduled on Mondays through Thursdays and there will be numerous day trips to sites of historical and cultural interest in the surrounding regions of Hanoi.

During the spring break, there will be a long trip beginning in Cambodia and then continuing by boat into the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. From there, students will travel to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) where they sample life in the largest and most modern of Vietnam's cities. The group will then travel up the coast of Vietnam by bus, visiting places such as the beach resort city of Nha Trang, the old city of Hoi An, and the ancient imperial capital city of Hue. Later in the semester, there will be an extended trip to the northwest mountain region of the country and the ethnic minority villages around the town of Sapa.

The end of the semester will closely coincided with that at Connecticut College. Students will depart Hanoi around the middle of May 2010, for their return to the US.

Last Modified: Thursday, April 02, 2009 16:13