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Entenmann leads Study Travel in ancient, modern Vietnam

By Anna Stevens '10
October 11, 2006

Bob Entenmann
Entenmann
This January, St. Olaf Professor of History and Asian Studies Robert Entenmann, along with his wife, Sarah Entenmann, will lead an adult Study Travel group through the historically rich lands of Vietnam and Cambodia. The program will center on the theme "From Ancient Civilizations to Modern Transformations" during visits to historical and cultural sites in both countries.

Entenmann first started paying attention to Vietnam during the Vietnam War. "In a way it was the Vietnam War that got me into Asian studies and East Asian history," Entenmann says. "I'm deaf in one ear and flunked my draft physical, and there was never an issue of me going to Vietnam as a soldier."

After graduating from the University of Washington with a major in Far Eastern studies in 1971--a time when many people were trying to stay as far away from Vietnam as they could--Entenmann decided to travel around East Asia for three months as a tourist. He later earned a master's degree in East Asian studies at Stanford and a doctorate in history and East Asian languages at Harvard. Entenmann also spent a year studying advanced Chinese and Japanese at the Inter-University Program in Chinese language and area studies in Taiwan.

Since then, Entenmann's studies have taken him to several Far East Asian countries, as well as Italy and France, for the opportunity to research his current interest in the social history of 18th-century Chinese Catholics. Entenmann has lectured and given papers in China and Europe on Chinese Catholicism, and he has published several articles.

BLEND OF CULTURES
Entenmann custom designed the Study Travel program in Vietnam and Cambodia using his extensive knowledge of the Far East. Travelers will examine the traditional heritage of Vietnam and Cambodia--a blend of indigenous cultures with Indian and Chinese culture and religion--while observing the modern transformation under French colonial rule, Communist revolution, American intervention and recent globalization. The journey will begin in Cambodia at Angkor Wat, the vast temple complex built 900 years ago by the Khmer Empire. Entenmann and his group will then travel throughout Vietnam, ending up in the capital of North Vietnam. Throughout the program, travelers will observe and experience contemporary life and culture of the Vietnamese and Cambodian people.

"People will be struck by how different Vietnam and Cambodia are," Entenmann says.

Entenmann describes Vietnam as an "intrinsically fascinating" civilization that has a lot of Chinese influence. He notes that it's still very different from China due to its indigenous culture and civilization.

"The French coined the term 'Indo-China' for that part of Southeast Asia that drew from both India and China," Entenmann explains. "I think it's fascinating because it's part of our own history, too. People were so bitterly divided about Vietnam at the time of the war."

THEN AND NOW
Entenmann says that much has changed, however, since those times. "So much time has passed that I think it's possible to look at Vietnam a little bit more dispassionately," he says. "Now relations with Vietnam are good; people in Vietnam are friendly toward Americans. Most people in Vietnam weren't even alive yet at the time of the war."
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat, the temple complex built 900 years ago by the Khmer Empire, is one of many ancient sites Entenmann will visit with the Study Travel program.


Although all of Vietnam has been communist for more than 30 years, Entenmann says there remains a sense that the basic cultural patterns have not changed much.

"It's still very much a Buddhist country. There is also a strong presence of indigenous religions and a pretty substantial Catholic presence, too," he says. "The government regulates religion but is not as heavy-handed as in some places. Too much suppression really is more trouble than it's worth."

RELATED LINKS
Read more about Entenmann in his interview with Karen Hansen, executive director of the Center for Lifelong Learning. St. Olaf Study Travel programs, which are always open to the public, are for adults of all ages and teenagers traveling with an adult.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.