SATA Vietnam 2005

Program Description | Arrangements | Excursions

SATA Vietnam students at Lung Co Village, deep in the mountains of Tuyen Quang Province, northern Vietnam. Right to left: Dinh Duc Long, program assistant to SATA Vietnam; the local policeman, who was quite excited to have U.S. visitors to his jurisdiction; and eight SATA Vietnam students from Class of 2006: Peter Taylor, Joel Scata, Adrianne Capaldi (hooded), Cynthia Whitman, Bion Piepmeier (head turned away), Paul Carter, Bryn Lloyd-Bollard (hat), and Zach Steacy.

Hanoi, Vietnam was the campus for a small group of Connecticut College students during spring semester, 2005 for the fourth SATA program, directed by Bill Frasure, Professor of Government.

SATA Vietnam 2005 offered students the chance to become immersed in the life of a developing country whose history is intrinsically interesting and at the same time inseparably a part of major currents in world affairs. Colonialism and its aftermath, the Cold War, Confucianism and Communism, war and revolution, globalization: all are manifest in the atmosphere of Hanoi. SATA Vietnam’s academic program takes full advantage of its setting, which will enrich the education of students interested in history, cultural studies, government and politics, environmental studies, international relations, American studies, among others.

Illustrating the SATA experience is the photograph above received from Professor Frasure, taken in February, who describes it: "This shows an airstrip that was constructed in 1945 by members of a United States OSS team who had parachuted into these mountains to support Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese resistance against the Japanese. It was a very brief period of friendship between future enemies. Today, as this picture illustrates, relations are getting back to the way they should be."

Arrangements

As in all SATA programs, each student’s financial arrangements and obligations, mainly 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 2005 program includes round-trip travel from New York, room and board in Vietnam, and all group field trips in Vietnam. In Hanoi, students live in an international students’ dormitory situated in one of the university complexes. Typically, students have single rooms with private bath and air-conditioning.

Excursions

SATA Vietnam 2005 students departed as a group from JFK Airport in New York at beginning of the spring 2005 semester. In Hanoi, they will follow an academic calendar similar to the college’s. In addition to classes, there will be day trips to local sites of historical and cultural interest, and at least two longer trips. A highlight of the program is a 12-day spring break trip to sites in central and southern Vietnam, including Hue, the ancient imperial capital of Vietnam; Hoi An, a quaint old fishing town; Nha Trang, a lovely beach resort city; Da Lat, an interior city known for its flowers and waterfalls; and Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. From HCMC, the group will tour the Mekong Delta and sites associated with the war in Vietnam. Late in the semester, there will be a three-day trip to the northern mountain town of Sapa.

The end of the semester, like the beginning, will closely coincide with that at Connecticut College. Students will be ticketed to return as a group, but are free to make alternate arrangements, such as a later departure or rerouting, at their own initiative and expense