All of the below events are open free of charge to the public. We would like you to plan carefully before registering with us so that we have enough seats for participants. If you register for our events but change your plan, kindly notify us by email. If you would like to be an American Center member, please register.
***REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR ALL EVENTS EXCEPT THOSE NOTED OTHERWISE. Register here. You can also check out our Facebook page to see event schedule and click “Join” to register with us.***
All events take place at 1st Floor of the Rose Garden Tower at 170 Ngoc Khanh Street, Hanoi, except those noted otherwise. Remember to bring your ID with you. Members of the media are welcome to attend public events at the American Center. However, if you intend to being in still or video cameras, please contact the Media Team at least 24 hours in advance so we can determine whether the speaker is comfortable and, if so, request security access for your equipment. Please note that not all speakers will want to be filmed and interviewed. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.
Please Note: In the American Center (AC), we usually record, film and photograph our programs and activities to promote the AC and the work the U.S. Embassy does in Vietnam. We regularly use and post these images on our social media platforms. When participating in American Center programs, you provide your tacit consent for your image to be used in this way. If you prefer that your image not be used for non-commercial publicity reasons, please provide your request in writing to a staff member at the Help Desk. Thank you!
| Time | Program | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 5, 2:00 – 3:30 | Debate Club: “Should Cosmetic Surgery be Banned?” | AC Interns |
| Oct. 5, 4:00 – 6:00 | Pathways to Academic Success series: Learning the ‘Right’ Vocabulary for Academic Success | Helen Huntley |
| Oct. 6, 10:00 – 11:00 | Conversation Hour | Tammy Dewan |
| Oct. 6, 5:30 – 7:00 | The Strategy of Content Marketing: MOOC Facilitated Discussion 4 | Nikki Nguyễn |
| Oct. 10, 1:30 – 3:30 | AC Student News | AC Interns |
| Oct. 10, 4:00 – 5:00 | Cybersecurity: Panel Discussion | Todd Cheng, U.S. Embassy Hanoi |
| Oct. 11, 3:00 – 4:30 | Women in Tech, Women in Startups: How Age and Gender are NOT Defining Factors of Our Success | Hà Đậu and Hồng Dương |
| Oct. 12, 12:00 – 1:15 | Business Model Canvas: A Tool for Entrepreneurs and Innovators (PDF-780KB): MOOC Facilitated Discussion 1 | Lê Hồng Tâm |
| Oct. 12, 3:00 – 4:30 | Black Lives Matter | Joanne G. Katz |
| Oct. 12, 4:30 – 5:30 | Intellectual Property Rights – The Dangers of Software Piracy | Tarun Sawney |
| Oct. 13, 10:00 – 11:00 | Conversation Hour | Holly Calkins |
| Oct. 13, 3:00 – 4:30 | How to Boost Your Creativity in Four Easy Steps | Nancy K. Napier |
| Oct. 13, 5:30 – 7:00 | The Strategy of Content Marketing: MOOC Facilitated Discussion 5 | Nikki Nguyễn |
| Oct. 16, 5:00 – 7:00 | Leadership Training: How to Develop and Maintain Relationship at Work | Hoàng Ngọc Bích |
| Oct. 18, 4:00 – 5:30 | American English Club | AC Interns |
| Oct. 19, 12:00 – 1:15 | Business Model Canvas: A Tool for Entrepreneurs and Innovators (PDF-780KB): MOOC Facilitated Discussion 2 | Lê Hồng Tâm |
| Oct. 19, 2:00 – 3:30 | Debate Club: “It’s more difficult for women to achieve high-level position” | AC Interns |
| Oct. 19, 4:00 – 6:00 | Pathways to Academic Success series: American Cultural Values in U.S. University Life | Helen Huntley |
| Oct. 20, 10:00 – 11:00 | Conversation Hour | Holly Calkins |
| Oct. 23, 5:00 – 7:00 | Leadership Training: Dealing with Difficult People | Hoàng Ngọc Bích |
| Oct. 24, 3:00 – 4:30 | AC Student News | AC Interns |
| Oct. 25, 5:00 – 7:00 | My Stories in the U.S.: “What I Did to Get into U.S. Schools and Gain Scholarships” | Alumni of USG Exchange Programs |
| Oct. 26, 12:00 – 1:15 | Business Model Canvas: A Tool for Entrepreneurs and Innovators (PDF-780KB): MOOC Facilitated Discussion 3 | Lê Hồng Tâm |
| Oct. 26, 3:00 – 4:30 | How the U.S. Education has Changed Me | Hieu Nguyen and Nguyen Huu Phuoc Nguyen |
| Oct. 27, 10:00 – 11:00 | Conversation Hour | Holly Calkins |
| Oct. 30, 3:00 – 4:00 | Stress Management | Cynthia McKinney |
| Oct. 31, 4:00 – 6:00 | American English Club | AC Interns |
Conversation Hour
Fridays, 10:00 – 11:00 am
American Volunteers
Call it a conversation, or any one of this word’s synonyms – chat, colloquy, converse, dialog, discussion, etc. – this is an hour of informal talk and your opportunity to improve your English speaking and listening skills. An American host of the hour will introduce a topic and guide you through discussion around it. Come to chat and learn. Bring your friends and make even more friends!
American English Club
American Center Interns
Come join our American English Club, starting from 5:00 PM. This fun upcoming program will feature performances of some well-known and beloved songs. After the musical performances, the audience will join the host to learn how to sing one of these memorable tunes as a warm-up activity. Then, the club will continue with its interesting activities that will give you the opportunities to improve your English speaking skills, enhance your vocabulary, and have a lot of fun discussions and presentations.
Debate Club
American Center Interns
The goal of the American Center’s Debate Club is to create friendly environment where anyone can express and freely debate their ideas on interesting current topics. So if you like to analyze facts, communicates openly, or just interested in debate please make your way to the AC to join our club.
AC Student News
American Center Interns
Adapted from the CNN Student News, this program encouraged participants to reflect on and discuss international issues, while using opportunity to sharpen English language skills, especially listening and speaking.
Pathways to Academic Success Series: Learning the ‘Right’ Vocabulary for Academic Success
October 5, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Helen Huntley
Students often state lack of vocabulary as their most significant problem across all English skills and may feel confused about which vocabulary items are important for academic study. This session will explore how many words students need to know, which words should be chosen for learning, and which methods might promote their retention. Participants will practice a variety of activities to raise their awareness of academic vocabulary.
Cybersecurity: Panel Discussion
October 10, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Todd Cheng, U.S. Embassy Hanoi
A Cyber Discussion from Information Technology and Policy perspective. The American corner will host four Embassy personnel discussing opportunities and challenges of managing Information Technology (IT) while supporting; diplomacy and a US National Cyber Security Policy that can be much broader than ‘just’ Information Technology. The Department of State with it worldwide foot print in nearly every nation has many of the similar challenges of protecting their information as a fortune 500 company. However, the Department of State also maintains a multi-stakeholder mix of national policy and technology support staff that work to keep the mission and global web secure, reliable, and open.
Women in Tech, Women in Startups: How Age and Gender are NOT Defining Factors of Our Success
October 11, 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Hong Duong is a co-founder of College Scout, a Vietnamese edtech startup that provides online college readiness packages to Vietnamese students bound for North America universities, and Ha Dau is a co-founder of KidsOnline, the cloud-based kindergarten management system with a smart app for school-parent communication.
The two successful entrepreneurs will talk about:
- Fun facts about Women Start-ups
- 3 myths about start-ups in general
- 3 ways to put turn your business ideas into a real business
- Start-up READINESS for girls and young female professionals: “Ikigai” and the ASK model
The presentation also includes a mini-challenge to the audience, with prizes to win (two copies of Bill Aulet’s “Disciplined Entrepreneurship”)
Black Lives Matter: A Historical Analysis
October 12, 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Joanne Katz, J.D., Professor of Legal Studies, Missouri Western State University
The Black Lives Matter movement in the United States reflects decades of distrust between the African American community and Law Enforcement. This presentation will take a historic view, looking at the role of Law Enforcement in sustaining Slavery during the 19th Century, through the 20th Century “Jim Crow” laws, and the modern War on Drugs.
Intellectual Property Rights – The Dangers of Software Piracy
October 12, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Tarun Sawney, Senior Director at Business Software Alliance
The U.S. Embassy is pleased to invite you to a discussion with Tarun Sawney, Senior Director for Asia Pacific for BSA|The Software Alliance. Mr. Sawney will share insights on cyber incidents that have threatened businesses, government, and individuals. He will focus specifically on reducing software vulnerabilities to mitigate legal and security risks..
How to Boost Your Creativity in Four Easy Steps
October 13, 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Nancy K Napier, College of Business and Economics, Boise State University
This workshop will include examples from a range of organizations — from sports to law enforcement and more. You will have the chance to learn and practice some ways to increase creativity and solve problems.
Nancy K. Napier (Ph.D.) is Distinguished Professor Emerita, Boise State University (USA) and an Adjunct Professor at Aalborg University in Aalborg, Denmark. She was a former Associate Dean and Department Chairman in the College of Business and Economics at Boise State, and Executive Director of the Centre for Creativity and Innovation. In 2011, she received Vietnam’s Medal of Honor for Education. Her research and experience is wide ranging, from managing Boise State’s $8.5 million nine-year capacity building project at the National Economics University in Hanoi, Vietnam, to working with multi-sector groups on how to boost creativity and performance. Her books about creativity include Wise Beyond Your Field (2013), Insight (2010), and The Creative Discipline (2008). She has published in academic and practitioner journals, ranging from Journal of International Business and Creativity and Innovation Management to Organizational Dynamics and Human Resource Management.
Pathways to Academic Success series: American Cultural Values in U.S. University Life
October 19, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Helen Huntley
Students interested in studying in the United States need an understanding of American values and how they are applied in the university environment in order to help avoid intercultural and academic misunderstandings. This session will focus both on directly and indirectly observed cultural behaviors, how the history of the U.S. has shaped American cultural values, and how these values may be interpreted in the university environment.
How the U.S. Education has Changed Me
October 26, 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.
Hieu Nguyen and Nguyen Huu Phuoc Nguyen
Interested in Studying Overseas? How about in the U.S.? Please join us for personal testimonials from Mr. Hieu Nguyen and Dr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc Nguyen about “How the US education has changed me.”
Hieu Nguyen (LinkedIn Nguyen Sy Hieu) is a financial analyst at Vietnam Partners LLC, a US company operates in the field of finance & advisory and one of the earliest funds investing in the Vietnam market. His passion for developing affordable, but high-quality, English-language education programs for Vietnamese students has driven him to be an active contributor to College Scout, an edtech initiative where he helps design and develop online contents for college readiness for talented students outside big cities of Vietnam. Hieu is also a co-founder of Vietteach, where he develops the syllabus and trains volunteers to teach conversational English for under-privileged children in Ho Chi Minh City. Hieu graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Economics, and a Minor in Public Policy and Management, from New York University in 2015 in shortened time and worked in Vietnam Partners’ NYC office before relocating to Hanoi in June 2016.
According to Hieu, “The three years at NYU not only provided me with academic knowledge, but also allowed me to learn from the real-life experiences of experts in different industries and network with them, which prepared me really well for my career after graduation!”
Dr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc Nguyen, currently serving as Project Manager at Viettel Aerospace Institute, obtained his PhD in Mechanical Engineering in nanotechnology from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, USA in 2013. He completed his Bachelor’s degree, with first class distinction, in the same field from Universiti Teknology Petronas, Malaysia in 2007. With a desire to make positive impacts to his motherland, Nguyen decided to return Vietnam after 13 years of studying and working overseas and is currently leading teams in developing high technology products that help improve national security of Vietnam.
Dr. Nguyen has been recognized for his social activities. Notably, he founded Nghe An – Ha Tinh Abroader Association, a nonprofit organization that over the last 10 years has helped thousands of students from his home region fulfill their dreams of studying abroad. He is the recipient of many prestigious honors and awards, including Distinguished Leadership Award of College of Engineering, University of Michigan, Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF) Fellowship and Petronas Scholarship.
Stress Management
October 30, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Cynthia McKinney
Life is full of many demands. Sometimes we can feel like we do not have enough time in 1 day to get everything done. There can be problems we worry about. We can experience much pressure and negative emotions in our lives at different times. These things can cause us to experience stress. When stress is not managed well in our lives, we can have physical and emotional problems. Our productivity and energy level can be decreased. Our relationships can also suffer from stress that is not managed well. Come learn about how stress affects us and how we can manage stress in our lives. This will also be a time of fun interaction as we experiment with some quick and easy relaxation tips.
