The closing session was chaired by Prof. Phan Huy Le (President of the Vietnam Historical Science Association), Prof. Yves Goudineau (Director of EFEO Paris), Prof. Léon Vandermeersch (former director of EFEO), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh (Vice Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities).
At the closing session, the concluding comments once again reaffirmed the role of EFEO in the development of Social Sciences and Humanities in Vietnam, and highly appreciated the success of the Workshop as one of the effective manifestations of cooperation between EFEO and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (VNU) in particular, and between Vietnamese and French scientists in general.
Prof. León Vandermeersch (former director of EFEO) (far right)/Photo: Jackie Chan
Prof. Léon Vandermeersch (former director of EFEO) expressed his feelings: “For me, this Workshop is a special milestone. EFEO would not be able to do anything without research collaboration with Vietnamese scientists. This Workshop has clarified an important aspect: the contributions of researchers from both the French and Vietnamese sides at EFEO.”. The veteran scientist in Vietnam studies also emphasized the close personal relationships between French and Vietnamese scientists, in addition to the cooperation between research institutions of the two countries. This close friendship is an important bridge in academic exchange activities between the two sides. He also expressed his joy if he could continue to participate in scientific cooperation activities between EFEO and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Prof. Yves Goudineau (Director of EFEO Paris) answered questions from media agencies on the sidelines of the Workshop/Photo: Jackie Chan
Prof. Yves Goudineau emphasized the importance of this Workshop, considering it an opportunity to summarize the activities and achievements of EFEO in Vietnam, while opening up new and promising cooperation opportunities between French and Vietnamese scientists.
In his rather long speech at the Conference, Prof. Phan Huy Le spent most of his time talking about his own feelings and experiences with EFEO in Hanoi and Paris. In 1954, Prof. Phan Huy Le was a lecturer at the Faculty of History at Hanoi University, returning to Hanoi from the resistance zone after the capital was liberated. In the context that universities in Hanoi at that time did not have libraries, the first time he entered the EFEO library on Ly Thuong Kiet Street left him with deep impressions. The impression came from the spaciousness of the library campus, the rich variety of books and the friendly service attitude of the staff. Later, when he delved into ancient history, Prof. Phan Huy Le was mainly exposed to Han Nom documents, an important part of which was collected by EFEO and handed over to the Vietnamese side in 1957. The documents included 8,368 books and over twenty thousand stele inscriptions.In this regard, I, the Vietnamese historian community and the Vietnamese people must be extremely grateful to EFEO for their efforts in collecting and preserving for Vietnam a valuable part of the Vietnamese Han Nom heritage. Without the help of EFEO, Vietnam's Han Nom heritage would have been lost to countless numbers, including valuable books and steles that would have been lost forever." - Professor Le said.
Prof. Phan Huy Le (right) and Prof. Dr. Vu Minh Giang (Faculty of History) at the Workshop/Photo: Thanh Long
In addition, EFEO also has great contributions in preserving tangible cultural heritage for Vietnam through the restoration and documentation of relics across the country, especially collecting antiquities and building the first three museums of Vietnam including: Vietnam National Museum of History, Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture, Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History.
From 1900 to 1957, during its operation in Vietnam, through its research activities, EFEO had works and research projects that contributed to promoting the modernization of Vietnam's social sciences and humanities. EFEO played a very important, even decisive role in creating a transition from traditional to modern academics, with a very new system of viewpoints and methodologies, not only in History but also in many new sciences later such as Ethnology, Linguistics, Museology, and Textology. Since then, historical research has been carried out with a completely new scientific foundation, in close relationship with the above sciences, with an approach that is sometimes specialized, multidisciplinary, and sometimes interdisciplinary. This is a huge step forward and preparation for the birth and development of social sciences and humanities in independent Vietnam after 1945.
Since 1993, the EFEO Center has been re-established in Vietnam. The bilateral relationship has been re-established on a new basis between the two countries. New research results on cooperation between EFEO and Vietnamese scholars continue to be published, both in terms of publishing and training staff. In particular, the systematic publication of documents by EFEO in recent times is very valuable. Among them, the most prominent are "Complete Collection of Han Nom Inscriptions", "Dong Thai Geography" (French and Vietnamese), "An Nam Techniques", directories of archives, publication of inscriptions in Sapa...
“Over the past century, EFEO, with its activities, famous scientists and specific scientific works, has contributed greatly to the study of Vietnamese history and culture." - Professor Phan Huy Le once again affirmed the important role of EFEO in the development of Vietnamese Social Sciences and Humanities in his speech.
Prof. Vu Duong Ninh, Assoc. Prof. Le Mau Han and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh (from left to right) at the Workshop/Photo: Thanh Long
Representing the leadership of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Associate Professor Dr. Pham Quang Minh reviewed the scientific activities that the University cooperated with French partners to carry out during the France - Vietnam Friendship Year 2013-2014. This is the fourth conference this year that the University of Social Sciences and Humanities organized and participated in with French scientists. Associate Professor Minh affirmed that the success of the conference will be an important step to further promote cooperation activities between the two sides in the future.
Author:Thanh Ha
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