The Challenges of Peace: US-Vietnam Relations since 1975 International Symposium

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The Challenges of Peace: US-Vietnam Relations since 1975 International Symposium

Organizers: The Center for Southeast Asia Studies at the 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

The symposium is free and open to the public; we warmly invite all interested individuals to attend. Do note that you must register for each day separately if you would like to attend on both days. Since seats are limited, we encourage you to cancel your registration if your plans change and you will no longer be able to join us. We know that attending for the full day may be difficult due to schedule constraints, and you are welcome to join as you are available. We will also have registration available on-site on September 18-19.

Please register here for Day 1 and here for Day 2.

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.

Conference Program

Banatao Auditorium, Sutardja Dai Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA,September 18-19, 2025

Thursday, September 18, 2025

8:30 am - 9:00 am

Breakfast and

9:00 am - 9:15 am

Welcome addresses

  • Lisandro Claudio, Associate Professor & Faculty Chair, Center for Southeast Asia Studies, University of California, Berkeley

  • Peter Zinoman, Helen Fawcett Professor of History and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley

  • Tuong Vu, Professor & Director, US-Vietnam Research Center, University of Oregon

9:15 am - 11:00 am

Panel 1: Looking Forward and Backward: Lessons from a Past Partnership

  • Moderator: Tuong Vu, Professor & Director, US-Vietnam Research Center

  • Hoang Duc Nha, former Private Secretary to President Nguyen Van Thieu, and Minister of Mass Mobilization & Open Arms, Republic of Vietnam

  • Amb. John Negroponte, Vice-Chair, McLarty Associates, former Deputy Secretary of State and Deputy National Security Adviser (virtual from Washington DC)

  • 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)

  • Vũ Thanh Thuỷ, CEO, Saigon-Houston Radio, former RVN war correspondent

11:00 am - 11:15 am

Coffee break

11:15 am - 12:45 pm

Panel 2: Collaboration and Normalization

  • 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 Statesvand the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 1986-1988"

12:45 pm - 1:30 pm 

Lunch

1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Panel 3: Challenges to Reconciliation

  • 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"

3:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Panel 4: Bilateral Relations from Cultural and Individual Perspectives

  • 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 Educators 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"

4:30 pm - 4:45 pm

Coffee break

4:45 pm - 5:45 pm

Keynote Panel

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)

6:30 pm

Dinner for Participants (location TBA)

Friday, September 19, 2025

8:30 am - 9:00 am

Breakfast

9:00 am - 10:30 am

Panel 5: Politics of Economic and Defense Relations 

  • 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"

10:30 am - 10:45 am

Coffee break

10:45 am - 12:15 pm

Panel 6: Ideology, Discourse, and Understanding

  • Moderator & discussant: Nhu Truong, Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison 

  • Nguyen Khac Giang, PhD, Visiting Fellow, Ishak-Yusof Institute, ISEAS, Singapore: "From Communism to Pragmatism: Tracing the Ideological Roots of Vietnam’s Bamboo Diplomacy"

  • Thuy Nguyen, PhD, US-Vietnam Research Center: "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"

12:15 pm - 1:15 pm

Lunch

1:15 pm - 2:30 pm

Panel 7: Civil Society, Activism, and Bilateral Relations

  • Moderator & discussant: Thuy Nguyen, PhD, US-Vietnam Research Center, University of Oregon

  • Hoang Thi Minh Hong, Founder, 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"

2:30 pm - 2:45 pm

Coffee break

2:45 pm - 4:00 pm

Panel 8: Hopes from Cultural Trends for Bilateral Relations

  • Moderator & discussant: Alex-Thai Vo, Assistant Research Professor, Texas Tech

  • Andrew Wells-Dang, 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"

4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Concluding Panel: Plans for going forward

  • Peter Zinoman, Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley
  • Tuong Vu, Professor & Director, US-Vietnam Research Center, University of Oregon
  • Thuy Nguyen, PhD & other members of the US-Vietnam Research Center Team

6:30- 8:30 pm

Dinner for participants (Loction TBA)