For Joshua Morganstein ’25, the winter trip to Vietnam sponsored by the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies, “was one of the most incredible learning experiences I have ever had.”
“Talk about a great way to spend the last weeks of winter break!” he said.
Morganstein and nine other CMC students took part in the trip, led by Professors Hilary Appel (Government), Jennifer Taw (Government and International Relations), and Minxin Pei (Government). The group split its time between Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon) and Hanoi, the nation’s capital.
The trip, which focused on the legacies of Vietnam’s colonial history and current economic integration with the world, “immersed us in the country’s culture and allowed us to learn more about how it is adapting to the pressing challenges of the 21st century,” said Morganstein, an International Relations and Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) major, who works as a Program Assistant at the Keck Center.
Appel, the Podlich Family Professor of Government and a George R. Roberts Fellow, said the trip provided opportunities “for students interested in international relations who want to look at the intersection of political and economic systems, how a country has to deal with geopolitical forces that are outside of its control, as well as its need to modernize and fit into a global economy,” she said.
“There was a lot of experiential learning for these students by being on the ground and seeing with their own eyes all of these vestiges of a completely different political system of Communism mixed with a fulsome embrace of capitalism.
“It was fascinating to see how the Vietnamese were combining these different kinds of systems in one country, and thriving while doing so,” Appel continued. “Vietnam is growing massively. It’s trying very hard and very effectively to navigate the difficult position that it holds between China and the United States. It’s a really interesting place right now.”
In Ho Chi Minh City, students toured landmarks, including the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. Additionally, they attended lectures at the Fulbright University Vietnam; visited the extensive Cu Chi tunnel network—used by Viet Cong in the Tet Offensive and other key points during the Vietnam War—and the Mekong Delta region.
The group’s time in Hanoi was filled with additional academic lectures, including visits to the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, and the United Nations’ offices, where they learned about the UN’s role in supporting women in Vietnam, studying disaster risk reduction, and helping the country adapt to climate change. Thi Hoang Lan Bui P’27 helped to arrange meetings with the dean, faculty, and local students at the National Economic University, where she is a professor.
Yui Kurosawa ’26, a junior studying PPE and Legal Studies, said, “The Vietnam trip was an amazing learning opportunity for me. Seeing the historical sites I had studied about in textbooks in real life was particularly meaningful. My favorite memory from the trip was enjoying a delicious bowl of pho in a foreign country with the professors I look up to. I’m so grateful to the Keck Center for sending us all on a trip that was full of intellectual ‘aha’ moments.”