The River’s Edge (Itinerary)

The tentative itinerary begins in Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s economic engine and cultural driver. Faculty will attend a briefing at the U.S. Consulate General to contextualize Vietnam’s geopolitical role and economic ties with the United States. The experience includes a dedicated day of scholarly exchange at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH-VNUHCM) to discuss regional poverty, urban development, and the social fabric of the nation. Other possible visits of academic interest are to a health research institute and economics research hub.

Participants will explore the city’s layered past and architectural diversity through visits to the War Remnants Museum, the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum, the Presidential Palace, the Bitexco Financial Tower, and other significant cultural and architectural sites. Other religious and cultural sites in the city may include the Ba Thien Hau Pagoda in Cholon, the Saigon Central Post Office, the Jade Emperor Pagoda, the Vinh Nghiem Pagoda, and the Mariamman Hindu Temple.

As a hub in the global supply chain, participants will visit local markets, like the famed Ben Thanh Market, as well as other local businesses and manufacturers. Participants will have some time to shape their own itineraries, which could include visits to the Cu Chi Tunnels or the Tay Ninh Holy See of Cao Dai. And no trip to Ho Chi Minh City would be complete without sampling the diverse culinary treats the city has to offer, foods that reflect deeply on the history of culture of Vietnam and its global influences.

From Ho Chi Minh City, the group will travel to Hanoi, the seat of Vietnamese culture in the northern Red River Valley, to explore Vietnam’s rich history, dynamic arts, and modern research facilities. In the north, faculty will visit the Temple of Literature and The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, engage in walking tours of the Old Quarter, see cultural performances like the famous water puppet theatre and Vietnamese opera, and visit a major agricultural research institute, a climate and hydrology research institute, and research facilities focused on Vietnamese traditional medicine.

After returning from Hanoi, the tour moves into the heart of the Mekong Delta where faculty will visit sites illustrating the complexity of the river ecosystem, the politics of an international river, and its impact on society and the economy. Faculty will take a boat ride in a Ramsar site to both observe rare birds but see what wetland conservation looks like in the Delta firsthand. In the border commerce hub of Chau Doc, the group will visit Cham mosques and Khmer temples and investigate the diversity of people and syncretic religions at the sacred Sam Mountain. The program includes visits to rural communities where agriculture and aquaculture drive growth and areas being developed as ecotourism destinations, and faculty will be hosted for a traditional Vietnamese celebration in a rural village setting complete with karaoka. Throughout the journey in the Delta and beyond, participants will grapple with the impact of climate change, upstream damming, sea-level rise, and saltwater incursion on residents’ livelihoods as they make connections between global forces and local lives.