Tết and New Beginnings
Tết has come and gone. The Year of the Dragon is here. The Vietnamese American Oral History Project is kicking off a new year with great momentum and excitement. In January, the Vietnamese American Oral History Project has also commenced its next phase–training a new generation of oral historians to document the life stories of Vietnamese Americans!
Thuý Võ Đặng is currently teaching “Vietnamese American Experience, offered through the Department of Asian American Studies at UC Irvine. Through this class, she will provide students with the historical context of Vietnamese American experiences and train them in oral history theory and methods. Each student will conduct and audio-record one full oral history interview with a person who fits the project’s criteria:
1. Vietnamese American (can include Chinese Vietnamese, other ethnic minorities, mixed raced, etc.)
2. 30 years or older
3. Reside in Southern California (greater Los Angeles-San Diego-Orange Counties and Inland Empire).
Each student will also process the oral history interviews s/he conducted, which includes transcribing the entire interview in the language it was conducted, translating the transcripts if needed, creating a time log summary of the interview topics, and writing an abstract of the interview including keywords to identify the stories.
Follow us to see the progress of the Vietnamese American Experience class!