HOA SEN UNIVERSITY 08 Nguyen Van Trang District 1 HCMC     - Tel: 84-8-9 255 063 - Fax: 84-8-83 01 878 www.hoasen.edu.vn

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE

DEVELOPING HIGHER EDUCATION :

 LESSONS FROM EXPERIENCE

October 19th -20th, 2009
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Since the beginning of the 21st century, new forces—cultural, political, environmental, and economic—have swept the world with irreversible changes. Without a doubt, the landscape of the current global economic meltdown has affected Higher Education in more ways than one. As we are reexamining the role of Higher Education within these new global complexities, it is important to analyze in some depth global education as a whole and to deliberate on the future trend of Higher Education for Vietnam. Thus we ask the question, “DEVELOPING HIGHER EDUCATION: LESSONS FROM EXPERIENCE”

Hoa Sen University will be hosting an international scientific conference on October 19 and 20, 2009 to address this question. This international meeting is part of a cycle of scientific activities initiated by Hoa Sen University in 2007 with two previous seminars already completed: "Autonomous thinking, self-government and teaching methods" (January 2008) and "Striving for a better higher education in Vietnam, the 20th - 21st Century milestones" (December 2008). There meeting were augmented by two other activities: a seminar on "Terms of address in Vietnamese university" (August 2008) and the setting up of "Critical Thinking" – a new subject – in Hoa Sen University program from the school year 2008-2009 (September 2008).

In addressing the situation in Vietnam, the October conference also contributes to a 2008 action supported by the Foundation for Human Progress in response to the global question: "What is the university for the 21st century?" which is the subject of a series of workshops organized throughout the world for several months (the Vietnamese session hosted by Tri Viet University will be held on October 16th -17th, 2009 in Ho Chi Minh City).

The Hoa Sen conference is intended for teachers, experts, administrators and leaders of academic institutions, research organizations and researchers involved in the study of key areas of higher education such as education, social sciences and humanities, economic and sustainable development. As much as we understand the current situation and how it will significantly affect the future of Higher Education, we need to gather ideas on innovations, research and management of Higher Education, and to initiate a groundbreaking, collaborative initiative toward a common goal: to propose innovative educational models to effectively mitigate the impact of the ongoing economic crisis worldwide, and particularly in Vietnam.

This conference will provide a forum for information exchange, resource sharing, and scholarly discussions. The Conference sessions and workshops will address a wide variety of issues encountered at all levels of the higher educational system.

AGENDA

Topic : What is the model of Higher Education for Vietnam in the 21st Century?
Date : Monday 19th & Tuesday 20th, October 2009
Venue : Hoa Sen University’s main conference room – 93 Cao Thang Street, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Language : French, English, Vietnamese (simultaneous translation via headset)

The conference will bring together approximately 200 teachers, academics, administrators, researchers in science education, sociologists, experts and intellectuals both Vietnamese and foreigners.

The conference will be composed of about fifteen key panelists who will address the three following themes over a period of one and a half days:

Theme 1: Current State of Higher Education: challenges and opportunities
These sessions will be dedicated to the examination of the current context of Higher Education around the world, and in Vietnam. How do we prevail over current socio-economic challenges and seize upon future opportunities in a partnership between students, government, business and the universities so we could renew and expand our system of Higher Education for the next generation to come?

Theme 2: Common grounds facing the Challenges and Changes
In a collaborative effort of gathering and analyzing our information exchange, resource sharing, and scholarly discussions, we will coordinate our common effort to drive change and sustain current support for Higher Education in Vietnam for the 21st century.

Theme 3: University and Globalization
This session will focus on dialogues aimed at thinking creatively and identifying potential actions based on a mindset for innovative solutions for tomorrow’s system of Higher Education.


Invitation to Participate and Call for Papers:

What skills and attitudes will our students need to confront future problems? What do scholars and experienced practitioners of Higher Education believe students should know, and how can these insights best be incorporated into the existing standards? How will schools implement these guidelines when confronted with so many other problems?
We are calling higher education faculty, staff, administrators, students, classroom teachers, and researchers to join us to collaborate, communicate, connect with colleagues from around the world, and to submit their abstracts, papers or other proposal for presentation. The conference will offer participants the opportunity to develop a better understanding of the current and emerging issues affecting higher education and a way of sharing innovative ways to address them.

Important Dates:

Draft paper submission (full paper) September 15, 2009
Reviewed of draft paper submission September 25, 2009
Final paper submission October 2, 2009 Conference dates October 19-20, 2009

Questions about your submission and presentation should be emailed to Ms Nguyen Thi Thanh Thao – Research coordinator: nttthao@hoasen.edu.vn

For more information, you can visit the conference website: http://hoasen.edu.vn

CALL FOR PAPERS