SEMINAR WITH SENIOR FELLOW OF CARNEGIE COUNCIL, MR. DEVIN T. STEWART

The Center for Vietnamese and Southeast Asian Studies (CVSEAS) held a seminar with the participation of Devin T. Stewart, an Asian expert and also a senior fellow of Carnegie Council at the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) on the morning of April 17.

The Center for Vietnamese and Southeast Asian Studies (CVSEAS) held a seminar with the participation of Devin T. Stewart, an Asian expert and also a senior fellow of Carnegie Council at the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) on the morning of April 17.

Present at the seminar were also Dr. Tran Dinh Lam – Director of CVSEAS, Doctor of Philosophy Duong Ngoc Dung – lecturer at HCMC USSH, some lecturers from the Faculty of Education together with students from the Faculty of Vietnamese studies, Faculty of International Relations, and postgraduates.

The talk was about the history of establishment, the founder and the motto of Carnegie Council. Expert Devin T. Stewart told about the milestone happening 100 years ago when Carnegie, a leading oligarch and lover of peace at that time, formed a council named after his name. In 1914, Carnegie tried many ways to condemn wars, establishing thousands of institutions, gathering top religious leaders so that they could have talks with civilians to affect their thoughts with the aim of ending wars soon.

The guiding principle of Carnegie Council so far is to become a network of attempts for world peace. Next year, 2014, will mark the 100^th anniversary of establishing Carnegie Council with lots of meaningful events.

In the friendly atmosphere of the discussion, Stewart told us the council’s activities such as interviewing 100 Thought Leaders (identified by Carnegie Council as people who influence global opinion on ethical issues and contribute positively to human development). He also raised a question whether there should be global ethics for the whole world.

Besides, this senior expert of Carnegie Council also expressed his opinion on maintaining local culture in the integration period. He emphasized that globalization poses many challenges and conflicts, so it is very essential to have dialogues among various cultures. The way to a global culture must go through indigenous cultures. Once a people have deep awareness of their own culture, they will be open to and have respect for others all over the world.

The participating students were very interested in the issues raised at the seminar. Truc Ngan, a student from the Faculty of International Relations, had questions: Does the program intend to interview any Vietnamese figure? What are the criteria for one to be selected for the interview? Stewart answered that the project has been attempting to look for individuals who have widespread and positive influence on the public and gain the approval of a consulting committee.

Another issue discussed at the seminar is the global connection via the Internet. It can be seen that our connections are created more easily nowadays thanks to the Internet, but, simultaneously, the quality of these connections is decreasing. Instead of meeting face-to-face, we are now dependent on the computer screen too much.

Such issues raised by the expert are current problems of any country which has been experiencing a full integration as Vietnam. Although the seminar has ended, it evokes interesting thoughts of an issue which is having a great impact on our daily life these days.

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