Due to a combination of increasing demand for agricultural products and the proliferation of bootleg pesticide products, pesticide use in the Vietnamese agricultural industry has skyrocketed in the last couple of decades. While consumers are continually demanding blemish-free, “commodified” products that are usually only achievable with the use of pesticides, there are also rising concerns […]
Haste Makes Waste: Observing Consumer Trash Habits in Ho Chi Minh City
Like many other developing countries, Vietnam faces environmental degradation due to its rapid economic growth. One major problem is improper waste management exacerbated by an increasing urban population and changing consumer habits. With higher incomes come changing consumer habits, more convenience foods, and more waste. This waste is usually plastics, Styrofoam and other food packaging […]
Changing Consumption Patterns: Economic and Waistline Growth
Research Question: In consideration of recent rapid economic growth, globalization and Westernization in Vietnam, what is the state of Ho Chi Minh City residents attitudes and habits around food and what are the implications of evolving consumption patterns? My research will mainly focus on the western fast food chains in contrast with street vendors and […]
Helmets, hats and face-masks- keeping kids on motorbikes safe.
I am doing my research project on the safety of children while on motorbikes. I found this topic interesting because I noticed that most young children do not wear helmets, but that they do tend to where some combination of face-masks, sunglasses, sun-hats, mosquito nets and safety-belts. I have been doing research on this […]
Internal Revenue Service? No. IRS Stands for Informal Recycling System!
Shortly after arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to study abroad for a semester I began to notice the plethora of men digging through garbage cans in parks to pull out bottles, cans, and other recyclable materials. Two months later, and my curiosity has only grown. For this reason I chose to write a […]
PDA: Public Displays of Affection (and Pre/Post Doi Moi Attitudes)
Research Question: How have perspectives on Vietnamese women’s sexuality changed over the last century and how does that translate to current public displays of affection in Vietnamese urban youth? Confucianism, Doi Moi, and French Colonialism have all impacted women’s attitudes towards sexual relationships differently over the last century. My goal in this research project is […]
Ancestor Worship and Governance in Vietnam
My time in Vietnam has opened up a new world of ideas and this has lead my to ask many different questions to how a society can run. I have been most keenly aware of the tensions that seem to be running through society that do not seem to be challenged or questioned by people […]
The Joy of Sects: The Role of the Churches in Vietnam
Traveling through Hue, I visited a church that became a shelter during the Tet Offensive. Among countless others, Nha Ca was present in the church throughout the massacre. Nha Ca was one of the fortunate ones who survived this tragedy. She did not move on from this experience, but instead chose to retell this story […]