SATA Vietnam 2006

Arrangements | Courses | Excursions | SATA Vietnam 2006 Blog

Professor Don Peppard on the streets of Hanoi

Hanoi, Vietnam is the campus for a small group of Connecticut College students during spring semester, 2006 for the fifth SATA program, directed by Rolf Jensen and Don Peppard, Professors of Economics.

CC junior David Owyang '07 is posting imagery, insights and observations about his studies and sojourns in the bustling city of Hanoi this spring while on SATA Vietnam. Read his SATA Vietnam 2006 Blog.

SATA Vietnam 2006 offers 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, economics, international relations, and American studies, among others.

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 2006 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.

Courses offered in 2006

Students of all majors were urged to apply to this program even though elective courses are in economics. Jensen and Peppard work with interested students to assist them in course selection.

Vietnamese Language and Culture — 6 credits. Required of all students. Each class has only 3 to 5 students and meets for 2.5 hours each morning, Monday through Thursday. Students learn from a textbook and close interaction with the young teachers from Vietnam National University (VNU). Emphasis is on speaking and listening competence. Guided by their language instructors, students in this course are introduced to the life and culture of Vietnam.

Vietnamese History — 4 credits. Required of all students. Taught by an historian from VNU, this course introduces students to the long and rich history of Vietnam. 1 meeting per week.

Elective courses (each course meets once a week for 2.5 hours):

ECO 102 Introduction to the Global Economy — 4 credits. Taught by Don Peppard of the Economics department at Connecticut College, the course introduces students to a variety of current international economic issues. Especially for non-economics majors.

ECO 208 Economics of the Informal Sector in Vietnam — 4 credits. Taught by Don Peppard and Rolf Jensen of the Economics department at Connecticut College.  The course introduces students to the informal sector in Vietnam. Students will conduct surveys among urban informal sector workers and write about their findings in the context of readings about the urban informal sector in Vietnam.

ECO 216 The Political Economy of Post-War Vietnam — 4 credits. Taught by Rolf Jensen and Don Peppard of the Economics department at Connecticut College. This course covers the recent economic history of Vietnam and introduces students to the remarkable changes that have occurred since 1986.

ECO 406 Political Economy Seminar — 4 credits. Taught by Rolf Jensen, the course will consider a variety of readings. Students will write weekly papers and 2 longer papers.

Excursions

SATA Vietnam 2006 students departed as a group from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on approximately 15 January 2006. 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 10-day spring break trip to sites in central and southern Vietnam. Just prior to Spring break, the group will fly to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, to begin a study tour of the Mekong Delta to learn more about that important part of the country. Following that, during a few days in HCMC, students can sample life in the most modern of Vietnam’s cities and visit sites associated with the war in Vietnam. After HCMC, the group will go by bus to Nha Trang, a lovely beach resort city; to Hoi An, a quaint old fishing town; and to Hue, the ancient imperial capital of Vietnam. Late in the semester, there will be a four-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 to the U.S. on May 13, 2006, as a group but are free to make alternate arrangements, such as a later departure or rerouting, at their own initiative and expense.

Connecticut College students interested in SATA Vietnam 2006 should contact Professor Jensen or Professor Peppard; or Shirley Parson in the Office of International Programs, Fanning 113.