Southern Vietnam: Field research across changing contexts
This program is structured as a short, faculty-led field research experience moving across southern Vietnam, where the same cohort works through multiple economic and social contexts rather than a single concentrated field site. Students enter the program with prior research and defined themes, and use the field to test, adjust, and refine their work as conditions shift.
Ho Chi Minh City, Cu Chi, Ben Tre, and Can Tho function as different research environments rather than stops along a route. Each location introduces a distinct set of conditions, requiring student teams to revisit their assumptions, adapt their approach, and reframe their inquiry as they move.
A field-based research program moving across southern Vietnam, where student teams work through shifting economic and social contexts as they conduct interviews, observation, and independent inquiry.
For faculty working in development, economics, geography, social studies, or interdisciplinary research contexts.
How the program is typically organized
Pre-field research
Student teams begin with prior research, developing themes and working questions before entering the field.
Field movement
The cohort travels together across locations, while research directions diverge as each group responds to different conditions.
Review and adjustment
Ongoing review sessions allow students to revisit assumptions, refine questions, and adjust their approach as the field evolves.
How different locations shape the work
Ho Chi Minh City
An entry and return point that also functions as an active research setting, offering access to urban systems, markets, and contemporary economic life.
Cu Chi
Introduces a historical layer through the lens of war and its longer-term presence, providing context that some groups incorporate into their research.
Ben Tre
Focuses on rural life, agriculture, and tourism, where students can examine community-based systems and local economic activity.
Can Tho
Provides a setting where economic systems, trade flows, and regional dynamics can be observed alongside ongoing social development conditions.
Range of student-led inquiries
Research topics vary by group and cohort, and may include development, economic systems, tourism, education, social inequality, and community-based dynamics. Each group works within its own defined scope while sharing the same field conditions.
Supporting movement-based field research
Faculty retain academic direction over the program, including research framing and supervision. Our role is to support the field component — managing logistics, coordinating access, and maintaining a workable structure — so that student teams can carry out their work as they move across locations.
Next step
If you are exploring a short-duration field research component across multiple locations, we can adapt this structure around your course and research priorities.
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