AISEAS, RLIGAS bring students to Vietnam for In-Country Field Study 2025

Thirteen (13) students completed their in-country field study to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, from 29 June to 12 July 2025 last Intersession Term. The program was the central component of the course requirements of SEAS 101: Southeast Asia In-Country Field Study Summer Program, organized by the Ateneo Initiative for Southeast Asian Studies (AISEAS) in collaboration with the Ricardo Leong Institute for Global and Area Studies (RLIGAS), both of the Dr Rosita G Leong School of Social Sciences. 

This year marks the fourth time that AISEAS has offered an in-country field study in Southeast Asia. Previous field studies brought students to Brunei (2019), Indonesia (2023), and Malaysia (2024). For the visit to Vietnam, the theme of the field study was “The Lotus Path: Exploring Vietnam’s Economic and Cultural Transformation.” Students were joined by Field Co-Directors Dr Diana J Mendoza (also RLIGAS Director) and Mr Javier R Tionloc (also AISEAS Coordinator).

The participants were undergraduate students pursuing degrees in Diplomacy and International Relations, Economics, History, Information Design, Political Science, and Sociology. Before their departure to Vietnam, AISEAS organized lectures and workshops on field study methods, Vietnam’s history, and environmental governance in the Mekong Delta to situate the existing local conditions of the host Southeast Asian country. These lectures were delivered respectively by Mr Reed Viceral of AISEAS, Mr Alvin Cabalquinto of the Department of History, and Dr Van Pham Dang Tri of DRAGON-Mekong Institute of Can Tho University, Vietnam. 

The students, along with the Field Co-Directors, paid a courtesy visit to the Embassy of Vietnam in the Philippines. There, they had a meeting with His Excellency Dr Lai Thai Binh, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam to the Philippines.

During the course of the in-country field study in Vietnam, students were attended lectures, site visits, immersion activities, and cultural excursions that gave them the unique opportunity to learn about the politics, economy, and culture of Vietnam, as part of the larger Mekong Delta and Mainland Southeast Asia.

In Hanoi, the students, together with Dr Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu, Dean of RGLSOSS, paid a courtesy visit to the Philippine Embassy in Vietnam and met HE Ambassador Meynardo LB Montealegre. During their stay in Hanoi, students visited UNESCO World Heritage Sites Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh. Cultural immersions with farming and fisheries communities were also included in the Hanoi visit. The aim of the field study was to examine the nexus of cultural heritage, environmental sustainability, and tourism against the backdrop of Vietnam’s economic and cultural renaissance.

While in Ho Chi Minh, students sailed along the Red River in the Mekong River Delta. They interacted with communities who find sources of living from the Mekong Delta. These visits were central to understanding Vietnam's agrarian society and its challenges. Students observed the vital role these waterways play in the country's economy, from rice cultivation to aquaculture. The visit to Ho Chi Minh also featured stops at the various museums, public sites, and memorials that help explain the legacy of colonialism in Vietnam, especially the Vietnam War.

AISEAS partnered with the Vietnam National University - University of Economics of Business (VNU-UEB) in developing the cultural program that features academic lectures, community immersions, ecotourism experiences, and sectoral interactions with trade and commerce. Other key partners in the delivery of the program are the Hanoi National University of Education and the Saigon Business School.

SEAS 101 (Southeast Asia In-Country Field Study) is a six-unit course offered by AISEAS. Since it was first offered in 2019, around 40 college students from Ateneo have already participated. The AISEAS In-Country Field Schools are also supported by the Office of University Partnerships and Internationalization (UPI), the Office of the University Registrar (OUR), the Office of Guidance and and Counseling.

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