Visiting Professor to Speak about Traditional Vietnam Dress

Phuong Vu, The University of Findlay’s visiting scholar from Vietnam National University of Social and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City (USSH) will speak about traditional dress for Vietnamese women, called “Ao dai,” at 7 p.m. Oct. 23 in Room 102 of the Davis Building, 300 Davis Street.
The public event will be free.
Ao dai reflects Vietnamese women’s pride, virtue and identity. Vu will discuss and analyze the form, styles, and symbolic and contemporary meanings. She will also provide historical perspective on this costume as it related to the country’s royal family during the feudal period, and representation of female intellectuals and other professionals during the French colonial era. The analysis of ao dai helps explain the complex symbolism embedded in clothing associated with Vietnamese femininity.
Vu is part of the English linguistics and literature faculty at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Vietnam. She studied at New York University as a Fulbright scholarship student from 2011-2013. She received a bachelor’s degree in English linguistics and literature from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, where she was in the honors program.
She has extensive teaching and research experience from work conducted in the United States, Australia and her home country.
The faculty exchange program between USSH and UF began in 2006 with a grant from the Freeman Foundation and ASIANetwork. After the grant project was completed, the two institutions signed an agreement to continue faculty exchange. To this day, a total of 14 faculty and staff have been exchanged between USSH and UF.