Ho Chi Minh’s Cult in Contemporary Vietnam

VIETNAM STUDIES PROGRAMME SEMINAR

About the Seminar

In present day Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh’s official position remains very high with the Communist Party of Vietnam and its government relying on his prestige and legacies to support their own authority. His official cult branched off into the religious domain as Ho Chi Minh’s statues became a fixture in many temples and pagodas all over Vietnam, combining there the political and theistic aspects. However, Ho Chi Minh’s position in contemporary Vietnam is not by any means assured beyond the official realm as more and more people, especially young ones, relegate him to a position of an agreed-upon symbol but not relevant for them. This seminar will explore the manifestations of and the reactions to Ho Chi Minh’s cult in the political, cultural, and religious discourses in different parts of Vietnam and abroad.

About the Speaker

Educated in Russia, Israel, and the United States, Olga Dror is currently Associate Professor of History at Texas A&M University and Fellow at the National Humanities Center (2019-2020). She has authored, translated, and co-edited five books and numerous articles. Her most recent monograph Making Two Vietnams: War and Youth Identities, 1965-1975 was published in 2018 by Cambridge University Press. Among her awards are a National Endowment for Humanities Fellowship and a Dan David International Fellowship. She is currently working on a monograph titled Ho Chi Minh’s Cult in Vietnamese Statehood, where, among other things, she focuses on the examination of Ho Chi Minh’s cult in comparison to the cults of Mao and other communist leaders.

Registration

For registration, please click here. Registration closes on 17 November 2019.