Hang Thi Thu Truong

Dr. Hang Thi Thu Truong (Trương Thị Thu Hằng in Vietnamese) obtained her Ph.D. in Anthropology in 2011 from the University of Washington, Seattle, USA.

Dr. Hang Thi Thu Truong currently serves as the Dean of the Faculty of Anthropology at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City. She is also the Head of the Department of Development Anthropology within the Faculty of Anthropology.

From August 2019 to April 2020, Dr. Truong was a visiting scholar at the Harvard-Yenching Institute. Additionally, Dr. Truong is a Freeman Fellow in the 2024-2025 Leadership Program, funded by the United Board, which she began in July 2024.

Her research focuses on the anthropology of development, tourism, and new religions. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in the Mekong Delta, the Central and the Central Highlands of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Japan, exploring issues related to the negotiation of identity, agency, and the invention of tradition, particularly within the context of the interplay between local culture and tourism, as well as broader development projects. Currently, she is engaged in projects examining local communities' responses to challenges posed by climate change, globalization, and national integration. Her work focuses on local knowledge, community initiatives, and agency, aiming to theorize the dynamics between local and global forces and explore the constructive mechanisms shaping human conditions.