Author Archives: helenaworthen

View from the back of the ferry, crossing from San Francisco to Oakland.  The Minimum Wage conference at Ton Duc Thang took place and, from what we could tell, skyping in, it was a great success. Among the achievements:  posting the papers on a google drive in advance, so that everyone could read them; bringingContinue reading “Minimum Wage Conference at TDT, Women’s March, Hotel Workers and Cal OSHA”

The beauty of food in its market presentation form: This is at Monterey Market on Hopkins Joe and I went to the full-day symposium (that’s a good word; the upcoming TDT January 9-10, 2018 will be called a “workshop”, as compared to conference or seminar) at the Institute for Labor Research and Employment (ILRE) onContinue reading “Minimum Wage Conference in Berkeley”

Emotional Labor: Midnight Goddesses We land in Taipei in the middle of the night. Two years ago, this airport was just an endless white-walled tunnel with the occasional sign “Transfers.”  Now the temporary walls are down and it turns out they were building a palace of duty-free merchandise, all the big brand names, and itContinue reading “November, 2017 Research, Vermont WC”

Last Saturday was my birthday: 75, according to Vietnamese counting, but 74 the way I count.  Joe with Ha Do’s help made reservations at a restaurant named Zenbay, not too far from TDT, and we invited some friends including An and Vy, John, Vinh and That from our faculty, Mai the Assistant Dean of Sociology,Continue reading “End of October”

Sitting in a “presentation room” in the new INSPIRE library, looking at the array of security tools attached to the door to the room, I thought:  These are not just barriers to keep people out and to limit or control access. They are also defensive, to keep something in, – to protect the integrity ofContinue reading “The Library (2)”

In our Journal Club meeting on Monday, when we got back from Hanoi, Dean Hoa told us that his contact (the HR Manager named Thinh) at Hansae said that they enjoyed our session very much, that it was “exciting” and that they have suspended the class for a week in order to allow a newContinue reading “Hansae news, Lan’s article, class projects”

The Women’s Museum had an exhibit of costumes worn by people practicing a kind of performance art in which they channel the spirits of aspects of the Mother Goddess, who (according to the caption on the exhibit) has four embodiments and a cast of characters including mandarins, princes, princesses and a domestic servant or pageContinue reading “Hanoi, Oct 6,7,8”

“Red Union” or “Hop Cong Hoi Do, by Huynh Can FM, 1922-1987, painted in 1964, at the Hanoi Museum of Fine Art   One of the patriarchs. A whole room at the museum was dedicated to these slightly larger than life-size men.  Outside of the Tranquility Cafe. Note books on shelves inside. We were askedContinue reading “Hanoi, October 3, 2017”

The 20th anniversary of Ton Duc Thang’s founding — huge celebrations, thousands of students marching with flags, an amazing display of martial arts. In this picture the people are lined up by faculty. Elegant lunch on the 11th floor, gala dinner at the Rex Hotel the evening previous, following a massive sequence of speeches fromContinue reading “Research”

The TDT car picked us up at 5:45 am. The driver had had a late night trip so he slept in a meeting room on campus and was taking a shower in the gym restroom when we came out. Vinh and That brought mooncakes, like a fruitcake with an egg yolk in the middle, forContinue reading “Hansae Sept 28, 2017”