Program Summary

The Asian Studies Center at Michigan State University (MSU), in collaboration with the MSU College of Education and LATTICE (Linking All Types of Teachers in International Cross-Cultural Education), was awarded a USDE Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad (GPA) Program Grant for Asia-focused internationalization at Michigan K-12 institutions.

This project, Understanding Vietnam: Beyond the War, enabled 16 Michigan K-12 teachers and administrators to participate in a 4-week study project in Vietnam in July-August 2004, which focused on modern Vietnam’s culture, arts, and history in a context that emphasized the country’s contemporary status as a dynamic Southeast Asian society rather than its bitter wartime past.

This program took advantage of existing institutional and programmatic ties between MSU’s College of Education and the College of Education at Can Tho University in Vietnam to (1) teach participants about Vietnamese culture, environment, and educational systems, (2) develop a curriculum guide and multimedia material to assist in integrating international studies into the K-12 classroom, and 3) thereby developing critically-needed awareness of human diversity and strengthening cultural competencies of Michigan educators and students.

The MSU director of this project was Khanh-Van Nguyen, Outreach Coordinator of the Asian Studies Center.

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