Coming of Age as Biracial in Colonial Indochina: Kim Lefèvre’s White Métisse

In 1989, Kim Lèfevre published Métisse blanche, a memoir of her childhood and adolescence growing up in colonial Viet Nam and after. As a little girl living with her Vietnamese mother, she doesn’t understand the reactions of others toward her, their open mistrust, contempt, and rejection. Though she feels no different from those around her, she comes to understand that to Vietnamese she is living proof of her mother’s moral downfall, a constant and unwelcome reminder of a child conceived with a French soldier out of wedlock.
Set within a tumultuous period of Franco-Vietnamese history – resistance and revolt, World War II and the Japanese interregnum, the first war for independence against the French — Métisse blanche offers a unique view of watershed events and provides insights into the impact of upheaval and open conflict on families and individuals. The memoir also shows how through education Kim is able to embrace her hybrid identity and gain self-esteem, living between worlds.
We propose to present the new English translation of Lefèvre’s autobiography, White Métisse (University Press of Hawai’i, 2018), read selected parts of the text, and open the floor for questions and discussion afterwards.

Leslie Barnes is Senior Lecturer and Convenor of French Studies at the Australian National University. She taught English in Hanoi for two years before pursuing her PhD in French and Francophone Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and her first book, Vietnam and the Colonial Condition of French Literature (Nebraska, 2014), studies the impact of colonialism in Vietnam on the modern French novel. She teaches courses in Francophone literature and film, and in January 2019, taught a multidisciplinary field course in Hanoi on gender, labor, and migration in contemporary Vietnam.

Jack A. Yeager is professor of French Studies and Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies at Louisiana State University where he teaches courses in Francophone studies (especially Southeast Asia and Québec) as well as undergraduate courses in literature and language. He also taught courses in American literature, film and culture at Viet Nam National University—University of Languages and International Studies in Hanoi under the auspices of the Fulbright Program, spring 2016. In addition, he is the translator of Kim Lefèvre’s autobiography into English.

2020 United States Presidential Election

Please join visiting American Professor Peter Bergerson from Florida Gulf Coast University in a presentation on the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. Prof. Bergerson will share his insights on the current political landscape in the U.S., the candidates and the factors that affect their candidacies.

Consecutive English to Vietnamese interpretation will be provided

Multiculturalism and Diversity on U.S. College Campuses

College is a time when students expand their worldviews, augment critical thinking skills and create relationships with students from all backgrounds and walks of life. Developing an understanding for and appreciation of diversity plays a massive role in the lives of students, not only while they are in college but also throughout the rest of their lives. Listen to these State Department fellows detail their diverse academic, social, and professional experiences in undergraduate and graduate school. You won’t want to miss this!

Pronunciation Workshop

This 8-week pronunciation course focuses on the pronunciation features of American English and will help students improve their awareness and production of various aspects of pronunciation. Topics include consonant and vowel sounds, stress, intonation, rhythm, and problem areas for Vietnamese speakers of English. All sessions will involve plenty of examples and opportunities for interaction and practice!

Career Development Series

Knowing how to find, apply for, and market yourself to get the job you want can be difficult, especially if you’re seeking work with foreign organizations and companies. To help you get prepared for building a successful and meaningful career, join this 6-week series where we will focus on personal skills assessment, CV creation, cover letter writing, networking, interviewing and communicating in international workplaces.

Preserving Vietnamese Tradition Across the Pacific:
A Conversation with Emmy® Award Winner Vân-Ánh (Vanessa) Võ
Music is a lens through which we can visit another time or place. In general, music can tell us about the people and society of a particular time. Additionally, traditional music spans many generations and reflects the traditions and customs from many different regions.

Vân-Ánh Võ – national champion of Vietnamese traditional music, Emmy Award composer, vocalist, and educator – will use traditional music to showcase Vietnam’s 4000-year-old cultural heritage in the context of 21st century. There are many ways that Vietnamese musicians in Vietnam and outside are preserving traditional music. Various virtual media are used–YouTube, online forums, electronic exchanges between teachers in Vietnam and students in North America and elsewhere–and there are some new experiments in performance practice and composition that are used. Vân-Ánh Võ is an example of the latter–she has collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, Kronos Quartet, and performed at Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the 2012 London Olympic Games Festival. In 2016, Vân-Ánh Võ was the first Vietnamese American artist who perform at The White House under president Obama. The sounds of the traditional instruments and folk songs will offer insights into the different traditions and customs of Vietnam’s three main regions: North, Central, and South.

Under the guidance of Vân-Ánh Võ and with demonstrations from her students from America and Vietnam, the audience will join us in playing traditional instruments to create music with their own twists. This hands-on experience will help the audience appreciate and understand more about the Vietnamese history, traditions, and culture.