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A Contribution from Merle Ratner I have comrades in the US, part of my very geographically spread-out network, some known to me only through email or meetings, who are reading this blog and have agreed to contribute. Here is Merle Ratner, a long time Vietnam activist and the Co-Coordinator of the Vietnam Agent Orange ReliefContinue reading “A Contribution from Merle Ratner”

On the Ground 3 Joe, reading over what I wrote yesterday about his class, noted (and I’m putting it mildly) that I misquoted him and the misquote is not a trivial matter. My mistake has some real significance. I said that he said that what exists now is a post-socialist Vietnam. Here is what heContinue reading “On the Ground 3”

On the Ground 2 Monday morning after breakfast: Pre-class planning in the foreign expert lecturer’s office with Vinh in Building B, followed by lunch, up on the top floor in the fine faculty dining room, followed by Joe’s actual class which goes first from 12:30 – 3 and then repeats, about 3:00 to 5:30. LongContinue reading “On the Ground 2”

On the Ground 1 Sunday morning, August 16 All our luggage came through OK. In the crowd at the airport we were the only white poeple in sight. I noticed a little girl, maybe 12 years old, staring at Joe as if he was some kind of giant tall pale monster. Vinh and Dean HoaContinue reading “On The Ground 1”

The Fun Part 1 We’re at the airport. Nearly midnight on August 14, about to become August 15. It’s already August 15 in Vietnam, probably about lunchtime. Maybe we should go upstairs to the restaurant up there and have lunch. Just kidding. This afternoon Rev Haynes from Chicago called me, while I was at FlowerlandContinue reading “The Fun Part 1”

Getting Ready 29 Dean Hoa responded to Joe’s request to explain how he would use labor to flesh out his class in community mobilization, which we are translating to mean internal organizing. He sent an example of how he would apply one of the theories of social influence and persuasion. Dean Hoa taught this classContinue reading “Three levels of translation”

We also sent Vinh and Dean Hoa a set of 25-30 TDTU powerpoint slides with a proposed first class introduction, in which we say that labor educators take worker’s point of view, not the employer’s point of view, and that these are different and often in conflict, and necessary in order to understand the socialContinue reading “Getting Ready 28”

Getting Ready 26 Two weeks from today, August 15, we’ll be on the plane to Vietnam. We’re in Vermont, with one grandchild here already and two more due to arrive this evening, with their parents. This is the “family event” that couldn’t be modified to get us to Vietnam earlier, which is why we’re arrivingContinue reading “Getting Ready 26”

Getting Ready 25 The same question, what are we supposed to be teaching? is still the central theme of all communications between us and our hosts in Vietnam. This is the first question we asked back in February and we are still asking it. But now the deadline is approaching and in about 3 weeksContinue reading “Getting Ready 25”

Getting Ready 24 We got our work plans from Vinh, signed by the President, Le Vinh Danh. We are called “Visiting Lecturer.” The semester will be from August 15 through January 31, 2016. This brings us right up to Tet, I think. In addition to teaching 15 sessions of our own classes (“The Art ofContinue reading “Getting Ready 24”