SEMINAR WITH PROF. ROGER AMES FROM UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII

On the morning of April 24, 2015, a seminar on Confucian studies and its global values took place at the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH), led by Prof. Roger Ames, an expert with many years of experience in studying and translating papers about Confucianism at the University of Hawaii, and Dr. Nguyen Nam, a guest speaker. Two papers at the seminar covered burning issues concerning Confucianism as well as international cultural, political and social values. Present at the seminar were Assoc.Prof.Dr. Vo Van Sen, HCMC USSH’s President, along with representatives of the Center for Vietnamese and Southeast Asian Studies, Faculty of Oriental Studies, Faculty of Chinese Linguistics and Literature, Faculty of Cultural Studies, Center for Religion Studies and numerous students of the two faculties of Cultural Studies and Anthropology.

Prof. Roger Ames presented some theoretical issues and the establishment of the Confucian Studies Association. As for Dr. Nguyen Nam, he mentioned several hot issues these days, which are copyright and problems of cultural transformation and adaptation.

Prof. Roger Ames from the University of Hawaii, the US.

In the opening of his presentation, Prof. Ames said that he was greatly impress with changes in Vietnam and complimented that it was a beautiful country. According to the professor, Vietnam has also achieved dramatic developments as what China has done. Among the countries influenced by Confucianism such as Vietnam, China, Japan and South Korea, Vietnam is proving that it has a strong foundation of Confucian studies. The world is witnessing many changes in economics and politics, and how about cultural changes? Prof. Ames partially provided the answer to that question through his paper.

The professor was very concerned about the fact that nowadays human beings are able to produce a lot of material values and high output of food as well as achieving medical advancements which help cure serious diseases, but numerous inequalities and threats still persist. Therefore, is the world lacking cultural dignity? He used the term “Perfect Storm” to talk about this paradox. According to the professor, two games are existing in the world: indefinite and definite. The definite game is more individual with its own rules, winner and loser, whereas in the indefinite one, players have to negotiate and interact with each other to solve a problem. In the latter, both sides will either win or lose it. Consequently, the professor suggested that we should change our thought from the definite game to the indefinite one. For example, environmental issues are not “the game” of only leading countries such as the US, Germany and Japan, etc, but it should be “the game” of all humankind so that we can prevent the environment from being destroyed. According to Prof. Ames, this is a discernible issue of our world today.

When approaching Confucian studies, Western researchers imperceptibly transfer Confucian concepts toward Western ideology. The professor recommended that not only Asian but also worldwide scholars should have more discussions in order to set an original frame of cultural values and transmit it to later generations. This is a great yet difficult mission of the Confucian Studies Association which has been being founded.

The seminar shed light on many issues for researchers in the field of Confucian studies and opened the door for their in-depth studies at the University of Hawaii in the US.

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