55 years of Faculty of Literature - Hanoi University of Science (1956-2011)

Fall 1956,Faculty of Literature, Hanoi University of Science - a basic science department of a new University under the Democratic Republic of Vietnam regime was born.After many times of separation and merger with different names (Sociology, History and Literature, Literature...) and dozens of evacuation locations during the resistance war against the US to save the country (Le Thanh Tong street, Hai Ba Trung street, Lang village - Hanoi; Dai Tu, Trang Duong - Thai Nguyen, La Khe - Ha Dong, Ung Hoa - Ha Tay, Hiep Hoa - Ha Bac, Me Tri, Thuong Dinh - Hanoi)..., until today, the old Faculty of Literature, the Faculty of Literature and the Faculty of Linguistics have gone through a development period of more than half a century. Although the name has changed many times, the Faculty of Literature is still one of the largest faculties with the longest tradition of the former Hanoi University of Science and Technology and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi today.

During nearly 40 years of existence and development of Hanoi University (1956-1995), more than 65 years of continuing the tradition of the Faculty of Literature (1945-2011) and more than 105 years of construction and growth of Hanoi National University (since Indochina University - 1906), the Faculty of Literature has made great and proud contributions in building a team of social sciences and humanities staff, in educating and training many generations of students to effectively serve the cause of protecting and building the Fatherland, in creating a solid foundation for Vietnamese university education. The Faculty of Literature is one of the leading universities in the country in teaching and researching, from Vietnamese literature (folk to modern), Han Nom, Literary Theory, to other literatures in the world such as: Chinese literature, Russian literature, French literature, German literature, English literature, Greek and Roman literature, Indian literature, Southeast Asian literature, Japanese literature, Korean literature, North American literature, Latin American literature, etc. The Faculty of Literature is not only a training and teaching institution for Vietnamese and world literature at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, but also a center for literary, cultural and artistic research with a system of textbooks, specialized books, monographs, and treatises of large scale and quality, with scientific prestige at home and abroad. Over the past 55 years, hundreds of research works and textbooks by generations of lecturers of the Faculty of Literature have been published, thousands of scientific articles have been published in specialized journals at home and abroad. In just 10 years (1996 - 2006), the lecturers of the Faculty have published 158 textbooks, monographs, and reference books for training and research. The Faculty of Literature is the unit that has 100% of the textbooks of all subjects in the knowledge block of the two training majors of Literature and Han Nom Studies. TextbooksLiterary theory,Vietnamese Literature(from folk to modern, 8 volumes),History of Russian Literature,French Literature,Han Nom…and treatises such asModern Vietnamese Novels,Modern Vietnamese Poetry,The process of modernization of Vietnamese literature 1900 - 1945,Vietnamese literature of the 20th century, Confucian scholars and Vietnamese literature, Vietnamese literature: a separate stream in a common source, Vietnamese medieval literature from a cultural perspective, Confucianism and Vietnamese literature in the Middle and Modern times, Research and discussion on authors and literary works of Vietnamese medieval literature… became documents used by most universities across the country.

Scientific research activities have become a regular activity that effectively serves the work of compiling lectures and textbooks, improving the quality of training; at the same time, contributing to solving practical social problems, harmoniously combining basic science and applied science. Over the past 55 years, the Faculty has organized more than 80 scientific conferences at all levels from Department, School to National and International levels; carried out hundreds of scientific research topics at School, Ministry, National University and State levels. In the past 10 years, the Faculty of Literature has organized 8 international scientific conferences:Seminar on Vietnam - Korea cultural similarities; Issues on Vietnamese - Korean literature and language; Vietnam - Japan cultural exchange; Issues on Vietnamese - Japanese literature; Andersen's literary career; Contemporary approaches to American culture; Hugo in Vietnam; New literature and Vietnamese society in the early 20th century; and organized 8 national scientific conferences:Twenty-five years of research and teaching of Han Nom; Innovation in teaching methods at university level; Dang Thai Mai's literary career; New Poetry Movement; Poetics of legend; Thirty years of research and teaching of Han Nom in Vietnam; A Nam Tran Tuan Khai in the vein of Vietnamese patriotic literature in the early 20th century; Fifty years of Vietnamese literature after the August Revolution. The Faculty of Literature has organized scientific seminars with partners such as: Faculty of Literature - Hanoi National University of Education, Faculty of Literature - Hue University, Faculty of Literature and Journalism - University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Ho Chi Minh City National University, Nguyen Du Writing School, Institute of Literature, Institute of Folk Culture, Institute of Han Nom Studies, Hanoi Journalists Association (Narratology; Ngo Tat To and Vietnamese revolutionary journalism; Fantasy literature; Literary theory and criticism in the renovation period; Scientific conference commemorating the 240th anniversary of Nguyen Du's birth...). Many staff members of the Faculty have actively participated in scientific seminars with units in the National University such as the Faculty of Oriental Studies, the Faculty of Journalism, the Faculty of Linguistics, the Center for International Cultural Studies, the Asia Pacific Center, the Center for Vietnamese Studies... The Faculty of Literature has chaired a state-level scientific research program:Preserving and promoting Hue's Han Nom heritage, acceptance achieved good results; 4 key scientific research topics at National University level:Vietnamese literature of the 20th century; Vietnamese literature of the 10th - 19th centuries - theoretical and historical issues; Vietnamese short stories of the 20th century; Folk literature - some theoretical and practical issues; 6 special scientific research topics; 9 basic topics at the National University level and 35 scientific research topics at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities level. In particular, key topics20th century Vietnamese literaturereceived the excellent award of Hanoi National University. Every year, the Faculty of Literature organizes scientific research activities for students and for 6 consecutive years (2000 - 2006), it has won the First and Second prizes in scientific research at the School level. The textbooks, research works, and scientific topics of generations of teachers and students over the past 55 years have created for the Faculty a comprehensive and profound body of knowledge, demonstrating a profound academic tradition and a sharp scientific way of thinking. The international relations activities of the Faculty of Literature are constantly expanding from the region to the world to create favorable conditions for training staff, modernizing programs, research methods, and teaching. Over the past 55 years, the Faculty of Literature has built many effective cooperation programs with major literary and artistic organizations and centers in the world such as Lomonosov University (Russia), Paris VII University (France), Humboldt University (Germany), Tokyo, Osaka (Japan), Seoul, Busan (Korea), Guangxi Ethnic Group (China)... Many staff have been sent to teach language and literature in countries such as Russia, China, Japan, Korea, France, Laos, Cambodia... Currently, the Faculty of Literature is effectively implementing the ProjectScreenwriting and film criticism trainingsponsored by the Ford Foundation, and at the same time established a new major - Art Studies. At the Faculty of Literature, there have been and are being taught by professors, academicians, associate professors, doctors of science, doctors of literature; among them are many famous professors, whose names go beyond the Faculty and the School; there are people who have become great scientists and cultural figures such as: Dang Thai Mai, Cao Xuan Huy, Hoai Thanh, Nguyen Manh Tuong, Hoang Xuan Nhi, Hoang Nhu Mai, Le Dinh Ki, Dinh Gia Khanh, Do Duc Hieu, Truong Chinh, Phan Cu De, Ha Minh Duc... Many professors and associate professors have received noble titles from the Party and the State: Ho Chi Minh Prize, State Prize, First Class, Second Class, Third Class Labor Medal, People's Teacher, Excellent Teacher...

Since its establishment, the Faculty of Literature has trained 52 courses of full-time university students, 37 part-time courses, many extended courses, part-time courses and university-transferred college courses with tens of thousands of people who have been working well in research institutes, universities and colleges, publishing houses, press, radio and television media agencies, cultural and artistic agencies at the central and local levels... Among them, many have become senior officials holding important positions in Party and State agencies; hundreds of graduates have become capable researchers at scientific institutes; many are known as famous scientists; many have become professors and associate professors at universities across the country; hundreds of journalists from national and local mass media agencies originally came from the Faculty of Literature; Many are editors-in-chief, deputy editors-in-chief of newspapers and magazines, directors, deputy directors of publishing houses, radio and television stations at the central and local levels. The Faculty of Literature is also a trusted address for many international students and researchers; dozens of foreigners from Laos, Cambodia, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Russia, Czech Republic... have become bachelors, masters, and doctors of literature. In particular, the Faculty of Literature is the cradle of training and growth of many famous writers and poets. Among the nearly 1,000 members of the Vietnam Writers Association, there are nearly 100 writers who grew up from the Faculty of Literature (36 poets, 33 writers, 28 literary critics, and 1 playwright). Over the past decades, many students have won national awards through literary composition competitions. The Faculty of Literature is not only a high-quality undergraduate training institution for Literature and Han Nom but also one of the prestigious postgraduate training institutions. Up to now, the Faculty has trained more than 100 PhDs and PhDs, 132 masters. Currently, the Faculty is training about 500 full-time students, 200 part-time students, 200 full-time students and 20 graduate students. Since October 1996, the Faculty of Literature has entered a new stage of development within the structure of Hanoi National University, a multidisciplinary, multi-field, high-quality university center of the country in the renovation period. Currently, the Faculty has 41 staff members (39 teachers and 3 administrative - office staff), 02 young teachers and lecturers doing PhDs in the US, 01 doing PhDs in China, 01 studying for a Master's degree in Japan); Among the 39 teaching staff, there are 10 Associate Professors, 04 PhDs, 10 Masters-PhD students, 4 PhD students (transfer students), and 1 HVCH. The Faculty is gradually rejuvenating and standardizing the teaching staff (14 young staff have defended their Master's theses, 03 staff have defended their Doctoral theses, 04 staff have graduated from the University of Foreign Languages). The goal of the Faculty is to standardize the teaching staff by 2015 with 90% having academic titles and degrees, build 8 departments with 3 training levels (university, graduate school, postgraduate students), 03 training majors (Literature, Han Nom and Art Studies) with 10 master's and doctoral codes, many bachelor's training systems (CLC, standard system, VLVH system, 2nd degree). After more than half a century of construction and growth, the Faculty and many individuals have been honored to receive noble awards from the Party and State:-About the Faculty:+01 Third Class Labor Medal: 1995. +01 Second Class Labor Medal: 2001. +In addition, the Faculty was also awarded 28 certificates of merit, 18 certificates of merit from the Ministry of Education and Training, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, the University of General Sciences, and the Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Recently, the Faculty has been awarded many certificates of merit from the Vietnam National University, Hanoi (1999, 2000, 2004, 2006) and has continuously achieved the title of Excellent Labor Collective (school years 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008). +Three departments in the Faculty were awarded Certificates of Merit by the Prime Minister: Department of Literary Theory (2001), Department of Modern Vietnamese Literature (2001), Department of Vietnamese Folklore and Medieval Literature (2004). +In 2006, three departments were awarded the title of Excellent Labor Collective by the Director of Hanoi National University: Department of Modern Vietnamese Literature, Department of Russian - Western Literature, Department of Vietnamese Medieval Literature.-Personal:+ Four Ho Chi Minh Awards (Professor Dang Thai Mai, Professor Tran Van Giau, Professor Dinh Gia Khanh, Professor Cao Xuan Huy). + One Third Class Independence Medal (Professor Hoang Xuan Nhi). + Five State Awards (Professor Ha Minh Duc, Associate Professor Tran Dinh Huou, Professor Le Dinh Ki, Associate Professor Vo Quang Nhon, Associate Professor Bui Duy Tan). + Three First Class Labor Medals (Professor Ha Minh Duc, Professor Phan Cu De, Professor Nguyen Kim Dinh). + Six Third Class Labor Medals (Associate Professor Do Duc Hieu, Professor Dr. Le Van Lan, Associate Professor Le Duc Niem, Professor Dr. Le Chi Que, Associate Professor Bui Duy Tan, Associate Professor Dr. Le Huy Tieu). + Eight People's Teachers (Professor Tran Van Giau, Professor Le Dinh Ki, Professor Hoang Nhu Mai, Professor Phan Cu De, Professor Ha Minh Duc, Professor Nguyen Kim Dinh, Professor Dr. Le Van Lan, Associate Professor Bui Duy Tan). +Twenty Distinguished Teachers (Hoang Xuan Nhi, Tran Dinh Huou, Nguyen Loc, Chu Xuan Dien, Nguyen Dinh Thang, Nguyen Xuan Hoa, Mai Cao Chuong, Le Duc Niem, Le Huy Tieu, Nguyen Lien, Do Van Khang, Le Hong Sam, Dang Thi Hanh, Do Duc Hieu, Nguyen Truong Lich, Vo Quang Nhon, Le Chi Que, Le Van Lan, Bui Duy Tan, Tran Ngoc Vuong). The Faculty of Literature has gone through 55 years of researching and teaching literature. Although the journey is still short compared to the thousands of years of civilization of the nation, but through the years of construction and growth and with the fine tradition of humanity, the Faculty of Literature will certainly continue to move forward, achieving greater achievements in the next stage.