Published: April 25, 2001

University of Colorado at Boulder history Professor Robert Schulzinger will give a public talk Wednesday, May 9, at 7 p.m., about the opportunities and challenges of Vietnam's integration into the global market.

Schulzinger's talk, "The United States and Vietnam Today: Globalization on Trial," is free and open to the public and is part of the Chancellor's Community Lecture Series. The talk will be in the Chapel at The Academy building at 970 Aurora Ave. in Boulder.

Schulzinger, who is director of the International Affairs Program at CU-Boulder, will discuss Vietnam's economic role in the global market and what its newly designated "normal trading status" will mean for the country that many now think of as a new Asian economic tiger.

One area he will discuss is that while open trade may bring economic benefits to Vietnam and to trading partners like India and the United States, Vietnamese authorities are worried that their power will be undermined, and that may cause problems, he said.

Schulzinger also will explore the relationship between the United States and Vietnam today, which is closer now than at any time in the past 50 years, Schulzinger said. He will discuss the effects of hundreds of thousands of Americans of Vietnamese origin visiting Vietnam every year, as well as the thousands of American soldiers who also go back.

During the lecture, Schulzinger also will show pictures he took during a trip earlier this year to Vietnam. In February and March, Schulzinger led a group of CU alumni on a visit to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

Schulzinger is a widely published author on the history of U.S. foreign relations in general and relations between the United States and Vietnam specifically.

The Chancellor's Community Lecture Series was launched in September 1998 to bring CU-Boulder faculty into the community for talks ranging from arts and humanities to business and the sciences. The talks are held on Wednesday evenings once a month from September through May.

Parking is available along the streets that border The Academy: Cascade, Aurora and 10th. For more information contact Jaisy Jardine in the CU-Boulder Office of Community Affairs at (303) 492-8384.