On Friday, October 29 and Monday, November 1, 2021, the Faculty of Economics carried out an online Dialogue program with Vietnam National University, University of Economics and Business. Preparation began in April 2021 with the recruitment of eight students to the cohort. Professor Alexander McAulay and Professor Craig Parsons took charge of the program, working with Dr. Nguyen Xuan Dong in Vietnam, who is a former PhD candidate at YNU. Students from the respective cohorts gave two presentations, one on ‘The Economic Impact of Covid-19 in My Country,’ and another on ‘The Social Impact of Covid-19 in My Country.’

The topic for this Dialogue was an obvious one, and meant research was on-going right up to the day of the exchange, as students were dealing with a rapidly changing situation. On the Friday, in the Economic presentation, the YNU cohort discussed such issues as the Go To campaigns, the government cash handouts, and the projections and eventual balance sheet for the Tokyo Olympics. The VNU side gave an overview of their economy under Covid-19. An active discussion took place during the Q&A with both sides curious to know more about the experience of the other country.

On the Monday, the emphasis switched from the economic impact of the pandemic to the social impact. The YNU cohort gave a 25-minute presentation focusing on four demographics: the elderly, women, children, and the disabled. They outlined the challenges the coronavirus brought to each group. For example, they critiqued the fact that ubiquitous mask-wearing put a heavy burden on members of the deaf community who rely on lip-reading to communicate.

Aside from the student presentations, there were guest lectures by both VNU-UEB and YNU. From Vietnam, on the Friday, Dr. Nguyen Bich Diep gave a talk entitled “Leave no one behind: Vietnam's poverty reduction policies” The YNU cohort could hear about the impressive strides Vietnam has made in poverty reduction in recent decades, and the challenges the nation still faces. On Monday, YNU offered the lecture “Impacts of COVID-19 on Global Value Chains” by Dr. Hiroshi Mukunoki of Gakushuin University. Dr. Mukunoki, a graduate of YNU Faculty of Economics, explained how value chains work in our globalized world, and how the pandemic has had an affect that may prove to be long-lasting. The students asked lots of questions and were grateful for the chance to hear input from experts on their Dialogue topics.

In a more informal tone, students gave short presentations introducing their respective cities and universities. They also had time after the official events each day to stay online in the Zoom meeting and chat informally.

The Faculty of Economics has extensive experience running short-visit Dialogue programs. Hundreds of students have visited campuses in Europe, Asia, North America and Australasia on the Dialogues since 2006. Although the pandemic has pushed the pause button on such exchanges, the online exchange with University of Technology Sydney in 2020 and the exchange this year with Vietnam National University means we have an unbroken record of providing Dialogue opportunities to students for more than 20 years. The pandemic has led to new pedagogical approaches to study abroad including COIL, which stands for Collaborative Online International Learning. Using ICT tools such as Zoom and Teams, the Faculty of Economics at YNU has provided Dialogue opportunities to students throughout the current global crisis, and gained experience in areas such as COIL, which we hope to put to use in the post-Covid era of international student exchange.

The 2021 Dialogue experience was an educational, informative and satisfying experience for the YNU cohort thanks to the collegial collaboration and organizational skills of our partners in Vietnam National University. We gratefully appreciate the efforts of Dr. Nguyen Xuan Dong and his colleagues, and hope we can build on this auspicious beginning with future exchanges.