Fifty years have passed since North Vietnamese tanks rolled into Saigon in 1975, decades of battles and civil conflicts in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. While vigorously debated in the U.S., Vietnamese and other international experiences and memories are overshadowed by American-centric perceptions. We still struggle to capture its broader tragedy, as embers spread across the globe and through generations.
A deeper understanding of the wars’ global impact is vital for history and is also timely and essential for addressing current and future conflicts. Above all, we seek to foster intellectual, historical, and cultural exchanges across nations, communities, and generations, with a shared commitment to scholarship, reconciliation, and healing. We invite scholars, researchers, veterans, and practitioners from around the world to submit paper proposals. Our aim for bringing together these global viewpoints is to begin to bridge the gaps of the last half-century and offer new directions for future research and teaching on Vietnam war.
This conference, organized by the Global Vietnam Wars Studies Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School, seeks to bring together informed assessments from around the globe to provide an evidence-based, in-depth exploration of this multifaceted war and its complex legacies. We invite proposals on the following themes:
- New assessments of the war itself— in its human, social, cultural, religious, economic, political, psychological, diplomatic, civilian, and military dimensions, including how these analysis have evolved since 1975.
- Insights from the communist bloc and non-communist allies, illuminating how different sides perceived victory, defeat and the enduring impacts on national identities.
- Analysis of lessons learned by Vietnam, the U.S., and other former allies and adversaries, examining how these experiences have shaped policies, military strategies, and power structures over the past five decades.
- Examination of how the war continues to challenge participating countries in their process of healing, reconciliation, and addressing war legacies in nation-building.
- The role of migration and the Vietnamese diaspora, focusing on their experiences and contributions, as well as their impact on the political, economic, and cultural landscapes of their new countries.
Submission Guidelines:
- Abstract Title
- A 300-word abstract outlining the proposed presentation.
- Brief Biography (max 150 words)
Submission Deadline: February 18, 2025
Notification of Acceptance: March 31, 2025
Submission link: https://harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0UFIY8gaB4n1ioS
Submission Inquiries: gvwsi@hks.harvard.edu
Date of Conference: October 3 – 4, 2025