Diu-Huong Nguyen -"Vietnam’s Engaged City: The Struggle Movement in Imperial Huế, 1965-1966 "
This presentation examines the urban social movement in Huế, the former imperial capital of Vietnam, during the turbulent period of 1965-1966. Through a socio-historical lens, this study analyzes the emergence and evolution of a mass movement that articulated demands for peace, self-determination, and democratic governance amid the broader context of the escalating war. In response to the politically volatile interregnum, Huế's struggle movement—which reached its zenith in spring 1966—both inherited and transcended the organizational framework and non-violent tactics established by the 1963 Buddhist Mobilization and the political consciousness awakened by the 1964 dissident newspaper Lập Trường. Central to this analysis is a critical examination of the complex interplay of factors that facilitated the movement's rapid expansion, with particular attention to the roles of Buddhist leadership, the National Liberation Front, youth activists, and the distinctive sociopolitical identity of the “Huế persona.” Employing both archival materials and oral history methodologies, this study explores how the traditionally serene city became deeply engaged in grassroots activism for political change, illuminating many of the same forces that sparked social movements across the globe during the 1960s.
Diu-Huong Nguyen is Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine. Prior to UC Irvine, she served as Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History at the University of California, Riverside, coming to the UC system from Haverford College where she was Visiting Assistant Professor of History and Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the John B. Hurford ’60 Center for the Arts and Humanities. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. degrees at the University of Washington with a concentration in the history of modern Vietnam and has a M.A. degree in Southeast Asian Studies from Ohio University. Her work focuses primarily on the social history of Vietnam and the human dimension, in particular the voices and experiences of ordinary people during the Vietnam War. Nguyen is working on her book manuscript, entitled Eve of Destruction: A Social History of Vietnam’s Royal City, 1957-1967, which examines how war transformed social life in the imperial city of Huế in central Vietnam.